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SAR Expectations Have Changed for Banks Near Mexico, Say Compliance Professionals
By Brian Monroe
printFederal examiners have asked at least a dozen banks along the U.S.-Mexico border to file suspicious activity reports even for relatively small transactions deemed only to be "unusual," say compliance professionals. The request seemingly lowers the threshold at which anti-money laundering (AML) officials are expected to file the reports, known as SARs, according to a compliance officer at a Texas bank near Mexico's border. In the past, compliance officials at the institution filed a SAR only after identifying several suspicious changes in a client's account activity. "We are not used to being criticized for not having processes for identifying and...
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