ACU: Higher SAR, CTR Thresholds Would Free Hundreds Of CU Staff Hours
By CU Today Staff —
WASHINGTON--With the House back in Washington and the August recess winding down, America’s Credit Unions said it is advocating for needed modernizations to Currency Transaction Report (CTR) and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) reporting thresholds, which haven’t been updated in decades.
According to a survey of America’s Credit Unions members, most respondents file more than 1,000 SARs and CTRs per year. While the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network estimates a typical SAR takes eight minutes to complete, respondents reported a median time of 20 minutes, more than double FinCEN’s estimate.
Typical respondents shared they spent around 700 total hours on SAR and CTR filings in the last 12 months, while only hearing back from law enforcement twice in response to a SAR. The responses, while not indicative of the movement as a whole, indicate that America’s Credit Unions-supported relief would free up financial institution time and resources while also providing better, more actionable information to law enforcement, ACU said.
Legislation introduced in both the House and Senate would update the CTR threshold to $30,000 (up from $10,000), increase the SAR threshold to $10,000 (up from $5,000), and ensure the CTR threshold is periodically adjusted for inflation. The House Financial Services Committee advanced its version, H.R. 1799, in July, while the Senate S. 3017 is still pending action.
America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson wrote in Tyfone last week about the negative impacts on consumers and communities caused by the lack of updated reporting thresholds.
Originally reported by CU Today.