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Question & Answer

Question: I know we have to report any Suspicious Activity Report filings to the Board of Directors. Because we want to stay absolutely in compliance, we sometimes file this form for what seems to us to be a suspicious transaction, but it may well be there is nothing at all wrong. When we report to the Board, do we have to include the names of the people filed on? Revealing these names to the Board could cause some problems because they are known in the community.

Answer: You are correct that the SAR filings must be reported to the Board of Directors. This requirement appears, for example, in Regulation H at 208.62(h). The issue of whether the report you make to your Board must include the actual names of the people or entities that are the subject of the filing was raised with FinCEN and the regulators, and the answer was a clear, "No, you do not have to include names in your report to the board."

Clear enough for us.

The consensus was that your report would read something to the effect of, "Four Suspicious Activity Reports were filed in the month of October, as required by laws and regulations." As a matter of protection, the Annunzio-Wylie Act specifically prohibits revealing to the person on whom the report has been filed that a CRF (SAR) has been forwarded. The fewer people that know specific names, the less chance you have for a "leak" of information and a violation of law.

Copyright © 1995 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 6, No. 2, 11/95. Updated 11/00.

First published on 11/01/1995

Last updated on 11/01/00

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