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The UK’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) has published its guide on how suspicious activity report (SAR) intelligence is being used by law enforcement, aiming to demonstrate SAR filing best practices.
The report also shows what actions are taken in response to SARs. UKFIU receives over 570,000 SARs a year, according to Comply Advantage blog. In a report at the end of 2020, it noted a flood of new SARs from fintech firms. The number filed in 2019-20 was 264% higher than in 2018-19. Still, the overwhelming majority – around 75% – still come from banks.
Also, AML/CFT regulated sectors such as accountancy, law, gaming, and estate agencies make up a small proportion of the number of SARs filed annually, raising concerns for regulators.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has also argued that some SARs are of low quality or are unnecessary, calling for deeper reform of the system. This came several years after the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) 2018 mutual evaluation of the UK, in which it called for reform of the UK’s SARs regime. In response to that review, the Home Office launched a ‘SARs transformation program’.
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