'08 SAR (Suspicious Activity Reports) Bank Filings Are Likely to Set Another Record

'08 SAR Filings Are Likely to Set Another Record
American Banker | Friday, November 14, 2008

By Cheyenne Hopkins

WASHINGTON — The number of suspicious activity reports filed by banks, thrifts, and credit unions is on track to set a record for the 12th year in a row — every year since regulators first required the filings, according to data released by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

In the first six months of this year the number of filings by financial institutions increased 5% from a year earlier, to 343,974. If that trend continues, the full-year total is likely to exceed last year's figure of 649,176.

Fincen Director Jim Freis attributed the increase to the expansion of anti-laundering programs and jumps in specific types of fraud.

"AML programs at all types of financial institutions continue to develop, and they are not only capturing more suspicious activity — they are reporting it in ways that are increasingly useful to law enforcement, and that vital interaction is constantly improving," Mr. Freis said. "There are also notable projected increases in reports of several types of fraud — not just mortgage fraud, but consumer loan, credit card, and check fraud."

Reports of mortgage fraud also appear to be on track to set a record. In the first six months of this year there were 32,660 filings related to suspected mortgage fraud — more than in all of 2005, and almost as many as in 2006. But since the housing crisis began, mortgage fraud has been spiking. Last year there were 52,868 SARs related to mortgage fraud.

Rob Rowe, a vice president and senior counsel at the American Bankers Association, said the heightened attention on mortgage fraud has put more attention on fraud in general.

"With mortgage fraud, you have a lot more turmoil in the mortgage markets, and second, because mortgage fraud has been brought to everyone's attention, bankers and customers are better at detecting problems," Mr. Rowe said...cont'd

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It sure seems banks have been deputized to become an arm of the FBI, what with their profiling
of customers, reporting suspicious activity, etc. This is just one example of Big Brother
creeping into our lives. Everyone is a potential criminal...while the real criminals are the
ones who pay the sheriff's salary (the big financial houses). Who will hold them to the same
scutiny?