There are always exceptions to rules – and the RFPA is no different. On the one hand, you have the RFPA that protects financial records from being viewed. On the other hand you have the Patriot Act, BSA, and AML which provides government agencies the right to view customer records. Financial records are important tools in investigating drug-trafficking, espionage, fraud, and acts of terrorism. In order to keep records protected when they need to be, and viewed when they need to be, exceptions to the RFPA were created.