SAR filing refers to the submission of a Suspicious Activity Report by a financial institution, including insurers, to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) when it detects transactions that may involve money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, or other financial crimes. Insurance-related SARs can arise from unusual premium payments, policy loans, surrenders, or beneficiary changes that lack clear economic purpose. SAR filings are confidential; firms are prohibited from disclosing to the subject that a SAR has been filed. Robust SAR filing processes are central to an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program and help regulators identify patterns of illicit activity across institutions.

In practice, front-line staff and advisors receive AML training to spot red flags-such as large cash payments, rapid policy turnover, or third-party premium funding-and to escalate concerns to compliance rather than confronting clients directly. Compliance teams investigate alerts and decide whether the facts warrant SAR filing under regulatory thresholds. Advisors rarely see the SAR filing itself but may notice that certain transactions are delayed or denied. Understanding SAR filing helps advisors appreciate why AML procedures are strict, why documentation requests can be extensive, and why the firm sometimes must refuse or exit business relationships that appear suspicious.