A Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) is required under which conditions?

• A. It is required for any cyber fraud investigations.
• B. It is required whenever insider abuse in any amount, transactions aggregating $5,000 or more that involve potential money laundering or Bank Secrecy Act violations, and violations aggregating $25,000 or more regardless of a suspect.
• C. It is required only when transactions exceed $50,000.
• D. It is not used for currency transactions.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is understanding when a SAR must be filed under the Bank Secrecy Act. A SAR is required whenever there is suspicious activity that could indicate money laundering or other BSA violations, with specific thresholds guiding when reporting is triggered. The strict triggers are: insider abuse in any amount; transactions totaling $5,000 or more that involve potential money laundering or BSA violations; and violations totaling $25,000 or more regardless of who the suspect is. This framework helps identify patterns of illicit activity across different scenarios.

Note that large currency movements have their own reporting rule (CTR), but that doesn’t mean SARs can’t be filed for suspicious currency activity. The option claiming no SAR is used for currency transactions is therefore incorrect. Likewise, the other choices are too narrow or specify thresholds that aren’t aligned with these rules.