A compliance officer is reviewing a customer's account that shows a sudden increase in wire transfers to a high-risk jurisdiction. What should be the first step?

Structuring, also known as "smurfing," refers to breaking down large amounts of cash into smaller, less suspicious deposits to avoid detection. While it involves cash deposits, the scenario describes immediate wire transfers, indicating a more complex layering process rather than merely structuring.

Smurfing is a form of structuring that involves multiple individuals making small deposits to avoid detection. While it may initially seem relevant due to the cash deposits, the immediate wire transfers to a high-risk jurisdiction suggest a more sophisticated method of obscuring the source of funds, which aligns with layering.

Layering is characterized by the movement of funds through various transactions to conceal their illicit origin. The described behavior of making large cash deposits followed by immediate wire transfers is indicative of this process, as it aims to distance the funds from their source and complicate tracking efforts.