§ 103.19 - Reports by brokers or dealers in securities of suspicious transactions.

(a) General. (1) Every broker or dealer in securities within the United States (for purposes of this section, a “broker-dealer”) shall file with FinCEN, to the extent and in the manner required by this section, a report of any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation. A broker-dealer may also file with FinCEN a report of any suspicious transaction that it believes is relevant to the possible violation of any law or regulation but whose reporting is not required by this section. Filing a report of a suspicious transaction does not relieve a broker-dealer from the responsibility of complying with any other reporting requirements imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission or a self-regulatory organization (“SRO”) (as defined in section 3(a)(26) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(26)).

(2) A transaction requires reporting under the terms of this section if it is conducted or attempted by, at, or through a broker-dealer, it involves or aggregates funds or other assets of at least $5,000, and the broker-dealer knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the transaction (or a pattern of transactions of which the transaction is a part):

(i) Involves funds derived from illegal activity or is intended or conducted in order to hide or disguise funds or assets derived from illegal activity (including, without limitation, the ownership, nature, source, location, or control of such funds or assets) as part of a plan to violate or evade any federal law or regulation or to avoid any transaction reporting requirement under federal law or regulation;

(ii) Is designed, whether through structuring or other means, to evade any requirements of this part or of any other regulations promulgated under the Bank Secrecy Act, Public Law 91-508, as amended, codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-1959, and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5332;

(iii) Has no business or apparent lawful purpose or is not the sort in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage, and the broker-dealer knows of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining the available facts, including the background and possible purpose of the transaction; or

(iv) Involves use of the broker-dealer to facilitate criminal activity.

(3) The obligation to identify and properly and timely to report a suspicious transaction rests with each broker-dealer involved in the transaction, provided that no more than one report is required to be filed by the broker-dealers involved in a particular transaction (so long as the report filed contains all relevant facts).

(b) Filing procedures—(1) What to file. A suspicious transaction shall be reported by completing a Suspicious Activity Report—Brokers or Dealers in Securities (“SAR-S-F”), and collecting and maintaining supporting documentation as required by paragraph (d) of this section.

(2) Where to file. The SAR-BD shall be filed with FinCEN in a central location, to be determined by FinCEN, as indicated in the instructions to the SAR-S-F.

(3) When to file. A SAR-S-F shall be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the initial detection by the reporting broker-dealer of facts that may constitute a basis for filing a SAR-S-F under this section. If no suspect is identified on the date of such initial detection, a broker-dealer may delay filing a SAR-S-F for an additional 30 calendar days to identify a suspect, but in no case shall reporting be delayed more than 60 calendar days after the date of such initial detection. In situations involving violations that require immediate attention, such as terrorist financing or ongoing money laundering schemes, the broker-dealer shall immediately notify by telephone an appropriate law enforcement authority in addition to filing timely a SAR-S-F. Broker-dealers wishing voluntarily to report suspicious transactions that may relate to terrorist activity may call FinCEN's Financial Institutions Hotline at 1-866-556-3974 in addition to filing timely a SAR-S-F if required by this section. The broker-dealer may also, but is not required to, contact the Securities and Exchange Commission to report in such situations.

(c) Exceptions. (1) A broker-dealer is not required to file a SAR-S-F to report:

(i) A robbery or burglary committed or attempted of the broker-dealer that is reported to appropriate law enforcement authorities, or for lost, missing, counterfeit, or stolen securities with respect to which the broker-dealer files a report pursuant to the reporting requirements of 17 CFR 240.17f-1;

(ii) A violation otherwise required to be reported under this section of any of the federal securities laws or rules of an SRO by the broker-dealer or any of its officers, directors, employees, or other registered representatives, other than a violation of 17 CFR 240.17a-8 or 17 CFR 405.4, so long as such violation is appropriately reported to the SEC or an SRO.

(2) A broker-dealer may be required to demonstrate that it has relied on an exception in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, and must maintain records of its determinations to do so for the period specified in paragraph (d) of this section. To the extent that a Form RE-3, Form U-4, or Form U-5 concerning the transaction is filed consistent with the SRO rules, a copy of that form will be a sufficient record for purposes of this paragraph (c)(2).

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph (c) the term “federal securities laws” means the “securities laws,” as that term is defined in section 3(a)(47) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(47), and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under such laws.

(d) Retention of records. A broker-dealer shall maintain a copy of any SAR-S-F filed and the original or business record equivalent of any supporting documentation for a period of five years from the date of filing the SAR-S-F. Supporting documentation shall be identified as such and maintained by the broker-dealer, and shall be deemed to have been filed with the SAR-S-F. A broker-dealer shall make all supporting documentation available to FinCEN, any other appropriate law enforcement agencies or federal or state securities regulators, and for purposes of paragraph (g) of this section, to an SRO registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon request.

(e) Confidentiality of reports. No financial institution, and no director, officer, employee, or agent of any financial institution, who reports a suspicious transaction under this part, may notify any person involved in the transaction that the transaction has been reported, except to the extent permitted by paragraph (a)(3) of this section. Thus, any person subpoenaed or otherwise requested to disclose a SAR-S-F or the information contained in a SAR-S-F, except where such disclosure is requested by FinCEN, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or another appropriate law enforcement or regulatory agency, or for purposes of paragraph (g) of this section, an SRO registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, shall decline to produce the SAR-S-F or to provide any information that would disclose that a SAR-S-F has been prepared or filed, citing this paragraph (e) and 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2), and shall notify FinCEN of any such request and its response thereto.

(f) Limitation of liability. A broker-dealer, and any director, officer, employee, or agent of such broker-dealer, that makes a report of any possible violation of law or regulation pursuant to this section or any other authority (or voluntarily) shall not be liable to any person under any law or regulation of the United States (or otherwise to the extent also provided in 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3), including in any arbitration proceeding) for any disclosure contained in, or for failure to disclose the fact of, such report.

(g) Examination and enforcement. Compliance with this section shall be examined by the Department of the Treasury, through FinCEN or its delegees, under the terms of the Bank Secrecy Act. Reports filed under this section shall be made available to an SRO registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission examining a broker-dealer for compliance with the requirements of this section. Failure to satisfy the requirements of this section may constitute a violation of the reporting rules of the Bank Secrecy Act and of this part.

(h) Effective date. This section applies to transactions occurring after December 30, 2002.