When must an MSB file a SAR, and what are the deadlines?

A money services business (MSB) covered by the federal rule must file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) when a transaction conducted or attempted by, at, or through it involves or aggregates at least $2,000 (or $5,000 for a money order or traveler's check issuer that finds the activity by reviewing clearance or similar records of instruments sold or processed), and the MSB knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect it fits one of four categories (31 CFR 1022.320). The SAR is due no later than 30 calendar days after the MSB first detects facts that may be a basis for filing, with no extension.

Which MSBs must file

The duty applies to the MSB types in 31 CFR 1010.100(ff)(1) and (3) to (7): dealers in foreign exchange, issuers and sellers of traveler's checks or money orders, providers of prepaid access, money transmitters, the U.S. Postal Service (except for sales of postage or philatelic products), and sellers of prepaid access. A business that is an MSB only as a check casher is not required to file. Any MSB may file a SAR voluntarily. The free MSB check helps you see which, if any, fits you.

The test

For a covered MSB (any MSB but a check-casher-only one), a transaction must be reported when all three of these are true (§ 1022.320(a)(1)-(2)):

1. It involved you. It was "conducted or attempted by, at, or through" the MSB.
2. It meets the threshold. It "involves or aggregates funds or other assets of at least $2,000."
3. You suspect it. The MSB "knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect" that the transaction, or a pattern it is part of, fits one of these categories:

• it involves funds from illegal activity, or is meant to hide or disguise such funds as part of a plan to violate or evade federal law or a federal reporting requirement;
• it is designed, through structuring or other means, to evade Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements;
• it "serves no business or apparent lawful purpose," and the MSB knows of no reasonable explanation after examining the available facts; or
• it "involves use of the money services business to facilitate criminal activity."

One threshold exception: an issuer of money orders or traveler's checks that finds the activity by reviewing clearance or similar records must report only transactions or patterns of at least $5,000 (§ 1022.320(a)(3)).

Structuring and the $10,000 line

A currency transaction report (CTR) is generally required for each cash transaction of more than $10,000 (31 CFR 1010.311). Structuring means conducting, or trying to conduct, cash transactions in any amount or manner to evade that reporting, such as splitting a larger sum into amounts at or below $10,000 (31 CFR 1010.100(xx)).

In the SAR FAQs (Oct. 9, 2025), FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Treasury bureau that administers the BSA) and four federal regulators said "The mere presence of a transaction or series of transactions by or on behalf of the same person at or near the $10,000 CTR threshold is not information sufficient to require the filing of a SAR." For a covered MSB (any MSB but a check-casher-only one), a SAR is required where you know, suspect, or have reason to suspect the activity is designed to evade reporting and it involves or aggregates at least $2,000, or $5,000 where a money order or traveler's check issuer finds it by reviewing clearance or similar records (31 CFR 1022.320(a)(1)-(3)). The SAR is due no later than 30 calendar days after initial detection; for a violation that requires immediate attention, also notify law enforcement by telephone right away (31 CFR 1022.320(b)(3)).

When more than one MSB is involved

Each MSB involved in a transaction must identify and report it, but only one report is required, "so long as the report filed contains all relevant facts." Whether the MSB that issued the instrument or provided the funds transfer is also liable for another MSB's failure to report depends on their contract or other relationship and the facts, under agency law: the rules on when a business is liable for those acting for it (§ 1022.320(a)(4)). Provided no person involved is notified that the transaction was reported, you may share the underlying facts, transactions and documents with another financial institution to prepare a joint SAR (§ 1022.320(d)(1)(ii)(A)(2)). The SAR itself stays confidential (§ 1022.320(d)(1)(i)).

The deadline

A covered MSB (not a check-casher-only MSB) must file each SAR no later than 30 calendar days after it first detects facts that may be a basis for filing (§ 1022.320(b)(3)). Unlike the bank rule (31 CFR 1020.320(b)(3)), there is no extension, even when no suspect is identified.

When does the clock start? FinCEN guidance says "initial detection" "should not be interpreted as meaning the moment a transaction is highlighted for review." The period starts once an appropriate review finds the activity suspicious. FinCEN adds that reviews "should be completed in a reasonable period of time" (SAR Activity Review, Issue 14, 2008).

Urgent cases. If a violation needs immediate attention, "such as ongoing money laundering schemes," a covered MSB must immediately notify an appropriate law enforcement authority by telephone, in addition to filing a SAR.

Continuing activity

The October 2025 FAQ says that, after filing, you need not run a separate review to see whether the activity continued. You may instead rely on risk-based policies, procedures and controls, provided they are reasonably designed to identify and report suspicious activity.

Continued activity meeting the test must still be reported. Earlier FinCEN guidance advised a continuing-activity SAR after each 90-day period. The SAR FAQs (Oct. 9, 2025) say you need not follow it and "may instead file SARs as appropriate in line with applicable timelines," for an MSB within 30 calendar days of initial detection (§ 1022.320(b)(3)).

Deciding not to file

The October 2025 FAQ says: "There is no requirement or expectation under the BSA or its implementing regulations for a financial institution to document its decision not to file a SAR."

Records

Keep a copy of each SAR, and the original or business record equivalent of the supporting documentation, for five years from the filing date. Supporting documentation must be made available to FinCEN, law enforcement, and the federal and state regulators that oversee your BSA compliance (§ 1022.320(c)).

Confidentiality

• Do not disclose a SAR, or any information that would reveal that one exists (§ 1022.320(d)(1)(i)).
• If you are subpoenaed or otherwise asked for a SAR, decline to produce it, cite § 1022.320 and 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i), and notify FinCEN of the request and your response.
• Never tell anyone involved in the transaction that it was reported (31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i)).

Provided no person involved in the transaction is notified, you may disclose a SAR to FinCEN, any federal, state or local law enforcement agency, and the federal and state regulators that oversee your BSA compliance (§ 1022.320(d)(1)(ii)(A)(1)).

The rule permits sharing within your corporate group only "for purposes consistent with Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act as determined by regulation or in guidance." In adopting that text in 2010, FinCEN said its affiliate-sharing guidance did not cover industries without a primary federal functional regulator, which include MSBs, and it did not extend its 2006 head-office guidance to other industries (75 FR 75593, 75599). Do not share a SAR, or anything revealing one, with a parent, head office or affiliate unless current FinCEN regulation or guidance permits it.

Safe harbor

An MSB and its directors, officers, employees and agents are protected from liability to any person for a SAR disclosure, or for not giving notice of it, to the full extent of 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3) (§ 1022.320(e)). The protection does not reach actions by a government enforcing its own laws (31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3)(B)(ii)).

Oversight and state law

MSBs "shall be examined by FinCEN or its delegatees" for compliance with the SAR rule (§ 1022.320(f)).

State laws vary. For example, the model Money Transmission Modernization Act of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which applies only where and as a state adopts it, requires licensees to file the reports required by the BSA and other federal and state money laundering laws, including SARs.

Next steps

Write procedures, and train staff, on the dollar thresholds, all four categories, the 30-day clock, urgent telephone notice, five-year records and confidentiality (31 CFR 1022.320).

Discuss with Forteris. For a second look at your SAR procedures, email [email protected].

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Forteris is not a law firm.

Last checked: October 2026

Sources

1. 31 CFR 1022.320, MSB SAR rule: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/section-1022.320
2. 31 CFR 1010.100(ff) and (xx), MSB and structuring definitions: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/section-1010.100
3. 31 CFR 1010.311, currency transaction reports: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/section-1010.311
4. 31 CFR 1020.320, bank SAR rule: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/section-1020.320
5. 31 CFR 1010.810, enforcement and examination authority: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/section-1010.810
6. 31 U.S.C. 310, FinCEN: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/310
7. 31 U.S.C. 5318(g): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/5318
8. FinCEN, Confidentiality of Suspicious Activity Reports, final rule, 75 FR 75593 (Dec. 3, 2010): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/12/03/2010-29869/financial-crimes-enforcement-network-confidentiality-of-suspicious-activity-reports
9. FinCEN, Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA and OCC, SAR FAQs (Oct. 9, 2025): https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2025-10/SAR-FAQs-October-2025.pdf
10. FinCEN, The SAR Activity Review, Issue 14 (Oct. 2008): https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/shared/sar_tti_14.pdf
11. FinCEN, Electronic Filing of BSA Reports, Final Notice, 77 FR 12367 (Feb. 29, 2012): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/02/29/2012-4756/agency-information-collection-and-reporting-activities-electronic-filing-of-bank-secrecy-act-bsa-reports-final-notice
12. FinCEN and OFAC, proposed rule, 91 FR 18582 (Apr. 10, 2026), on IRS examination of MSBs: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/10/2026-06963/permitted-payment-stablecoin-issuer-anti-money-launderingcountering-the-financing-of-terrorism
13. CSBS, Model Money Transmission Modernization Act: https://www.csbs.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/CSBS%20Money%20Transmission%20Modernization%20Act.pdf
14. CSBS, About CSBS: https://www.csbs.org/about
15. FinCEN, MSB suspicious transaction reporting, final rule, 65 FR 13683 (Mar. 14, 2000): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2000-03-14/html/00-5919.htm