Safe Harbor for Banks From Civil Liability for Suspicious Activity Reporting Has no business or apparent lawful purpose or is not the type of transaction that the particular customer would normally be expected to engage in, and the bank knows of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining the available facts, including the background and possible purpose of the transaction.Ī transaction includes a deposit a withdrawal a transfer between accounts an exchange of currency an extension of credit a purchase or sale of any stock, bond, certificate of deposit, or other monetary instrument or investment security or any other payment, transfer, or delivery by, through, or to a bank.Refer to Appendix G ('Structuring') for additional guidance. Is designed to evade the BSA or its implementing regulations. May involve potential money laundering or other illegal activity (e.g., terrorism financing).įinCEN issued guidance identifying certain BSA expectations for banks offering services to marijuana-related businesses, including expectations for filing SARs, FIN-2014-G001, February 14, 2014. Transactions conducted or attempted by, at, or through the bank (or an affiliate) and aggregating $5,000 or more, if the bank or affiliate knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the transaction: Criminal violations aggregating $25,000 or more regardless of a potential suspect.Criminal violations aggregating $5,000 or more when a suspect can be identified.

Criminal violations involving insider abuse in any amount.

Banks, bank holding companies, and their subsidiaries are required by federal regulationsĥ3 Refer to 12 CFR 208.62, 211.5(k), 211.24(f), and 225.4(f) (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) (Federal Reserve) 12 CFR 353 (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)(FDIC) 12 CFR 748 (National Credit Union Administration)(NCUA) 12 CFR 21.11 and 12 CFR 163.180 (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(OCC) and. However, as part of the examination process, examiners should review individual SAR filing decisions to determine the effectiveness of the bank's suspicious activity identification, evaluation, and reporting process. Examiners should focus on evaluating a bank's policies, procedures, and processes to identify, evaluate, and report suspicious activity.

Within this system, FinCEN and the federal banking agencies recognize that, as a practical matter, it is not possible for a bank to detect and report all potentially illicit transactions that flow through the bank. Examiners and banks should recognize that the quality of SAR content is critical to the adequacy and effectiveness of the suspicious activity reporting system. It is critical to the United States' ability to utilize financial information to combat terrorism, terrorist financing, money laundering, and other financial crimes. Suspicious activity reporting forms the cornerstone of the BSA reporting system. Assess the bank’s policies, procedures, and processes, and overall compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements for monitoring, detecting, and reporting suspicious activities.

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