Finmin modified Format for Reporting Suspicious Transactions to combat Black-money Menace

The Finance Ministry under pressure to unearth black money on 19 July 2011 modified the format for reporting suspicious transactions to help enforcement and regulatory agencies take prompt action to deal with the menace.

The new reporting formats such as Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs), Counterfeit Currency Reports (CCRs) and Non-Profit Organisation Transaction Reports (NTRs) -- were introduced after the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) made operational its ambitious intelligence network project sanctioned in 2006.

The earlier prescribed multiple data files reporting format is set to be replaced by a new XML file format. Three new formats -account-based reporting, format and transaction-based reporting format for filing STRs , CTRs and NTRs and a separate reporting format to file CCRs were introduced and notified to RBI , SEBI and IRDA and other relevant entities.

The new network, called FINnet ( Financial Intelligence Network )deployed to tackle the menace of black money is a technology-based secure platform for bringing together investigative and enforcement agencies to collect, analyse and disseminate valuable financial information for combating money laundering and related crimes.

The civil society in the recent past stepped up pressure on the government to unearth black money and introduced various measures to crack down on financial scams, frauds and large-scale tax evasion.