(a) General.
(1) Every loan or finance company shall
file with FinCEN, 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. A loan or finance company may also
file with FinCEN 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
this section if it is conducted or attempted by, at, or through a
loan or finance company, it involves or aggregates funds or other
assets of at least $5,000, and the loan or finance company 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 part or any other
regulations promulgated under the Bank Secrecy Act, Public Law 91-508,
as amended, codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-1959, and
31 U.S.C. 5311-5314, 5316-5332;
(iii) Has no business or apparent lawful
purpose or is not the sort in which the particular customer would
normally be expected to engage, and the loan or finance company knows
of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining the
available facts, including the background and possible purpose of
the transaction; or
(iv) Involves use of the loan or finance company to facilitate criminal
activity.
(3) More than one loan or finance company may have an obligation
to report the same transaction under this section, and other financial
institutions may have separate obligations to report suspicious activity
with respect to the same transaction pursuant to other provisions
of this part. In those instances, no more than one report is required
to be filed by the loan or finance company(s) and other financial
institution(s) involved in the transaction, provided that the report
filed contains all relevant facts, including the name of each financial
institution involved in the transaction, the report complies with
all instructions applicable to joint filings, and each institution
maintains a copy of the report filed, along with any supporting documentation.
(b) Filing and
notification 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 with FinCEN in accordance
with the instructions to the SAR.
(3) When to file. A SAR shall be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the date
of the initial detection by the reporting loan or finance company
of facts that may constitute a basis for filing a SAR under this section.
If no suspect is identified on the date of such initial detection,
a loan or finance company may delay filing a SAR for an additional
30 calendar days to identify a suspect, but in no case shall reporting
be delayed more than 60 calendar days after the date of such initial
detection.
(4) Mandatory notification to law enforcement. In situations involving violations that require immediate attention,
such as suspected terrorist financing or ongoing money laundering
schemes, a loan or finance company shall immediately notify by telephone
an appropriate law enforcement authority in addition to filing timely
a SAR.
(5) Voluntary notification to FinCEN. Any loan
or finance company wishing voluntarily to report suspicious transactions
that may relate to terrorist activity may call the 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 loan or finance
company shall maintain a copy of any SAR filed by the loan or finance
company or on its behalf (including joint reports), and the original
(or business record equivalent) of any supporting documentation concerning
any SAR that it files (or is filed on its behalf), for a period of
five years from the date of filing the SAR. Supporting documentation
shall be identified as such and maintained by the loan or finance
company, and shall be deemed to have been filed with the SAR. The
loan or finance company 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 loan or finance
company for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, or any State regulatory
authority administering a State law that requires the loan or finance
company to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act or otherwise authorizes
the State authority to ensure that the loan or finance company complies
with the Bank Secrecy Act, upon request.
(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 part.
(1) Prohibition
on disclosures by loan or finance companies.
(i) General rule. No loan or finance company,
and no director, officer, employee, or agent of any loan or finance
company, shall disclose a SAR or any information that would reveal
the existence of a SAR. Any loan or finance company, and any director,
officer, employee, or agent of any loan or finance company 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, paragraph (d)(1) of this section
shall not be construed as prohibiting:
(A) The disclosure by a loan
or finance company, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of
a loan or finance company 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, any Federal regulatory authority that examines the loan or
finance company for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, or any State
regulatory authority administering a State law that requires the loan
or finance company to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act or otherwise
authorizes the State authority to ensure that the loan or finance
company 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 loan or finance company,
or any director, officer, employee, or agent of the loan or finance
company, of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence
of a SAR, within the loan or finance company’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 loan or finance
company, and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any loan
or finance company, 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 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. Loan or finance companies shall be examined by FinCEN or its delegates
under the terms of the Bank Secrecy Act, 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 part.
(g) Compliance date. This section
applies to transactions initiated after an anti-money laundering program
required by section 1029.210 of this part is required to be implemented.
