To help banks develop more efficient and effective Bank Secrecy Act compliance programs, the FDIC today issued a proposal that would allow the agency to issue exemptions from Suspicious Activity Report requirements, in conjunction with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Comments on the proposal are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
While FinCEN currently has authority to grant exemptions from SAR requirements, the FDIC’s current SAR regulations “contain a discrete set of filing exemptions pertaining to physical crimes (robberies and burglaries), and lost, missing, counterfeit, or stolen securities.” Allowing the FDIC to grant exemptions where it deems appropriate will help reduce regulatory burden on banks while encouraging innovation in BSA/AML compliance, the agency said.