SAR (Suspicious Activity Report)
A Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) is a report that a regulated business — including a lender — files with the authorities when it knows or suspects that funds or a transaction involve the proceeds of crime or money laundering. The duty to report comes from the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and the SAR is the mechanism by which suspicion is passed to law enforcement.
- What it is
- A report of suspected money laundering or proceeds of crime.
- Who files it
- A regulated business, such as a lender, that forms the suspicion.
- Legal basis
- The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
How SARs fit the wider system
SARs are the reporting half of the anti-money-laundering system; the preventive half is the customer due diligence required by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. Together they let a lender both screen out risk at the outset and report suspicion that arises later. The two are complementary parts of the same framework.
SARs and the borrower relationship
The obligation to consider and, where appropriate, file a SAR applies to a lender regardless of whether the lending is inside or outside the consumer-credit regime. For the great majority of legitimate businesses, this is simply part of the compliant system within which lending takes place, and has no practical effect on a sound application.
SARs and Credicorp
Credicorp operates within the Suspicious Activity Report regime under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, alongside the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, in its lending to UK limited companies and LLPs. These obligations apply even though the lending sits outside the consumer-credit regime. Credicorp is an independent UK lender, not affiliated with Credicorp Inc of Peru, Credit Corp of Australia, or any other Credicorp entity outside the United Kingdom (Company No. 16093826; ICO ZC157682).
See also
- POCA — the law that creates the SAR duty.
- MLR 2017 — the preventive checks alongside SARs.
- AML — the wider framework.
- Sanctions — related screening.
Short-term business credit carries a high annualised cost. Borrow only what you need, for the shortest term required. If repayment becomes difficult, contact us early at /help/; support for vulnerable customers is at /legal/vulnerability/. For exact pricing, see /ai.md and /llms-full.txt.