On January 4, 2017, FinCEN released guidance FIN-2017-G001, Sharing Suspicious Activity Reports with U.S. Parents and Affiliates of Casinos. This guidance was issued to confirm that a Casino that has filed a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) may share the SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of the SAR, with each office or place of business of either the Casino, a parent, or affiliate of the Casino located within the United States.
Sharing SARs will facilitate enterprise-wide risk management and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Casinos will be better equipped to identify suspicious activity and parents or affiliates will be provided with a clear and comprehensive understanding of suspicious activity identified by Casinos.
There are limitations to the information a Casino can share, including the following:
- Parents, affiliates, offices, or other places of business located outside the U.S., including non-U.S. offices of domestic parents or affiliates;
- Individuals or entities within a parent or Casino’s organizational structure who performs functions unrelated to gaming;
- A financial institution without an independent SAR-filing obligation; or
- Money services businesses that may be co-located with a Casino but is not an affiliate of the Casino.
Any affiliate or parent that obtains a SAR from a Casino cannot forward that SAR to another affiliate. In addition, a Casino, affiliate, or both, would be liable for the direct or indirect disclosure of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, to any person who is the subject of the SAR. To ensure the confidentiality of the SAR, Casinos should have policies, procedures, and internal controls in place.