Duane Bavlnka

The Bank Secrecy Act requires the bank to file a Suspicious Activity Report in cases where we suspect suspicious activity. This brief Q&A will give you a basic rundown on SARs.

How do we define “suspicious activity”?
Suspicious activity is any conducted or attempted transaction or pattern of transactions that you know, suspect or have reason to suspect meets any of the following conditions:

• Involves money from criminal activity
• Is designed to evade Bank Secrecy Act requirements, whether through structuring or other means
• Appears to serve no business or other legal purpose and for which available facts provide no reasonable explanation

(For examples of suspicious activity, refer to the bank’s Bank Secrecy Act program and procedures in Section P of the Branch Policies and Procedures Manual.)

What do I do if I need to file a SAR?
The SAR is one of the most confidential documents in the financial industry. Should you need to consider filing a SAR, discuss it only with those individuals with a need to know. Not everyone in your branch or department needs to know. Limit your discussions to your branch manager, the bank’s security officer or the compliance officer. Never discuss a SAR filing or potential SAR filing with the person(s) on whom the SAR is filed. Should law enforcement ever request information contained within a SAR, please direct them to the security officer.

Why is it important to understand SARs and the filing requirement?
The Bank Secrecy Act continues to be the “hottest” compliance hot button for regulatory examiners. The filing of SARs is an important tool for law enforcement in its search for criminal activity and terrorist activity.