Suspicious-Activity Rules to Include Firms

The Treasury Department said securities firms would face the same rules on reporting suspicious activities that banks have faced for years, beginning Jan. 1.

Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, released the final version of its suspicious-activity reporting rules for securities firms, about six months after they were proposed.

The rules will require securities firms to file so-called suspicious-activity reports, or SARs, with FinCEN if a transaction of $5,000 or more is suspected of involving illegal proceeds, is meant to further “a criminal purpose,” is structured to avoid such reporting or appears to serve no apparent purpose.