On 1/24/2022, the FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes and solicits public comment on the establishment of a limited-duration pilot program for sharing suspicious activity reports (SARs), in accordance with Section 6212 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. In the pilot program, a financial institution with a SAR reporting obligation would be permitted to share SARs and information related to SARs with foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates for the purpose of combating illicit finance risks, provided FinCEN approves and approves the conditions.

FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das, in his statement, urged stakeholders to provide input to assist the agency in developing a program that will help combat illicit finance risks and promote enterprise-wide risk management. The proposed rule seeks public comment on questions related to the establishment of a SAR sharing pilot program, such as expected costs and benefits, technical challenges, the merits of quarterly reporting, and how to protect SAR confidentiality.

FinCEN will be accepting comments until March 28, 2022.

Read FinCEN’s full release here.

See the Proposed Rule here.

Adam Witmer

Adam Witmer is a speaker, author, and founder of the Compliance Cohort. Adam has taught hundreds of seminars and training sessions to thousands of bankers throughout the United States and teaches on all areas of regulatory compliance. Adam has written five e-books that he never published, hit a grizzly bear while driving in a National Park, and is an award winning photographer and musician (though he no longer takes photos nor plays any instruments). In his spare time, Adam can be found kayaking on the lake, doing taekwondo with his kids, working on his (project) house, or spending time with his family.

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