MROS 2018 annual report Number of SARs at record highs
MROS 2018 annual report - key highlights
Each year in April, the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) publishes an annual activity report to share its practices and observations with the financial community and the broader public. This executive summary provides a snapshot of the relevant messages extracted from the 2018 MROS report.
Suspicious activities reports at record highs
2018 was the third reporting year in a row where reporting volume hit record highs. The MROS received 6,126 SARs (suspicious activities reports) amounting to more than CHF 17.5 billion in reported assets. In two years, the number of SARs has more than doubled. It should be noted that 2,546 SARs from 2018 still have not been analyzed yet, so the number of cases forwarded may be even higher.
Prosecuting authorities even busier than last year
As illustrated below, the general trend in number of SARs continued to increase massively in 2018, with a 30% increase compared to the previous year.
A new calculation method for the proportion of SARs forwarded to the prosecution authorities was introduced in 2017. According to this method, 65.1% of the analyzed 4,125 SARs were forwarded to the prosecuting authorities (2017: 64.9%).
SARs filings – high asset value
Not only the number of cases but also the total asset values have increased amounting to more than CHF 17.5 billion (in the previous record year of 2017: CHF 16.5 billion). However, the average in substantial assets involved in an SAR decreased compared to 2017 (more than CHF 2.8 million compared to CHF 3.5 million).