FinCEN Reporting Requirements: A Plain-Language Guide
Financial institutions and certain businesses report certain financial transactions to FinCEN. What the agency is, what BSA reporting means, and what the real estate rule adds.
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What FinCEN is and what BSA reporting means
FinCEN is the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It is part of the Treasury Department. It gathers reports on money moving through banks and other firms.
The reporting side of that job runs under the bank secrecy act. FinCEN's advisory says BSA reporting refers to legal requirements for financial institutions and certain businesses to report certain financial transactions to FinCEN. That sentence answers most of the question people ask about FinCEN reporting requirements.
So BSA reporting is not one form. It is a set of duties, each tied to a rule in Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The two best known reports are the currency transaction report and the suspicious activity report.
The reports financial institutions file: CTRs and SARs
A currency transaction report, or CTR, is filed for cash. FinCEN's advisory says a currency transaction report covers a transaction in currency of more than $10,000 in aggregate per business day. The word aggregate matters. Several cash deposits by one customer in one day can count together.
There is a clock on it. The FFIEC manual says a completed CTR must be electronically filed with FinCEN within 15 calendar days after the date of the transaction. The CTR currency transaction report page walks through the form itself.
The other report covers suspicion rather than size. § 1020.320 requires every bank to file a report of any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation. The steps for a bank are on the file suspicious activity report page.
How filings are made: the BSA E-Filing System
These reports go to FinCEN. § 1010.306 says reports required by §§ 1010.311, 1010.313, 1020.315, 1021.311 and 1021.313 shall be filed with FinCEN, unless otherwise specified. The same section says forms for reports under those sections may be obtained from the BSA E-Filing System.
The system does more than accept files. The FFIEC manual says FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System allows for tracking of filings and sends users acknowledgement notifications and other correspondence. A filer can see what went in and what came back.
FinCEN's residential real estate reporting rule
The residential real estate rule reaches past banks. § 1031.320 says a reportable transfer must be reported to FinCEN by the reporting person. The report is a Real Estate Report, filed with FinCEN online.
This is the rule people mean when they ask what FinCEN is in real estate. The full picture is on the FinCEN real estate reporting page.
Who reports and how the reporting person is chosen
§ 1031.320 lets the duty move to another person by a designation agreement.
A designation agreement does this. § 1031.320 says a designation agreement must be in writing, and a separate agreement is required for each reportable transfer. It also says the agreement must list the date. It must list the transferor's name and address, and the transferee's name and address.
So the duty can pass to someone else in the deal only in writing.
What the Real Estate Report must contain
The form asks for the people and the property.
For the buyer side, § 1031.320 says the reporting person must report each transferee entity's full legal name, trade name, complete current address, and unique identifying number. Where a trust is the buyer, § 1031.320 says an individual trustee of a transferee trust is considered a beneficial owner of the trust. And for anyone who signs, § 1031.320 requires each signing individual's full legal name, date of birth, address, unique identifying number and capacity to act to be reported.
For the seller side, § 1031.320 requires a legal entity transferor's full legal name, trade name, complete current address and unique identifying number to be reported. Where a trust sells, § 1031.320 requires a trust transferor's full legal name, the date the trust instrument was executed and trustee information to be reported.
For the property, § 1031.320 requires the property's street address, legal description and the date of closing to be reported.
The rule text
The rule text sets out the requirements above. Those are the parts a reporting person must get right.
Sources
- FFIEC BSA/AML Assessing Compliance with BSA Regulatory Requirements - Currency Transaction Reporting
- Elderly Financial Exploitation Advisory
- 31 CFR § 1020.320 Reports by banks of suspicious transactions (eCFR, Title 31 Chapter X, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of the Treasury) (31 CFR 1020.320) (FinCEN) (Bank Secrecy Act regulations)
- 31 CFR § 1031.320 Reports of residential real property transfers (eCFR, Title 31 Chapter X, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of the Treasury) (31 CFR 1031.320) (FinCEN) (Bank Secrecy Act regulations)
- 31 CFR § 1010.306 Filing of reports (eCFR, Title 31 Chapter X, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of the Treasury) (31 CFR 1010.306) (FinCEN) (Bank Secrecy Act regulations)