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Financial Institution Letter
BANK SECRECY ACT Sharing Suspicious Activity Reports With Controlling Companies
January 20, 2006
Notes
 
Summary: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the federal banking agencies – the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision – are issuing the attached guidance to notify institutions when a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) can be shared with a holding company or other controlling company, or with the head office of a U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank. 

Highlights: 

  • The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the federal banking agencies are providing guidance to confirm that sharing a SAR with a controlling company in accordance with specified procedures is acceptable. 
  • A controlling company includes a bank or savings association holding company, or a company having the power directly or indirectly to direct the management or policies of an industrial loan company or a parent company, or to vote 25 percent or more of any class of voting shares of an industrial loan company or a parent company. 
  • Sharing a SAR within an organization is allowable for the head office, or for the controlling entity or party to discharge its oversight responsibilities with respect to enterprise-wide risk management and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 
  • Accordingly, a bank or savings association (depository institution) may disclose a SAR to its controlling company(ies), whether domestic or foreign; and a U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank may disclose a SAR to its head office outside the United States. 
  • Depository institutions, as part of their anti-money laundering program, must have written confidentiality agreements or arrangements, and proper internal controls in place to protect the confidentiality of the SAR. 
  • Please distribute this information to the appropriate personnel in your institution. 

Distribution: 
FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings) 

Suggested Routing: 
Chief Executive Officer 
BSA Compliance Officer 

Note: 
FDIC Financial Institution Letters (FILs) may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/2006/index.html . 

To receive FILs electronically, please visit http://www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/fil.html . 

Paper copies of FDIC FILs may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (1-877-275-3342 or (703) 562-2200). 

FIL-5-2006
Attachments
Interagency Guidance on Sharing Suspicious Activity Reports with Controlling Companies
Related Topics
Bank Secrecy Act
Last Updated: January 20, 2006