(a) General.
(1) Every money services business described
in section 1010.100(ff)(1), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of this chapter,
shall file with the Treasury Department, to the extent and in the
manner required by this section, a report of any suspicious transaction
relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation. Any money services
business may also file with the Treasury Department, by using the
form specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, or otherwise,
a report of any suspicious transaction that it believes is relevant
to the possible violation of any law or regulation but whose reporting
is not required by this section.
(2) A transaction requires reporting under
the terms of this section if it is conducted or attempted by, at,
or through a money services business, involves or aggregates funds
or other assets of at least $2,000 (except as provided in paragraph
(a)(3) of this section), and the money services business knows, suspects,
or has reason to suspect that the transaction (or a pattern of transactions
of which the transaction is a part):
(i) Involves funds
derived from illegal activity or is intended or conducted in order
to hide or disguise funds or assets derived from illegal activity
(including, without limitation, the ownership, nature, source, location,
or control of such funds or assets) as part of a plan to violate or
evade any Federal law or regulation or to avoid any transaction reporting
requirement under Federal law or regulation;
(ii) Is designed, whether through structuring
or other means, to evade any requirements of this chapter or of any
other regulations promulgated under the Bank Secrecy Act; or
(iii) Serves no business
or apparent lawful purpose, and the reporting money services business
knows of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining
the available facts, including the background and possible purpose
of the transaction.
(iv) Involves use of the money services business to facilitate criminal
activity.
(3) To the extent that the identification of transactions required
to be reported is derived from a review of clearance records or other
similar records of money orders or traveler’s checks that have been
sold or processed, an issuer of money orders or traveler’s checks
shall only be required to report a transaction or pattern of transactions
that involves or aggregates funds or other assets of at least $5,000.
(4) The obligation to
identify and properly and timely to report a suspicious transaction
rests with each money services business involved in the transaction,
provided that no more than one report is required to be filed by the
money services businesses involved in a particular transaction (so
long as the report filed contains all relevant facts). Whether, in
addition to any liability on its own for failure to report, a money
services business that issues the instrument or provides the funds
transfer service involved in the transaction may be liable for the
failure of another money services business involved in the transaction
to report that transaction depends upon the nature of the contractual
or other relationship between the businesses, and the legal effect
of the facts and circumstances of the relationship and transaction
involved, under general principles of the law of agency.
3-1719.21
(b) Filing procedures.
(1) What to file. A suspicious transaction shall be reported by
completing a Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”), and collecting and
maintaining supporting documentation as required by paragraph (c)
of this section.
(2) Where to file. The SAR shall be filed in
a central location to be determined by FinCEN, as indicated in the
instructions to the SAR.
(3) When to file. A money services
business subject to this section is required to file each SAR no later
than 30 calendar days after the date of the initial detection by the
money services business of facts that may constitute a basis for filing
a SAR under this section. In situations involving violations that
require immediate attention, such as ongoing money laundering schemes,
the money services business shall immediately notify by telephone
an appropriate law enforcement authority in addition to filing a SAR.
Money services businesses wishing voluntarily to report suspicious
transactions that may relate to terrorist activity may call FinCEN’s
Financial Institutions Hotline at 1-866-556-3974 in addition to filing
timely a SAR if required by this section.
(c) Retention of records. A money
services business shall maintain a copy of any SAR filed and the original
or business record equivalent of any supporting documentation for
a period of five years from the date of filing the SAR. Supporting
documentation shall be identified as such and maintained by the money
services business, and shall be deemed to have been filed with the
SAR. A money services business shall make all supporting documentation
available to FinCEN or any Federal, State, or local law enforcement
agency, or any Federal regulatory authority that examines the money
services business for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, or any
State regulatory authority administering a State law that requires
the money services business to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act or
otherwise authorizes the State authority to ensure that the money
services business complies with the Bank Secrecy Act.
3-1719.22
(d) Confidentiality of SARs. A SAR, and any information that would reveal the existence of a
SAR, are confidential and shall not be disclosed except as authorized
in this paragraph (d). For purposes of this paragraph (d) only, a
SAR shall include any suspicious activity report filed with FinCEN
pursuant to any regulation in this chapter.
(1) Prohibition
on disclosures by money services businesses.
(i) General rule. No money services business,
and no director, officer, employee, or agent of any money services
business, shall disclose a SAR or any information that would reveal
the existence of a SAR. Any money services business, and any director,
officer, employee, or agent of any money services business that is
subpoenaed or otherwise requested to disclose a SAR or any information
that would reveal the existence of a SAR, shall decline to produce
the SAR or such information, citing this section and 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i),
and shall notify FinCEN of any such request and the response thereto.
(ii) Rules of construction. Provided that no
person involved in any reported suspicious transaction is notified
that the transaction has been reported, this paragraph (d)(1) shall
not be construed as prohibiting:
(A) The disclosure by a money
services business, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of
a money services business, of:
(1) A SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence
of a SAR, to FinCEN or any Federal, State, or local law enforcement
agency, or any Federal regulatory authority that examines the money
services business for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, or any
State regulatory authority administering a State law that requires
the money services business to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act or
otherwise authorizes the State authority to ensure that the money
services business complies with the Bank Secrecy Act; or
(2) The underlying facts,
transactions, and documents upon which a SAR is based, including but
not limited to, disclosures to another financial institution, or any
director, officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution,
for the preparation of a joint SAR.
(B) The sharing by a money services business,
or any director, officer, employee, or agent of the money services
business, of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence
of a SAR, within the money services business’s corporate organizational
structure for purposes consistent with title II of the Bank Secrecy
Act as determined by regulation or in guidance.
(2) Prohibition on disclosures by government authorities. A Federal, State, local, territorial, or Tribal government authority,
or any director, officer, employee, or agent of any of the foregoing,
shall not disclose a SAR, or any information that would reveal the
existence of a SAR, except as necessary to fulfill official duties
consistent with title II of the Bank Secrecy Act. For purposes of
this section, “official duties” shall not include the disclosure of
a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR,
in response to a request for disclosure of non-public information
or a request for use in a private legal proceeding, including a request
pursuant to 31 CFR 1.11.
(e) Limitation on liability. A money services
business, and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any money
services business, that makes a voluntary disclosure of any possible
violation of law or regulation to a government agency or makes a disclosure
pursuant to this section or any other authority, including a disclosure
made jointly with another institution, shall be protected from liability
to any person for any such disclosure, or for failure to provide notice
of such disclosure to any person identified in the disclosure, or
both, to the full extent provided by 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3).
(f) Compliance. Money services
businesses shall be examined by FinCEN or its delegatees for compliance
with this section. Failure to satisfy the requirements of this section
may be a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and of this chapter.
(g) Applicability date. This section applies to transactions occurring after December 31,
2001.
