NCA publishes SARs report 2020-22

NCA has published its SARs annual report, which covers a 2 year period since it did not publish one in 2021. Key statistics are:

• a record over 900,000 SARs received and processed in the last financial year – 21% up on the previous year
• £505.7m denied to criminals as a result of DAML SARs – a 120% increase – but with only 83,000 DAMLs received last year – 21% down on the previous year
• only just over 2,000 DAMLs were refused – and many of those were then subsequently granted
• SARs relating to crypto are increasing fast, with over 350 per day now being identified
• a significant increase in staff
• unsurprisingly, 74% of SARs made by banks

On the horizon are plans for a new SAR portal and bulk API technology.