Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulatory requirements on the reporting of potential illegal transaction structuring activity are among those that regulators sought to clarify in their recent additions to their suspicious activity report (SAR) frequently asked questions (FAQs).
The FAQs focus on SARs and other anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) considerations for financial institutions covered by SAR rules. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), jointly with the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), said the additions to the FAQs were informed by feedback from financial institutions.
The FAQs address when an institution is and is not expected to report suspected structuring activity. They note that a SAR for potential structuring should be filed only if, among other things, the institution “knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect” that a transaction or series of transactions is “designed to evade” requirements for filing a currency transaction report (CTR), which must be filed on transactions involving more than $10,000. (It also details requirements on the $5,000 threshold for reporting aggregated transactions, including those meant to evade the CTR filing requirement.)
Briefly, the new FAQ answers also note that continuing activity reviews aren’t required following the filing of a SAR on a customer or account, though other methods of monitoring are detailed; and state that an institution is not required to document a decision not to file a SAR. That said, this particular answer also explains what might be an appropriate way to document such a decision if the institution chooses to do it.
FinCEN Issues Frequently Asked Questions to Clarify Suspicious Activity Reporting Requirements
Leave a Reply