Glossary
STR (suspicious transaction report)
An STR is the report an institution files with the Financial Intelligence Centre when it suspects a transaction or activity is linked to crime.
STR (suspicious transaction report) explained
When an institution's monitoring or its staff notice activity that does not make commercial sense for the customer, and there is a reasonable ground to suspect money laundering, terrorist financing or another crime, the law requires it to report that suspicion to the financial intelligence unit. In Zambia that unit is the FIC, and the report is a suspicious transaction report.
An STR describes the customer, the transactions, why they look suspicious and what the institution did about it. Filing is confidential: the customer must not be told (this is called tipping off), and the institution is protected for reporting in good faith.
For example, a small retailer whose account suddenly receives large round-figure transfers from several unrelated individuals, followed by immediate withdrawals, would normally be investigated and, if the activity cannot be explained, reported.
Why it matters in life insurance
Reporting obligations for Zambian institutions come from the Financial Intelligence Centre Act No. 46 of 2010 (as amended), and reports are submitted electronically through goAML. Producing a complete, consistently formatted STR from an investigation file is where much manual effort goes. ERMAML, the Ontech Risk & Compliance Suite, drafts the STR in the goAML schema from the case record so the reviewer checks content rather than re-keying it.
Related terms
CTR (currency transaction report) · goAML · FIC (Financial Intelligence Centre) · AML (anti-money laundering)