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
Related Topics:
Bank Secrecy Act
Attachment:
Interagency Guidance on Sharing Suspicious Activity Reports with Controlling
Companies
Interagency
Guidance on Sharing Suspicious Activity Reports with Controlling
Companies - PDF 21k (PDF Help)
Contact:
Senior Program Analyst Charles W. Collier at
SAS FIL@FDIC.gov or (202) 898-3673
Printable Format:
FIL-5-2006
- PDF 37k (PDF Help)
Note:
FDIC Financial Institution Letters (FILs) may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/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).
