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#1510481 - 02/15/11 09:42 PM SAR Committee
complybsa Offline
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complybsa
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 80
New Jersey
I am the BSA Officer and our SAR Committee is a committee of 3 that include:
1 BSA Officer,
2 Compliance Officer/Senior VP,
3 Compliance Officer/VP

Now the Board of Directors are recommending that the President become part of the committee. I was wondering if anyone would share who is on their committee and thoughts or concerns with the Bank President being on the committee?

Thank you

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#1510489 - 02/15/11 09:58 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Doug Hendrickson Offline
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Doug Hendrickson
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If the President is on the Board as well, I vote no. In fact, I'd probably vote no even if he/she were not on the Board. I tend to be overly-cautious about the information relative to SARs and might consider the President too close to the Board and wouldn't want to put him/her in a possibly awkward situation.
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#1510521 - 02/15/11 10:44 PM Re: SAR Committee Doug Hendrickson
ACBbank Offline
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ACBbank
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New York City
What you have seems more than enough to me. As long as you keep Management and board abreast of your activities, I see no reason to include the President on the committee.
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#1510546 - 02/16/11 12:24 AM Re: SAR Committee ACBbank
huezoslb Offline
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Long Beach, CA
I vote to keep the CEO out. They like to be up in the kool-aid and they don't even know what flava' is.

Based on your org chart, i would also include the investigator(s), analyst(s) or anyone else involved in your SAR process for additional input.

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#1510595 - 02/16/11 01:06 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Next to Harvey
I've seen examiners criticize having the CEO on the committee because his or her presence would have a chilling effect on decision making; e.g. who's going to vote against him? Actually, that may or may not be true based on the CEO's and the committee members' personalities.

Part of the answer may lie in why the board would make such a suggestion. What's up?

If your CEO could direct every decision by the committee, then your bank would be better off letting the CEO make the decisions by himself after receiving a recommendation from the committee. That should satisfy the board and put the responsibility squarely where it belongs...

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#1510601 - 02/16/11 01:42 PM Re: SAR Committee Elwood P. Dowd
Kathleen O. Blanchard Offline

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Kathleen O. Blanchard
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And then let him have the title BSA Officer along with the responsibility. If I can't control my own risk, I don't want the title.
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#1510606 - 02/16/11 01:45 PM Re: SAR Committee Elwood P. Dowd
summergirl Offline
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 52
Delaware
Our committee consists of the following:

BSA Officer
Compliance Officer
Director of Operations
Director of Retail Services & Support
Security Officer

Senior Management receives a monthly report & I would agree that having the CEO involved is a no no!

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#1510608 - 02/16/11 01:47 PM Re: SAR Committee Elwood P. Dowd
Tater Offline
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Posts: 642
Missouri
My group includes 3 external directors (Board has 9 total, 5 are external) plus the Risk Managers (5 of us) who are charged with researching and creating SARs. The full board only gets totals and reasons, no names. OCC likes it and it keeps Senior Management out.
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#1510737 - 02/16/11 04:09 PM Re: SAR Committee Tater
complybsa Offline
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complybsa
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 80
New Jersey
Thanks for all the thoughts - and I could not agree more - but was wondering if anywhere in writing does it say that the contents of a SAR CAN NOT be disclosed to the Bd of Directors.
Last edited by complybsa; 02/16/11 04:10 PM.
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#1510749 - 02/16/11 04:22 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Ted Dreyer Offline
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Ted Dreyer
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Posts: 2,245
No. The BSA Manual says (on page 79):

"Banks are required by the SAR regulations of their federal banking agency to notify the board of directors or an appropriate board committee that SARs have been filed. However, the regulations do not mandate a particular notification format and banks should have flexibility in structuring their format. Therefore, banks may, but are not required to, provide actual copies of SARs to the board of directors or a board committee. Alternatively, banks may opt to provide summaries, tables of SARs filed for specific violation types, or other forms of notification. Regardless of the notification format used by the bank, management should provide sufficient information on its SAR filings to the board of directors or an appropriate committee in order to fulfill its fiduciary duties."

Whether it's a good idea to give them copies is another issue.

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#1511006 - 02/16/11 08:31 PM Re: SAR Committee Ted Dreyer
J2C Offline
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Big Brother knows and that's a...
My SAR committee consists of:
Me (BSA Officer)
VP Deposit Operations
Security Officer
VP Credit Officer
and
EVP/CFO (which I do not agree with AT all, and it has been an issue with some of our SAR filings that everyone agreed on but he did not). I also feel as though he may discuss some of what is discussed in our meeting with other Execs based on some other conversations that have happened after our meetings.

I wish that the examiners would say something about it...but until they do he will remain.
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#1511011 - 02/16/11 08:35 PM Re: SAR Committee J2C
Skittles Offline
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TN
While I understand a 'SAR Committee', I also don't agree that one person can prevent a SAR filing. If the BSA Officer believes the activity is suspicious and they are on the line, they should have final say.

Just my humble opinion, though.
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#1511019 - 02/16/11 08:42 PM Re: SAR Committee Skittles
Doug Hendrickson Offline
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Doug Hendrickson
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I agree. I don't have a formal committee, but I do discuss SARs with the appropriate personnel (head of ops, head of lending, internal auditor, etc.) to get other viewpoints. I think of them as helping me (BSA Officer) to make the decision, not making it for me.
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I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.--Confucius

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#1511057 - 02/16/11 09:09 PM Re: SAR Committee Doug Hendrickson
J2C Offline
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Posts: 1,475
Big Brother knows and that's a...
Oh, I completely agree with that as well, but that hasn't stopped the disagreements from occurring.
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#1512578 - 02/21/11 11:48 AM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Elwood P. Dowd
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Next to Harvey
Quote:
...anywhere in writing does it say that the contents of a SAR CAN NOT be disclosed to the Bd of Directors.


Ted provided the summary quote. You can tell the board as much or as little as you wish about SAR specifics. Philosophies have generally evolved to the point where most banks opt for telling the board very little. I think that is appropriate for a long list of reasons.

However, lots of people read over the last sentence of that directive:

Quote:
...management should provide sufficient information on its SAR filings to the board of directors or an appropriate committee in order to fulfill its fiduciary duties."


There are instances where the board needs the explicit details. They do not need them because a SAR was filed. They need them because something happened that they should have been told about. On occasion, I've seen banks use "SAR confidentiality" as a reason to keep the board in the dark. That's a greater sin than over disclosing.
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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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#1512800 - 02/22/11 02:55 PM Re: SAR Committee Elwood P. Dowd
Retired DQ Offline
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Turnpike Exit 10
SAR Committee:

BSA Officer
Compliance Officer
Director if Internal Audit

Our monthly reports include case numbers and detailed scenarios. No other info about the suspect is disclosed.
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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain

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#1512816 - 02/22/11 03:25 PM Re: SAR Committee Retired DQ
Rocky P Offline
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 7,650
Florida
Ted and Ken gave great information about the SAR and Board (and Ken mentioned " Philosophies have generally evolved to the point where most banks opt for telling the board very little. I think that is appropriate for a long list of reasons."

One thing to be sure that while the SARs are documented in the minutes, any details discussed should not be included. Minutes may be reviewed by various reviewers, insurance, CPA's etc., and are subject to discovery in a lawsuit. That would break the confidentiality portion.
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#2100759 - 09/28/16 03:04 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Stephanee N. MacDonald, CAMS Offline
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Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 1
Does anyone have a SAR committee charter they would be willing to share? We currently have a SAR committee but would like to create a formal charter that each member would have to sign which spells out their duties / requirements as a member of the committee and speaks to the confidentiality of the committee.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

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#2100781 - 09/28/16 04:09 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Amandak Offline
Member
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 80
Wisconsin
SAR Committee:

Compliance Officer (Me)
BSA Officer (Me)
Security Officer (Me)
Internal Auditor (Me)

I guess the decision is up to umm me lol

As for reporting the SARs to the board it is very vague. Basically a SAR was filed for check kiting. My predecessor did a very good job at training our board on what can be disclosed to them in regards to SARs.

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#2100789 - 09/28/16 04:36 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
GrannieTwo Offline
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 180
Central IL
We have a BSA committee consisting of the BSA officer (me); the assistant BSA officer (compliance officer); a third employee (loan officer been at the bank over 20 yrs) that make all the decisions for SARs. Our CEO is a board member as is our President. I would vote a big NO.
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#2101688 - 10/04/16 08:02 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
BSA_Jay Offline
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BSA_Jay
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 72
New York
SAR Committee

Myself (BSA & Security Officer)
Compliance Manager
Risk Manager
Controller
Loan Portfolio Manager
Operations Manager

Executive management is not invited to our party.
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#2101736 - 10/04/16 09:54 PM Re: SAR Committee complybsa
Just Jean Offline
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 582
USA
SAR Committee is Executive Committee of the bank - top dogs from each area including marketing and personnel.
Last edited by Just Jean; 10/04/16 09:56 PM. Reason: corrected
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#2101752 - 10/05/16 10:40 AM Re: SAR Committee Just Jean
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Elwood P. Dowd
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Posts: 21,939
Next to Harvey
Marketing? Personnel?

Personal opinion only, but no seat at the table for either as far as I'm concerned. It's unlikely that one would bring any relevant experience or expertise. The other might learn things that could affect other unrelated decisions regarding an employee's future.
_________________________
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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