2.1 Introduction to US SAR

US SAR stands for the United States Suspicious Activity Report. As a part of regulations and compliance, a Financial Services Organization has to perform appropriate analysis and report any suspicious activities that may lead to fraud and money laundering to the regulatory authorities. These regulatory bodies are responsible for safeguarding financial institutions and consumers from abuse, providing transparency in the country's financial system, enhancing that country's security, and deterring and detecting criminal activity in the financial system.

Financial institutions are required to provide data regarding suspicious activities to their geographic region's regulatory authority, that is Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the US. This data is delivered to the FinCEN through regulatory reports. These reports, depending on the regulatory geographic region, can be delivered in a paper format or in an electronic .