The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is worried that financial institutions and their external lawyers are sharing information about Suspicious Activity Reports with “an increasing number” of unauthorized parties.
Fincen, the Treasury Department’s repository for data on money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes, issued an advisory Friday reminding financial institutions that they are prohibited from disclosing any information that would reveal the existence of Suspicious Activity Reports, or SARs.
“[Fincen] is issuing this Advisory to remind financial institutions, and in particular, the lawyers that advise them, of the requirement to maintain the confidentiality of [SARs],” the advisory said. “Fincen is concerned that an increasing number of private parties, who are not authorized to know of the existence of filed SARs, are seeking SARs from financial institutions for use in civil litigation and other matters.”
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