BSA

FinCEN released its 18th issue of its SAR Activity Review: “By The Numbers” and its 23rd Issue of SARs: “Trends, Tips &Issues” today. The documents are full of useful information with respect to filing suspicious activity reports.

Here are just a couple examples of what you will find:

We have reached the day where the old legacy BSA forms are no longer accepted. So, to welcome the new forms in, I thought I would provide you all with a little insight into one very common mistake I have seen while conducting independent tests.

FinCEN issued a reminder to financial institutions to ensure they adopt the new reports by April 1, 2013. The reports are available on FinCEN’s e-filing system.  As stated by FinCEN:

I thought I would take today to answer a question I have been asked several times when I am out conducting BSA Independent Tests.  On the new CTR form, what is the NAICS code?

FinCEN recently released summaries of the roundtable meetings held in Las Angeles, New York, and Chicago to continue gathering information on the ANPR for customer due diligence requirements with respect to financial institutions.  The round table discussed the following key issues raised during the comment period:

I had the pleasure last week of speaking at and attending CUNA’s Bank Secrecy Act Conference in Dallas.  I was hoping to come away with some useful information to bring back to my credit unions. As usual, I was not disappointed.  Judy Graham from the NCUA provided credit unions with some valuable information on the BSA “hot topics” during its examinations. Here is a little summary:

FinCEN released its latest SAR Activity Review – Trends, Tips & Issues document. The document provides information on trends and analysis of SAR filings and law enforcement cases. It also provides information to aid financial institutions on the accurate completion of the SAR form and how to write effective SAR narratives.

A few areas to highlight: