Suspicious activity reporting impacts AISs in several ways. Because so much of the
information within AISs is financial, these systems are often used to launder money or
conduct criminal activities. A corollary to this fact is that AISs document financial activities
in the course of daily transaction processing, and therefore become important sources of
SAR evidence and subsequent legal action. Finally, SAR can act as a deterrent to criminal or
terrorist activities—and therefore an important control for AISs.
Figure 1-4 contains a classification of SAR reports for ten years of filings from banks
and other depository institutions—one of the most important sources of these filings. In
this figure, note the importance of money laundering and check frauds