Can You Comment When SARs Come Up?

Banking Exchange
8 minute read | June.04.2018

Recent news related to the investigation of Russian influence in the U.S. political process has drawn the public’s attention to the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) system and raised questions about its integrity.

Financial institutions, among others, are required to file SARs with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reporting certain financial transactions that are suspicious or otherwise indicative of criminal activity. SARs reported to FinCEN are accessible by federal and state law enforcement and intelligence agencies, but their dissemination or disclosure to the press, and thereby to the public, or even the reporting institution’s own customer is prohibited.

Originally published in Banking Exchange; reprinted with permission.

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Preston Burton Partner, White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance, Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

Washington, D.C.

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D:+1 202 349 8065
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Practice:

White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance
Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

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Preston Burton Partner

Washington, D.C.

Over the course of his career, Preston has tried more than 50 criminal cases to verdict, representing individual and corporate clients in complex federal white collar criminal cases, governmental and civil proceedings and congressional and internal investigations. He also has handled more than 10 appeals before the D.C. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit and Fourth Circuit.

His work is punctuated by numerous front-page cases, representing such high-profile clients as Monica Lewinsky, former CIA intelligence agent Aldrich H. Ames and former FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen. He has represented business executives and companies in areas such as public corruption investigations, criminal antitrust matters, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and export control violations, False Claims Act (FCA) cases and procurement fraud. Many of his cases have involved cross-border investigations, including extradition requests and multi-jurisdictional enforcement actions. He has also handled congressional investigations, as well as numerous matters involving national security issues, including the representation of several intelligence agency officials and serving most recently as an amicus appointed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Since 2010, Preston has been ranked as a leading lawyer in White Collar Crime & Government Investigations by Chambers USA, which noted, “He is renowned throughout the legal community as someone with great trial skills and a great strategic sense." He has also been recognized for Corporate Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense by Legal 500, which noted that he “has a formidable reputation for individual representations and is known for strategic thinking and willingness to try cases.” Benchmark Litigation 2019 named him as a top practitioner in White Collar and Securities Litigation.

Before joining Orrick, Preston was a partner at Buckley LLP and a member of the firm’s partner board. He joined Buckley from Poe & Burton PLLC, a boutique litigation firm he co-founded in 2011. Prior to that, he led the litigation practice of Orrick’s Washington, D.C. office. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Boyce F. Martin Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.