Identifying and Escalating Suspicious Activity

What this video covers

• The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) as the legal foundation and FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) as the Treasury bureau that administers and enforces it
• Structuring: breaking deposits into amounts just under $10,000 to evade Currency Transaction Report (CTR) filing, and why the pattern itself is a red flag regardless of fund legality
• Six specific red flags including unexplained large cash deposits, wire transfers to or from high-risk jurisdictions, reluctance to provide customer identification program (CIP) information, rapid movement of funds with no economic purpose (layering), and activity inconsistent with the customer's stated profile
• The rep's limited role: notice the behavior, document the red flag, then escalate to the AML compliance officer, never confront the customer or conduct an independent investigation
• The tipping-off prohibition: notifying any person involved that a SAR has been filed or is contemplated is a federal violation, including even other employees without a strict need to know
• Permitted SAR disclosures: FinCEN, federal/state/local law enforcement, federal regulators examining the firm, and the relevant self-regulatory organization (SRO)
• The subpoena trap: decline to produce a SAR even when subpoenaed, then immediately notify the firm and FinCEN
• SAR filing mechanics: $5,000 minimum trigger, 30 calendar days to file from detection (extendable to 60 days if no suspect identified), and five-year record retention