In response to a recent Bank Secrecy Act advisory, five federal agencies have issued responses to frequently asked questions on suspicious activity reporting and other anti-money laundering requirements.
The NCUA, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Federal Reserve, FDIC and the OCC in consultation with staff from other federal agencies issued the FAQs on Thursday.
The FAQs clarify the regulatory requirements related to suspicious activity reporting to assist financial institutions with their compliance obligations, while enabling financial institutions to focus resources on activities that produce the greatest value to law enforcement agencies and other government users of BSA reporting, according to the NCUA.
The FAQs address matters related to:
- maintaining accounts at the request of law enforcement;
- SAR filing and the receipt of grand jury subpoenas or other law enforcement inquiries; maintaining customer relationships following the filing of a SAR and SAR filing; and
- monitoring negative media alerts, data fields, the SAR narrative and SAR character limits.
These FAQs do not alter existing BSA/AML legal or regulatory requirements and they do not establish new supervisory expectations, according to the NCUA.
The recommendations of the Bank Secrecy Act advisory were published in the Federal Register in September 2020.