January 30, 2006 News Archive

Guidance Issued on Sharing Suspicious Activity Reports With Controlling Companies offsite link
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the federal banking agencies issued guidance to notify institutions when a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) can be shared with a holding company or other controlling company, or with the head office of a U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank.

Board Releases Latest Beige Book offsite link
According to the latest Beige Book, economic expansion continued across the twelve Federal Reserve Districts through the last several weeks of 2005. Details,including individual Reserve Bank summaries, are available in the full report.

Interagency Guidance on Sharing SARs with Head Offices and Controlling Companies offsite link
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the federal regulatory agencies issued guidance (PDF 178KB) for banking organizations on sharing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) with head offices and controlling companies. The guidance confirms that: 1) a U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank may disclose a SAR to its head office outside the U.S.; and 2) a U.S depository institution may disclose a SAR to controlling companies, whether domestic or foreign.

The guidance does not address whether a banking organization may share a SAR with an affiliate other than a controlling company or head office, whether located in the U.S.or abroad. Until further guidance is issues, banking organizations should not share SARs with such affiliates.

FinCEN has concurrently issued similar guidance (PDF 141KB) offsite link for securities broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, and introducing brokers in commodities.