"All financial institutions operating in the United States, including insured banks, savings associations, savings association service corporations, credit unions, bank holding companies, non-bank subsidiaries of bank holding companies, Edge and Agreement corporations, and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, are required to make this report following the discovery of: insider abuse involving any amount, violations aggregating $5,000 or more where a suspect can be identified, violations aggregating $25,000 or more regardless of a potential suspect, or transactions aggregating $5,000 or more that involve potential money laundering or violations of the Bank Secrecy Act..." - Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, US Department of the Treasury
Credit unions must retain copies of SARs and supporting documentation for five years from the date of filing the SAR. All copies may be retained in paper or electronic format. Additionally, credit unions must provide all documentation supporting the filing of a SAR upon request by FinCEN or an appropriate law enforcement or federal banking agency. “Supporting documentation” refers to all documents or records that assisted a credit union in making the determination that certain activity required a SAR filing. No legal process is required for disclosure of supporting documentation to FinCEN or an appropriate law enforcement or federal banking agency.
Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) E-Filing System
As of April 1, 2013, financial institutions must use the new FinCEN reports, which are available only electronically through the BSA E-Filing System. FinCEN is no longer accepting legacy reports. For more information, click here.
The BSA E-Filing system supports electronic filing of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) forms (either individually or in batches) by a filing organization to the BSA database through a FinCEN secure network. It also allows members of filing organizations to send and receive secure messages to and from FinCEN. Additionally, FinCEN uses the system to issue advisories and system updates to the user community.
To File a BSA report, visit BSA E-Filing System.
To view a BSA report or test your batch filing program, visit BSA E-Filing Test System. Do not mail or electronically attempt to file a test report.