InfoBytes Blog
FinCEN proposes SAR pilot program
On January 24, FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish a limited-duration pilot program for financial institutions to share suspicious activity reports (SARs), pursuant to Section 6212 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. The pilot program would allow financial institutions with SAR reporting obligations to share SARs and related information (subject to certain restrictions) with their foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates for the purpose of combating illicit finance risks. The NPRM would expand guidance that previously only permitted SARs to be shared internally with foreign head offices, controlling companies (domestic or foreign), and domestic affiliates, and seeks input on the expected costs and benefits, technical challenges, merits of quarterly reporting, and SAR confidentiality protections. According to FinCEN, the pilot program is intended to provide feedback as the agency considers longer-term approaches towards SAR sharing with foreign affiliates. Comments are due March 28.