what is a sar

A SAR, or Suspicious Activity Report, is a report made by a financial institution or other entity about suspicious or potentially suspicious activity as required under laws designed to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and other crimes. SARs include detailed information about transactions that are or appear to be suspicious, and the goal of SAR filings is to help the government identify individuals, groups, and organizations involved in fraudulent activities. Employees are trained to ask questions about the transaction and communicate their suspicion up their chain of command where further decisions are made about whether to file a report or not. Many different types of finance-related industries are required to file SARs, including banks, credit unions, stock brokers, and mutual fund brokers. SARs can also be filed by law enforcement, public safety workers, city or state officials, business owners, and even the general public. SARs are filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), who will then investigate the incident. SARs are part of the United States anti-money laundering statutes and regulations, which have become much stricter since 2001. The Patriot Act significantly expanded SAR requirements as part of an effort to combat global and domestic terrorism.