When do I submit a SAR to SOCA?

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 expanded, reformed and consolidated the UK's criminal money laundering offences. Most of the offences under the Act apply to all individuals and businesses in the UK, however, some apply only to those doing business in the 'regulated sector'. A SAR should be made as soon as the knowledge or suspicion that criminal proceeds exist has arisen, especially if consent may be required, or at the earliest opportunity thereafter.

How do I submit my suspicion to SOCA?

SOCA's preferred method for reporters to submit their suspicion is the SOCA Suspicious Activity Report Form. SOCA prefers these forms to be submitted electronically (see below) but hardcopy versions of the forms (including Limited Intelligence Value Reports) can be found on the SOCA website or obtained directly from SOCA. These can then be posted to the address below. Hardcopy consent requests should be faxed to 0207 238 8286.

Electronic Reporting

Those organisations that currently use the Money.web system or Encrypted Bulk File submission should continue to submit reports electronically, using the existing reporting format. Please do not email completed disclosures to SOCA without encryption. Any enquiries should be directed to the Money.web Support Team on 020 7238 2888 or at moneywebsupport@soca.x.gsi.gov.uk

SAR Online, SOCA's web based reporting mechanism, can be used by anyone with access to the internet. https://www.ukciu.gov.uk/saronline.aspx

Hardcopy reporting

Any reporter choosing not to use one of the electronic reporting methods is advised to obtain a copy of the SOCA Preferred Form. Those wishing to complete reports on their own computer should download these from the SOCA website.

Please do not complete the version of the Form downloaded from the Internet by hand as the misreading of handwriting increases the potential for errors when disclosures are keyed onto the SOCA system.

Hardcopy reports should be sent to: UK FIU, PO Box 8000, London SE11 5EN.

If you currently submit by post but would like to report electronically visit the SAR Online System or alternatively contact the Money.web support team

Acknowledgement Letters

SOCA will not acknowledge any SAR sent by fax, post, or by letter. Electronic submissions through money.web, bulk submission or through the SAR Online system, will receive an acknowledgment which will include an automatically generated ELMER reference number.

If you have submitted a consent request, the Consent Team will contact you directly with the decision by telephone within the seven day notice period, and then post the appropriate letter to you as confirmation.

If you have any queries relating to acknowledgments please write to the SAR Team at UKFIU, PO BOX 8000, London, SE11 5EN.

Source Registration

Confidentiality is something that SOCA takes seriously and as such we are keen to create an environment within which the reporters and SOCA can communicate securely. There are many reporters that share similar or identical names with others throughout the country. Therefore, it is important that source registration forms are completed with as many details as possible and, in the case of hard copy reporting, sent in with the first SAR. If any of the details change, a subsequent source registration form should be sent as soon as possible to SOCA marked as an update to the original record.

Installation instructions

The SOCA Forms available from this site are in Portable Document Format (PDF). The Forms can be completed electronically (on your own personal computer). To view, complete and print completed forms you will need the freely available Acrobat 5.0 Reader (or later) software installed on your personal computer.

Step 1 Download the latest copy of Adobe Reader from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html.

Step 2 Download the relevant Form from the SOCA website to your personal computer.

Please note that the freely available Acrobat Reader does not allow saving of completed, or partially completed, forms to disk on your personal computer but will allow the form to be printed and submitted by post. The ability to save completed or partially completed forms is available commercially with the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 (or later) full product.

Standard Suspicious Activity Report Form

The Standard Form consists of six separate sheets ('modules') below. Please see Guidance for completing the Standard Form for details of which modules to complete.

• Module 1 - Source Registration Document [.pdf, 30 KB]
  (only needs to be completed when an organisation makes its first SAR to SOCA, or when its contact details change).
• Module 2 - Report Details [.pdf, 45 KB]
• Module 3 - Subject Details [.pdf, 243 KB]
• Module 4 - Additional Details [.pdf, 163 KB]
• Module 5 - Transaction Details [.pdf, 247 KB]
• Module 6 - Reason for Suspicion [.pdf, 97 KB]
• Module 8 - Reason for Suspicion Continuation [.pdf, 74 KB]

Limited Intelligence Value Suspicious Activity Report Form

• Guidance for completing the Limited Intelligence Value Report Form [.pdf, 156 KB]
• Limited Intelligence Value Report Form [.pdf, 62 KB]

If you experience any difficulty in accessing these forms, please contact the SAR Team at UKFIU, PO Box 8000, London SE11 5EN) with details of the version of Adobe Acrobat used, the name of the form you wish to obtain, a contact number and full postal address