Why Most Bangladeshi Banks Struggle with SAR Narrative Writing
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash I still remember the day our team at a leading Bangladeshi bank was tasked with reviewing over 10,000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in a matter of weeks. The pressure was on, with the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) breathing down our necks. We were struggling to keep up, and I couldn't help but wonder: why was writing SAR narratives such a nightmare? As it turns out, standard approaches to SAR narrative writing just don't cut it in Bangladesh. The hidden problem lies in the unique characteristics of our financial landscape. With the rise of mobile financial services (MFS) like bKash and Nagad, transactions are becoming increasingly complex. The BDT 100,000 threshold for monitoring transactions is a good starting point, but it's not enough to catch all suspicious activity. The Hidden Problem So, what's going wrong? For starters, most banks are using outdated systems that can't handle the sheer volume of transact...