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#2178474 - 05/17/18 08:49 AM SAR confidentiality, yeah, right
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Article from yesterday's New Yorker dealing with the publication of what sounds like a continuation SAR naming Michael Cohen as a subject and the possibility that the previously filed SARs were removed from the system.
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#2178482 - 05/17/18 12:14 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
bcompliance Offline
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Thanks for sharing Ken. That is an interesting article.
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#2178529 - 05/17/18 03:18 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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Both the info about the leaked SAR and about the missing SARs are just amazing.

Also, I've never submitted a SAR anywhere near as interesting as the one that was leaked. My are like, "John Doe deposited $9,000 three days in a row."

I also would like to use this clause from the SAR in training the front line staff that balk at asking so many questions about how a new account will be used: " the volume and source of funds do not match the account profile that was built when the account was opened.”
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#2178530 - 05/17/18 03:21 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right MyBrainHurts
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Quote:
I also would like to use this clause from the SAR in training the front line staff that balk at asking so many questions about how a new account will be used: " the volume and source of funds do not match the account profile that was built when the account was opened.”


You get an "A" for the day. grin It fascinates me that people find doing in-house training on BSA to be difficult or dry. Just pull out today's newspaper and tie your topic to a headline.
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#2178636 - 05/18/18 10:59 AM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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Follow up story in Washington Post.

A senior BSA SME with one of the agencies told me that occasionally they find banks that prepared a SAR, but never clicked the equivalent of the submit button. In that scenario, a continuation SAR could reference an earlier SAR that was never actually filed. However, a continuation SAR should reflect the DCN of its predecessor. If the SAR they found has the DCN of the prior SAR then the prior SAR is either in the data base or it isn't.

The person who "leaked" the SAR has taken an incredible personal risk...
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#2178653 - 05/18/18 01:20 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
edAudit Offline
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"A spokesman for First Republic declined to comment."

At least this makes sense
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#2178657 - 05/18/18 01:32 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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I'm very interested to see what, if anything, happens to the person(s) who leaked the SAR. It will be interesting to see if there are actual consequences or if FinCEN is just pushing paper.
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#2178660 - 05/18/18 01:44 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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Maybe I could see an error 'submitting' a SAR in a small bank with new personnel, but not at a bank the size of First Republic. As a person who does not normally do the e-filing, but had to do one yesterday because an analyst is on vacation, I can tell you I painstakingly followed a detailed procedure and the final steps were all about capturing the 'Confirmation' screen, checking the 'Track Status' in efiling to make sure the file was accepted without errors or warnings and then an email shows up confirming all of the above. Plus, if you don't file correctly, no acknowledgement file will show up, and that stands out too in our SAR Tracking report. Hard to see a major bank messing all that up and not knowing they did.

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#2178678 - 05/18/18 02:33 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Daisy Doodle
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Originally Posted By Daisy Doodle
Hard to see a major bank messing all that up and not knowing they did.
After many decades dealing with BSA, I assume banks are getting the big stuff right...almost all the time. I no longer accept anything reported by the news media or government officials at face value. What did they leave out? How much is hearsay, half-truth, or an out & out lie? What do they want me to think and why?
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#2178689 - 05/18/18 02:50 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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Further, does it seem likely that First Republic would have messed up two SARS. In order for one SAR to tell you of a cumulative amount of transaction (as appeared to be the case here), it would have to be a continuing SAR. If I don't file the initial SAR properly, it can't be 'renewed' in our software which means I would have to recreate everything from earlier manually which would be a giant pain in the rear. I'm pretty sure I would notice having to do all that.

There are quite a lot of internal controls that help us keep track of our SARS.

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#2178737 - 05/18/18 05:00 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Daisy Doodle
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In order for First Republic Bank to have possibly not filed the previous SARs by accident there would have to be multiple layers of oversight and review that they have in place completely fail. I'm inclined to believe the statements that say that the "missing" SARs were actually just restricted by FinCen or the Treasury Department.

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#2178756 - 05/18/18 05:24 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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One has to wonder what the "expected activity" was when the account for that LLC was originally opened.
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#2178758 - 05/18/18 05:26 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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And one also has to wonder how long it will before the concept of "Domestic PEPs" is formalized in the BSA Exam Manual.
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#2178776 - 05/18/18 06:06 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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I heard somewhere on the news Cohen told the bank the LLC was for real estate consulting. The SAR indicated the transactions did not appear to be real estate related (such as AT&T). I did wonder what would turn up in an internet search of Stephanie Clifford before her name was widely known. But I didn't look. But First Republic might have.

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#2178798 - 05/18/18 06:33 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Princess Romeo
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Originally Posted By Princess Romeo
And one also has to wonder how long it will before the concept of "Domestic PEPs" is formalized in the BSA Exam Manual.


My guess.... sooner rather than later.
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#2178805 - 05/18/18 06:47 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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I wonder if law enforcement leaked it...
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#2178807 - 05/18/18 07:03 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right bcompliance
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Originally Posted By bcompliance
Originally Posted By Princess Romeo
And one also has to wonder how long it will before the concept of "Domestic PEPs" is formalized in the BSA Exam Manual.


My guess.... sooner rather than later.


Michael Cohen would most likely not be on any domestic PEP list. (although he should be)
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#2178815 - 05/18/18 07:36 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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Just read an article. It was a LEO that leaked it. His rationale was that he was worried that things were missing because he couldn't access the previous two SAR's on the database. FinCEN made an announcement that the SAR's were restricted by them at a federal law enforcement agency's request. The previous two SAR's weren't deleted.

The article also said the leaker is 'scared to death' because he understands what he did is illegal, and that he could serve jail time for it. I really hope he does. Undermines everything we've been told is unchangeable gospel truth about SAR filings.
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#2178816 - 05/18/18 07:36 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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Allegedly a law enforcement resource leaked the SAR.
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#2178819 - 05/18/18 07:41 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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I read somewhere he instituted an exhaustive search for the missing SARS and that it was unheard of to wall off SARS as they apparently did. Had never happened before, and no one knew what the mechanism was for doing it. Clearly they had not thought of the continuing SARS rolling in afterward.

He's sure to be found out. Surely they can't track who accessed SARS in their database. I'm sure its a small population.

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#2178855 - 05/18/18 10:12 PM Re: SAR confidentiality, yeah, right Elwood P. Dowd
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I'm being told FinCEN can in fact track who accesses SARs in their database. The question is whether the leaker accessed it under his access or someone else.
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