Voluntary SARs and 314(b) Information Sharing for Dealers

A dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels has no duty to file suspicious activity reports and no duty to share information with other institutions. It may do both. The law gives each a liability shield and attaches conditions to each, and a dealer that uses either tool without knowing the conditions can lose the protection or break the confidentiality rule that comes with it.

Where the dealer rule stops

Part 1027 of FinCEN's regulations sets out what dealers must do. Its reporting subpart has a section for Form 8300 cash reporting and nothing else: §§ 1027.310 through 1027.320 are marked "[Reserved]" (31 CFR Part 1027). Banks, broker-dealers, money services businesses, and casinos each have a SAR rule in their own part. Dealers do not.

That gap was deliberate and has been explained since the dealer rule began. In the 2005 interim final rule, FinCEN wrote that the rule "does not require a dealer to file reports of suspicious activity with FinCEN," that dealers "are strongly encouraged to file suspicious activity reports" when they suspect illegal funds or a transaction with no apparent lawful purpose, and that FinCEN was "considering proposing a suspicious activity reporting rule in the future" (70 FR 33702, June 9, 2005). As of November 2026, no dealer SAR rule has been adopted. FinCEN's April 2026 proposal to reform AML/CFT program requirements does not add one either; our post on the 2026 proposal covers what it does change.

Sorting the rules the way we sort every dealer obligation:

Required of dealers: the four-part AML program in 31 CFR 1027.210, including procedures for making reasonable inquiries and for refusing or ending transactions that may involve money laundering. Form 8300 for cash over $10,000 also applies, as it does to every trade or business.
Voluntary, and documented if you choose it: filing a SAR, registering for 314(b) sharing, and checking the suspicious-transaction box on a Form 8300.
Rules for other institutions: the mandatory SAR rules (for example, the bank rule's 30-day filing deadline), the bank SAR confidentiality regulation at 31 CFR 1020.320(e), and the CDD beneficial ownership rule. None of these applies to dealers.

Dealers are financial institutions under the statute

The two liability shields discussed below are written for "financial institutions." A dealer qualifies. The Bank Secrecy Act's list of financial institutions includes "a dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels" (31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(N)). That statutory status is why a voluntary SAR from a dealer falls under the same statute that governs a bank's required SAR, and why FinCEN's 314(b) program lists dealers among the eligible participants.

Filing a SAR voluntarily

How a dealer files

Voluntary SARs go through the same channel as required ones: the FinCEN SAR, filed electronically through BSA E-Filing. FinCEN's current filing instructions say that financial institutions "may also file with FinCEN a report of any suspicious transaction that it believes is relevant to the possible violation of any law or regulation but whose reporting is not required by 31 CFR Chapter X." They also tell dealers exactly how to identify themselves: select "Other" as the type of financial institution and enter "DEALER IN PRECIOUS METALS STONES JEWELS" (FinCEN SAR Filing Instructions, April 2026, Items 51 and 79).

A dealer that has never filed needs a BSA E-Filing account first; set it up in advance.

What the safe harbor says

The protection is in 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3). A financial institution "that makes a voluntary disclosure of any possible violation of law or regulation to a government agency," and any director, officer, employee, or agent who makes it, "shall not be liable to any person" under federal or state law, or under any contract or arbitration agreement, "for such disclosure or for any failure to provide notice of such disclosure" to the person it concerns. The word "voluntary" is in the text. A dealer filing without a rule that requires it is squarely the kind of filer the provision names, and FinCEN told dealers so in 2005, citing this section.

Two limits are worth knowing.

It protects against private claims, not the government. The statute says it does not create "any immunity against" civil or criminal actions brought by a government to enforce its laws (5318(g)(3)(B)). Filing a SAR about your own transaction does not shield the dealer from an enforcement action over that transaction.
Courts disagree on whether good faith is required. The text never mentions good faith. The Second Circuit (Lee v. Bankers Trust, 1999) and the First Circuit (Stoutt v. Banco Popular, 2003) read it as an unqualified privilege. The Eleventh Circuit (Lopez v. First Union, 1997) required a good-faith suspicion. The First Circuit reaffirmed its reading in 2019 and described the split in detail (AER Advisors v. Fidelity Brokerage Services, 1st Cir. 2019). FinCEN's filing instructions describe "complete protection from civil liability" for voluntary reports, but that is FinCEN's reading, and the cases involved a bank and a brokerage. A dealer is safest filing only on a genuine, written basis, which every circuit's reading protects.

The confidentiality bar applies to voluntary filers too

Under 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A), if a financial institution "voluntarily or pursuant to this section or any other authority" reports a suspicious transaction to a government agency, neither it nor its current or former directors, officers, employees, or contractors may notify any person involved "that the transaction has been reported," or reveal information that would reveal it. FinCEN gave dealers the same caution in 2005.

Banks have a regulation behind SAR confidentiality. A dealer has only the statute, so its own procedure has to supply the rest: who knows a filing was made, where the copy and supporting documents are kept (FinCEN's instructions call for retaining supporting documentation for five years), and what staff say when a customer asks why a sale was declined or delayed. The answer to that customer cannot hint at a report.

The Form 8300 route

There is a second voluntary channel for cash transactions. The IRS's Form 8300 Reference Guide says a business "may report suspicious transactions by checking the 'suspicious transaction' box (box 1b)" and may voluntarily file a Form 8300 for a suspicious transaction of $10,000 or less. No customer statement is required for a voluntary filing, and the guide says that "under no circumstances should the parties on the form be made aware of a suspicious Form 8300 filing." Box 1b covers cash. It is no substitute for a SAR on a wire-funded order.

Writing the decision into your program

Because filing is voluntary, the program should not say the dealer "must file within 30 days." That is the bank rule, and promising it in writing creates an obligation your examiner or independent tester can hold you to (see Your AML Program Is Not a Bank's). What it should say:

Who decides whether to file (usually the compliance officer) and who reviews that decision.
The kinds of facts that lead to a filing review, tied to the red flags in your risk assessment.
That the decision and its reasons are recorded either way, including a decision not to file.
How the filing is kept confidential, and how staff respond to customer questions.
How the review connects to the required duty under 1027.210 to make reasonable inquiries and to refuse or end a transaction when warranted.

314(b): sharing with other institutions

Dealers are eligible

Section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act lets financial institutions share information with each other about possible money laundering or terrorist activity under a safe harbor. The dealer rule cross-refers to it: 31 CFR 1027.540 says "Refer to § 1010.540." FinCEN's Section 314(b) Fact Sheet, reissued June 12, 2026, lists "Dealers in Precious Metals, Precious Stones, or Jewels (31 C.F.R. § 1027.540)" among the eligible institutions. Participation, it says, "is voluntary."

One limit on eligibility matters for small businesses. Under 31 CFR 1010.540(a)(1), an eligible financial institution is one "required under this chapter to establish and maintain an anti-money laundering program." A business that falls under the dealer test thresholds has no program requirement, so it is not an eligible participant, even though it sells the same goods.

The conditions

The safe harbor in 1010.540(b)(5) is lost "to the extent" a participant fails to meet the conditions in (b)(2) through (b)(4). They are:

Notice to FinCEN, renewed yearly. Each notice is "effective for the one year period beginning on the date of the notice," and continuing to share requires a new one (1010.540(b)(2)). The fact sheet says registration is now done through FinCEN's FI Portal.
Verify the other party. Before sharing, take "reasonable steps to verify" that the other institution has filed its own notice, either through FinCEN's list of participants or by confirming directly with it (1010.540(b)(3)). The fact sheet says the FI Portal has a searchable directory of participants.
Use limits. Information received may be used only to identify and, where appropriate, report money laundering or terrorist activity; to decide whether to open or keep an account or engage in a transaction; or to help comply with FinCEN's rules (1010.540(b)(4)(i)).
Security. Each participant must keep "adequate procedures to protect the security and confidentiality" of what it receives (1010.540(b)(4)(ii)).

When the conditions are met, the statute protects a participant from liability "to any person" under federal or state law or any contract "for such disclosure or for any failure to provide notice" to the person identified, "except where such transmission, receipt, or sharing violates this section or regulations promulgated pursuant to this section" (USA PATRIOT Act § 314(b), printed as a note to 31 U.S.C. 5311).

What 314(b) does not allow

It does not allow sharing a SAR. FinCEN's fact sheet says 314(b) "does not authorize financial institutions to share SARs or reveal their existence." A dealer can tell a participating bank about the transactions and facts that concerned it. It cannot tell the bank that it filed.

It also does not create a reporting duty. Under 1010.540(c), an institution "that is not subject to a suspicious activity reporting requirement is not required to file" a SAR because of what it learns through 314(b), though FinCEN says such an institution "is encouraged" to report voluntarily. That sentence describes dealers exactly.

Why a dealer might register

The June 2026 fact sheet says sharing may cover fraud, a predicate offense for money laundering, and may happen in real time, in writing, verbally, or electronically.

Consider a dealer that receives a large wire for a bullion order from a new customer, and the customer then asks to have the metal shipped to a third party in another state. The dealer suspects the funds came from a scam victim. If both the dealer and the sending bank are registered and the dealer has verified the bank's registration, the two can compare what they know before the metal ships. Without 314(b), any exchange about the customer's account would happen outside the safe harbor.

Or consider two registered dealers who each suspect that the same seller is bringing in stolen scrap. Comparing notes to decide whether to keep buying is one of the permitted uses.

Registering brings a yearly renewal, verification before each new sharing relationship, and written use and security procedures. A dealer that would rarely use it may reasonably decline, and should record why.

314(a) is a different program

The dealer rule also cross-refers to 31 CFR 1010.520 (in 1027.520). That section, implementing section 314(a), is not voluntary. It lets FinCEN, on a certified request from law enforcement (or on its own certified request), "require any financial institution to search its records" for accounts or transactions with named subjects and report matches (31 CFR 1010.520(b)). The definition of financial institution in that section is every institution listed in 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2), which includes dealers.

FinCEN's 314(a) fact sheet describes bi-weekly notices sent to "designated contacts within financial institutions," without listing which kinds of institutions receive them. Whether a given dealer will ever receive a 314(a) request is therefore not something the public materials settle. A dealer that does receive one has to search the records the rule describes, report any match in the manner and time frame the request specifies, and not disclose that FinCEN asked (1010.520(b)(3)).

What industry codes say

The Responsible Jewellery Council's 2024 Code of Practices requires members' know-your-counterparty procedures to "monitor transactions for unusual or suspicious activity and report suspicions of money laundering or financing of terrorism to the relevant authority as applicable" (COP 12.1(d)). That binds RJC members only, and "as applicable" leaves the duty to national law, which for U.S. dealers is voluntary filing. A written voluntary-filing procedure is how a member answers that provision.

The short version

Decide whether you will file SARs voluntarily and write the decision process, not a deadline, into the program. If you register for 314(b), calendar the annual renewal and verify each counterparty first. Never share a SAR, or the fact that you filed one. The requirements that do apply are listed in our Dealer Guide, and short answers to common questions are on the FAQ.