SARs Rising

There was a burst of SAR reporting after the events of September 11, 2001 and then the number of SARs reported began to slow down. Beginning in the second quarter of 2003, the number of SARs reported began to increase and that trend continues. Some of this increase is probably from the additional financial institutions that are now required to file and to the war in Iraq. In addition, publicity about SARs and the types of activity that are reported seems to have an effect on the reporting. However, some of the increase is attributable to what FinCEN has dubbed "defensive filing."

Copyright © 2005 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 10, No. 7, 6/05