BSA – Critical vs Non-Critical Fields: What is the difference and how should they be handled?
BSA – Critical vs Non-Critical Fields: What is the difference and how should they be handled?
The FinCEN Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and Currency Transaction Report (CTR) forms contain both critical fields and non-critical fields. Each field is just as important as the other. Critical fields are marked critical for “technical filing purposes” which means that the BSA E-Filing system will not accept filings if these fields are not completed. Non-Critical fields provide key information to our Law Enforcement partners. How far should you go when completing non-critical fields?
Critical Fields
Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are deemed critical fields for “technical filing purposes” which means that the BSA E-Filing system will not accept filings if these fields are not completed. A common response when errors are found in critical fields is “I did not get an error when I filed.” FinCEN does not validate or verify that the information entered in a critical field is accurate and correct. A good practice is to implement a secondary review process for all SAR and CTR filings to avoid errors in the information entered.
Critical fields, on both SAR and CTR forms, consist of customer demographic information which all financial institutions are required to collect at the time of account opening. The CTR form also requires filers to complete fields such as Date of Transaction, Cash In and Cash Out details and Financial Institution information. The SAR form requires the filer to complete fields such as Amount involved in the SAR report, Date of Suspicious Activity and the form also requires the filer to write a narrative explaining the suspicious activity.
Financial institutions must complete critical fields with the information requested or check the “Unknown” box if the information is not available to the filer.
Non-Critical Fields
Non-Critical fields are just as important as critical fields. The difference between the two is that the BSA E-Filing system will accept a filing if non-critical fields are not completed.
Examples of non-critical fields on the CTR form include gender, occupation or type of business, NAICS Code, contact phone number and E-mail address. The SAR form has similar non-critical fields. Financial institutions, through their Customer Due Diligence (CDD) processes, are collecting information during the account opening process that will assist them in completing non-critical fields. Feedback from Law Enforcement has shown that information in non-critical fields is very important. They can use this information to query on when working through investigations.
FinCEN outlined their expectations regarding non-critical fiends in FIN-2012-G002 which was published on March 29, 2012. The guidance states “FinCEN expects, however, that financial institutions will provide the most complete filing information available within each report consistent with existing regulatory expectations, regardless of whether or not the individual fields are deemed critical for technical filing purposes.” This is interpreted by the industry to mean if the Bank has the information on core systems or new account CDD forms, they should be including the information in SAR and CTR filings to paint a more complete and clear picture of the subject and activity being reported.
Financial institutions should adopt the practice of completing as many fields as possible when filing a CTR or SAR.
Article compiled by Michael McLaughlin, for additional information please visit our contact us page
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