U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said new federal guidance on Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) is intended to ease banks’ “pain points” and shift U.S. anti-money laundering oversight toward measurable effectiveness, according to AML Intelligence.

At a conference in Washington, D.C., Bessent told attendees that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and federal bank regulators are drafting a rule that will define what constitutes an “effective” AML/CFT program, the news outlet said. 

“My expectation is that a proposal will re-center supervision where it should be: on the effectiveness of a bank’s AML/CFT program,” Bessent said, according to the report. 

The remarks follow FinCEN’s release of updated SAR guidance aimed at cutting red tape. The guidance clarifies how banks should structure SARs, explains expectations around “Continuing Activity Reviews,” and states that institutions do not need to create documentation to justify not filing a SAR.

“These are commonsense yet consequential reforms,” Bessent said, according to AML Intelligence. “They will ease regulatory burdens without undermining law enforcement efforts.” 

He added that forthcoming changes will “position FinCEN as a gatekeeper for AML/CFT enforcement,” calling it “a significant departure from the past,” when supervisors often applied a “zero-tolerance focus on process and documentation.”

Bessent argued that narrowing wide supervisory discretion and emphasizing higher-value activities will better align oversight with statutory requirements and national security priorities. 

Read more at AML Intelligence

Read FinCEN’s SAR guidance here