We know that continuations should be filed every 90 days,as a general rule. We want to know the basis for the 90 days. Is it the date the first SAR was previously filed or the last day of the date range for the new SAR continuation?
We couldn't find a definitive clarification. If you know of one, that would be nice to have but a response, based on your prctices will work as well.

I usually go from the date of filing because I review transactions up to that date before I file to include all suspicious transactions during that date range. Whether that is correct, I am also unsure.

Question 16

https://www.fincen.gov/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-fincen-suspicious-activity-report-sar

FinCEN provided clarifying guidance on this question in Section 4 (Page 53) of SAR Activity Review Trends, Tips, & Issues #21. The guidance states “Financial institutions with SAR requirements may file SARs for continuing activity after a 90-day review with the filing deadline being 120 days after the date of the previously related SAR filing. Financial institutions may also file SARs on continuing activity earlier than the 120-day deadline if the institution believes the activity warrants earlier review by law enforcement.”

So, for filings where a subject has been identified, the timeline is as follows:

Identification of suspicious activity and subject: Day 0.
Deadline for initial SAR filing: Day 30.
End of 90 day review: Day 120.
Deadline for continuing activity SAR with subject information: Day 150 (120 days from the date of the initial filing on Day 30).
If the activity continues, this timeframe will result in three SARs filed over a 12-month period.

Same thing Question 16 says that I linked

I know. I was just making it easier by providing the actual response to the question from the FAQ list.

Can I pick this topic back up with a follow-up question? What is your process if during your 90 day review you see suspicious activity after the 90 day time frame? Between days 91 and 120? Would you include it with that current review? Or, file and then file another SAR immediately afterwards? If you do include this activity in your 90 day continuation filing, does this change your review schedule going forward?

We would include any suspicious transaction pretty much right up until the day we file for initial and for 90 day review SARS.

Ditto.

Yes.



I see this one split 50/50 among the places I work with. Banks that are filing a lot of SARs and a run lean don't have time to keep updating their reviews, so they'll cut it off and go from there. Others will update it. There's no right or wrong answer because FinCEN clearly allows for you to cut off the review scope at 90-Days from the previous SAR filing.



The most effective institutions I work with separately track the SAR filing date and 90-day review investigation scopes. The good ones schedule their reviews to occur around 90 days since the last SAR, then scope their review period to be from the day after the last SAR's "end review date" until 90 days since the last SAR was filed. If an update is done, they'll update the review scope accordingly, but it won't change the scheduling of the next review.

IMHO,

This is an interesting discussion. I always thought we could not report suspicious transactions that go beyond the 90-day review timeframe when doing a continuous filing (I thought saw guidance or an FAQ on that at one point, but can't find it). In fact, banks I've worked at previously were caught on this at exam time. So this is not the case?