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#1553073 - 05/18/11 03:58 PM
SAR Narrative Number of Pages
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Platinum Poster
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 555
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Isn't there currently a limit to how many SAR narrative pages you can have that they are supposed to increase at some point? How many can you have now?
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#1553108 - 05/18/11 04:10 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
EB, CAMS
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Platinum Poster
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 555
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Ok, thanks. I thought it was the other way around.
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#1553598 - 05/19/11 01:01 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
P*Q
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100 Club
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 126
Seymour, IN USA
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Nearly all SARs I complete fill one page of narrative. Sometimes they wander into two pages. I notice that because mine are usually based on structuring or excessive cash, there's no need to be wordy. However, when reviewing SARs written by our fraud group, wordy is necessary. Sometimes, things HAVE to be explained in a way that may take a few pages. I have had to ask some folks to be sure to at least break their narrative into paragraphs, however. Many cram the entire thing into one, long, hard-to-read clump. Yikes.
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#1553602 - 05/19/11 01:08 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
Compliance Lover
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10K Club
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 21,939
Next to Harvey
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Frog Lady's numbers are correct. I think that "downsizing" the SAR narrative to a good story rather than a recitation of details available from supporting documentation makes good sense.
SARs are like newspapers, they have a diverse readership and their readers have never been able to articulate a common direction for their authors. Making no attempt to represent every position I’ve heard offered by FinCEN and SAR review specialists, I think you just need to tell a good story in chronological order and make certain your supporting documentation provides enough detail to prove that the story you told is correct.
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In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
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#1553609 - 05/19/11 01:19 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
Elwood P. Dowd
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10K Club
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 84,360
Galveston, TX
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"I have had to ask some folks to be sure to at least break their narrative into paragraphs, however. Many cram the entire thing into one, long, hard-to-read clump. Yikes."
You are wasting your breath. The reports that law enforcement receive from the SAR system eliminates all line breaks, extra spaces, columns, etc. It shows up as one long narrative. That is why putting anything in a columnar format is a waste of time and basically makes the information indiscernible.
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The opinions expressed here should not be construed to be those of my employer: PPDocs.com
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#1553617 - 05/19/11 01:32 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
rlcarey
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100 Club
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 126
Seymour, IN USA
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When speaking with law enforcement regarding some of our SARs, the copies they've had in their hands mirror what we submitted originally, formatting and all. Is this because we submit ours electronically?
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My opinions do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
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#1553625 - 05/19/11 01:42 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
BSABecky
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Power Poster
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,548
Southeast
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It is hard to sell the idea to overzealous SAR writers, but a SAR is supposed to give a brief description of the suspicious activity along with some examples. The SAR writer is not supposed to build a case for law enforcement. They are only supposed to give law enforcment enough information to convince them to open a case. If they have to read beyond a few pages to get their attention, you can usually forget any active investigation.
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Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often and for the same reason.
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#1554176 - 05/20/11 12:56 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
Princess Romeo
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10K Club
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 21,939
Next to Harvey
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...Examiners from the Regulatory agencies have loved, loved, loved writing up SARS for not having an adequate narrative. I've encountered that several times. However, when the bankers pushed the point and asked for specific things that were omitted from a particular SAR the critics were never able to come up with any suggestions - nothing at all. They would be a lot smarter if they just said "Duh, it isn't long enough."
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In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
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#1554299 - 05/20/11 02:10 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
Retread
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10K Club
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 21,939
Next to Harvey
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Note well the length of the narrative described as "effective."
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In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
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#1554650 - 05/20/11 05:02 PM
Re: SAR Narrative Number of Pages
Elwood P. Dowd
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Gold Star
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 450
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Call me crazy, but I try to make all audiences happy with my SAR. Law enforcement investigators seem to want you to get to the point. Law enforcement analysts seem to want every last detail so they can interface your narrative with i2 Analyst or other data mining/mapping software. I try to achieve both with the an abstract, intro, body, conclusion format. It seems to work.
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CFE, CAMS
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