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Question

Difficulty: HardAnti-Money Laundering (AML), KYC, and Sanctions Compliance

A compliance officer at a FINRA member broker-dealer is conducting an audit of customer trading accounts. The officer observes that over a three-day period, a client completed two cash deposits—one for 6,000ataretailbranchandanotherfor6,000 at a retail branch and another for 5,500 at a separate branch location on the following business day—and specifically inquired with a representative whether cash deposits are reported to federal regulators. Which regulatory action and associated timeline are required of the member firm under Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) rules?

  1. File a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with FinCEN within 30 calendar days of initial detection without notifying the client.Answer
  2. B
    File a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with FinCEN within 15 calendar days because the total cash deposited across consecutive days exceeds $10,000.
  3. C
    File a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with FinCEN within 30 calendar days and notify the client in writing of the mandatory regulatory disclosure.
  4. D
    File a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with FinCEN within 15 calendar days after securing written authorization from the firm's Chief Compliance Officer.

Answer

File a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with FinCEN within 30 calendar days of initial detection without notifying the client.
The scenario describes structuring, where a customer intentionally divides cash transactions into amounts below 10,000acrossmultipledaysorbranchestoavoidtriggeringaCurrencyTransactionReport(CTR).Forsuspicioustransactionsinvolving10,000 across multiple days or branches to avoid triggering a Currency Transaction Report (CTR). For suspicious transactions involving 5,000 or more, broker-dealers must file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with FinCEN within 30 calendar days of initial detection. Strict confidentiality rules prohibit disclosing to the customer that a SAR has been or will be filed.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the nature of the transaction to determine the applicable AML filing type.
The client made cash deposits of 6,000and6,000 and 5,500 on consecutive business days while inquiring about reporting limits. Because neither individual day's cash deposit exceeded $10,000, a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) is not automatically triggered. However, breaking up transactions to evade CTR reporting thresholds constitutes structuring, which is suspicious activity.
CTR filings are mandatory for cash transactions exceeding 10,000inasinglebusinessday,whereassuspiciousactivitiesinvolving10,000 in a single business day, whereas suspicious activities involving 5,000 or more require a SAR.
2
Identify the mandatory regulatory deadline and confidentiality rules for the SAR filing.
Under BSA and FINRA rules, a SAR must be filed within 30 calendar days of detecting suspicious activity. Additionally, disclosing the existence of a SAR to the customer is strictly prohibited.
FinCEN regulations mandate a 30-day window for SAR filings to ensure timely investigation while maintaining confidentiality to prevent tipping off suspects.

Key Concept

Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) vs. Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Filing Requirements
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Topics

Anti-Money Laundering (AML), KYC, and Sanctions Compliance