Hi HN, we are an YC alum founding team rethinking back-office workflows for banks and credit unions. We're tackling a $100 billion problem with the kind of automation problems that require long-context reasoning, tool orchestration across many critical systems, and strict compliance loops: the ones without known answers.
We've shipped real agents that handle real customer workflows in production. With a growing customer base and live deployments, we're scaling up fast and looking for deeply technical builders who want to have outsized impact early.
See more about the role & apply here: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4281413302"},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2025)"}},"_tags":["comment","author_jd007","story_45093192"],"author":"jd007","comment_text":"Saris AI | Full-Stack + ML Engineers | Full-Time | Onsite / Remote | Montreal, Canada
Hi HN, we are an YC alum founding team rethinking back-office workflows for banks and credit unions. We're tackling a $100 billion problem with the kind of automation problems that require long-context reasoning, tool orchestration across many critical systems, and strict compliance loops: the ones without known answers.
We've shipped real agents that handle real customer workflows in production. With a growing customer base and live deployments, we're scaling up fast and looking for deeply technical builders who want to have outsized impact early.
See more about the role & apply here: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4281413302","created_at":"2025-09-01T23:40:19Z","created_at_i":1756770019,"objectID":"45097603","parent_id":45093192,"story_id":45093192,"story_title":"Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2025)","updated_at":"2026-03-05T22:36:20Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"rinka_singh"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"Very interestingly, I just got the following WhatsApp message in my College group that kinda resonated with this. Take this as you will:
True Gratitude
How should it be
A warm evening at the Grand Convention Center in New Delhi. Camera flashes were flashing everywhere. Security guards were chatting on walkie-talkies and people in loose shoes were milling around. The hall was packed with ministers, businessmen, dignitaries, and foreign guests. The most powerful men and women of the country were sitting in the first row.
In a corner chair in the third row, a petite woman dressed in a pale cotton sari was sitting. Her presence was not something that anyone would notice. The woman's name was Lakshmi Pichai. Very few people knew who she was. In the spotlight was her son Sundar Pichai - Google's CEO.
Sundar Pichai, a man who had overcome many obstacles to reach this position.\nToday, this evening, the Government of India would honor this son of Bharat. His felicitation was a rare event, for which the intelligent minds of the country were brought together. Sundar's gaze seemed to turn to her mother. She did not like being paid attention to. She was sitting quietly with her hands on her lap, but her eyes were filled with peaceful emotion.
As soon as Prime Minister Modi came on the stage, the program began with a round of applause. His speech, filled with very effective words and the passion for fulfilling dreams, hard work and basic values, was very powerful. He mentioned the names of industrialists, scientists and artists, which inspired enthusiasm in the audience. Then his voice came from deep. And he said, Today we are not just honoring Sundar Pichai, we are honoring the life journey of a mother who once gave up her food so that her son could study.
Sundar's heart beat faster. He had never said this publicly. There was absolute silence in the hall. Cameras moved to capture the incident. People looked around. \nModiji quietly got down from the podium, but he did not go towards Sundar, but towards a woman wearing a plain cotton sari sitting in the corner of the third row. Lakshmi was confused. She looked up. Her hands trembled. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. Modiji exclaimed very humbly, This has been possible only because of your sacrifice
And Modiji bent down and touched the feet of, that Mother and offered his respects. The entire hall went silent. The flashes of the cameras flashed. Reporters rushed in. Sundar's eyes welled up with tears. He had never expected this even in his dreams. He had spent many years in Silicon Valley, he had met the presidents, prime ministers, and kings of many nations there. But no one had honored his mother like this. Lakshmi tried to stand. Modiji supported her and gently made her stand in front of the stage in front of everyone present. She resisted but Modiji firmly made her stand. And the audience gave a huge applause. Sundar came to the spot with great joy and stood. As he stood on the stage with his mother, memories of the past flooded his mind.
He remembered his colorful two-room house in Chennai that did not even have a simple refrigerator. Sundar's father worked as an electrical engineer. He used to bring home blueprints and soldering wire. He could not even afford to bring toys for his children. So he used to bring broken radios to the children so that they would open them and learn. Sundar would ask him questions for hours. His mother would teach him mathematics using grains of rice. When Sundar got admission in college, his mother never told anyone that her mother had sold her gold bangles from her wedding. She would just say; "We will make arrangements."
Sundar was a very quiet boy during his school days. He was never aggressive. But he was very attentive. His teacher said, "Sundar's memory is like a mirror. He would memorize a number or a code he had dialed once."
Sometimes his school friends would tease him about his old shoes and the lunch box he brought from home. But he never retaliated against anyone. He would just smile and walk away.
Sometimes at night, the lights would go off at home, and the fans would not work. Sundar and his brother would sleep on the floor and sweat. At that time, his mother would fan them with a cardboard box for several hours without sleeping and then would get up early in the morning for house chores.
When Sundar got a scholarship to study in America, Sundar did not believe that he would be able to go. Because the ticket to America was very expensive. But his mother said you go, I will talk to the bank. But she did not talk to the bank. She sold the last gold jewelry she had.
And today, in a very prestigious hall in Delhi, he was standing on stage with his mother in front of the Prime Minister of India. And for a moment, he forgot about the whole world. He could only feel his mother's slow gentle breath and the warmth of her hand. Journalists published many articles about this emperor of information technology and the Prime Minister.
But Sundar remembered that night when she returned quietly to the hotel, her mother held his hand like a child and said,\n"You have not forgotten, that is enough for me."
To this, Sundar replied, "Mom, you have never asked for anything, that is the reason why I will never forget you."
Transcription Jayant Joshi."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Ask HN: How do I give back to people helped me when I was young and had nothing?"}},"_tags":["comment","author_rinka_singh","story_44268448"],"author":"rinka_singh","comment_text":"Very interestingly, I just got the following WhatsApp message in my College group that kinda resonated with this. Take this as you will:
True Gratitude
How should it be
A warm evening at the Grand Convention Center in New Delhi. Camera flashes were flashing everywhere. Security guards were chatting on walkie-talkies and people in loose shoes were milling around. The hall was packed with ministers, businessmen, dignitaries, and foreign guests. The most powerful men and women of the country were sitting in the first row.
In a corner chair in the third row, a petite woman dressed in a pale cotton sari was sitting. Her presence was not something that anyone would notice. The woman's name was Lakshmi Pichai. Very few people knew who she was. In the spotlight was her son Sundar Pichai - Google's CEO.
Sundar Pichai, a man who had overcome many obstacles to reach this position.\nToday, this evening, the Government of India would honor this son of Bharat. His felicitation was a rare event, for which the intelligent minds of the country were brought together. Sundar's gaze seemed to turn to her mother. She did not like being paid attention to. She was sitting quietly with her hands on her lap, but her eyes were filled with peaceful emotion.
As soon as Prime Minister Modi came on the stage, the program began with a round of applause. His speech, filled with very effective words and the passion for fulfilling dreams, hard work and basic values, was very powerful. He mentioned the names of industrialists, scientists and artists, which inspired enthusiasm in the audience. Then his voice came from deep. And he said, Today we are not just honoring Sundar Pichai, we are honoring the life journey of a mother who once gave up her food so that her son could study.
Sundar's heart beat faster. He had never said this publicly. There was absolute silence in the hall. Cameras moved to capture the incident. People looked around. \nModiji quietly got down from the podium, but he did not go towards Sundar, but towards a woman wearing a plain cotton sari sitting in the corner of the third row. Lakshmi was confused. She looked up. Her hands trembled. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. Modiji exclaimed very humbly, This has been possible only because of your sacrifice
And Modiji bent down and touched the feet of, that Mother and offered his respects. The entire hall went silent. The flashes of the cameras flashed. Reporters rushed in. Sundar's eyes welled up with tears. He had never expected this even in his dreams. He had spent many years in Silicon Valley, he had met the presidents, prime ministers, and kings of many nations there. But no one had honored his mother like this. Lakshmi tried to stand. Modiji supported her and gently made her stand in front of the stage in front of everyone present. She resisted but Modiji firmly made her stand. And the audience gave a huge applause. Sundar came to the spot with great joy and stood. As he stood on the stage with his mother, memories of the past flooded his mind.
He remembered his colorful two-room house in Chennai that did not even have a simple refrigerator. Sundar's father worked as an electrical engineer. He used to bring home blueprints and soldering wire. He could not even afford to bring toys for his children. So he used to bring broken radios to the children so that they would open them and learn. Sundar would ask him questions for hours. His mother would teach him mathematics using grains of rice. When Sundar got admission in college, his mother never told anyone that her mother had sold her gold bangles from her wedding. She would just say; "We will make arrangements."
Sundar was a very quiet boy during his school days. He was never aggressive. But he was very attentive. His teacher said, "Sundar's memory is like a mirror. He would memorize a number or a code he had dialed once."
Sometimes his school friends would tease him about his old shoes and the lunch box he brought from home. But he never retaliated against anyone. He would just smile and walk away.
Sometimes at night, the lights would go off at home, and the fans would not work. Sundar and his brother would sleep on the floor and sweat. At that time, his mother would fan them with a cardboard box for several hours without sleeping and then would get up early in the morning for house chores.
When Sundar got a scholarship to study in America, Sundar did not believe that he would be able to go. Because the ticket to America was very expensive. But his mother said you go, I will talk to the bank. But she did not talk to the bank. She sold the last gold jewelry she had.
And today, in a very prestigious hall in Delhi, he was standing on stage with his mother in front of the Prime Minister of India. And for a moment, he forgot about the whole world. He could only feel his mother's slow gentle breath and the warmth of her hand. Journalists published many articles about this emperor of information technology and the Prime Minister.
But Sundar remembered that night when she returned quietly to the hotel, her mother held his hand like a child and said,\n"You have not forgotten, that is enough for me."
To this, Sundar replied, "Mom, you have never asked for anything, that is the reason why I will never forget you."
Transcription Jayant Joshi.","created_at":"2025-06-18T01:32:48Z","created_at_i":1750210368,"objectID":"44305830","parent_id":44268448,"story_id":44268448,"story_title":"Ask HN: How do I give back to people helped me when I was young and had nothing?","updated_at":"2025-06-18T01:34:55Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"fullyHighlighted":true,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["saris"],"value":"Saris"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"Yeah it should be the fault of the bank that didn't check things before cashing it."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"His Life Savings Were Mailed to Him by Paper Check. Now, It's Gone"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/business/paychex-401k-rollover-checks.html"}},"_tags":["comment","author_Saris","story_44024503"],"author":"Saris","comment_text":"Yeah it should be the fault of the bank that didn't check things before cashing it.","created_at":"2025-05-18T22:43:40Z","created_at_i":1747608220,"objectID":"44024850","parent_id":44024776,"story_id":44024503,"story_title":"His Life Savings Were Mailed to Him by Paper Check. Now, It's Gone","story_url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/business/paychex-401k-rollover-checks.html","updated_at":"2025-05-19T21:14:33Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"fullyHighlighted":true,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["saris"],"value":"Saris"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"This is neat, but using an off the shelf power bank and keeping it plugged in is going to destroy the battery in a year or two. Those Li-ion pouch cells deteriorate rapidly at 100% charge, especially in a warm environment.
It's better to use a DIY DC UPS with some LiFePo4 cells, that only charges them to 80% or so. And you won't have any issues with power reset.
There's also much more of a fire risk when using Li-ion cells compared to LiFePo4."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Tiny UPS for Tiny NAS"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/tiny-ups-for-tiny-nas/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_Saris","story_39131846"],"author":"Saris","children":[39143560,39143841,39152723],"comment_text":"This is neat, but using an off the shelf power bank and keeping it plugged in is going to destroy the battery in a year or two. Those Li-ion pouch cells deteriorate rapidly at 100% charge, especially in a warm environment.
It's better to use a DIY DC UPS with some LiFePo4 cells, that only charges them to 80% or so. And you won't have any issues with power reset.
There's also much more of a fire risk when using Li-ion cells compared to LiFePo4.","created_at":"2024-01-26T14:15:08Z","created_at_i":1706278508,"objectID":"39142782","parent_id":39131846,"story_id":39131846,"story_title":"Tiny UPS for Tiny NAS","story_url":"https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/tiny-ups-for-tiny-nas/","updated_at":"2024-09-20T16:14:04Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"l3mure"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"Instead of insipid reference to fable, read any kind of actual analysis of reality, such as:
[1]
> A one-state arrangement is not a future possibility; it already exists, no matter what anyone thinks. Between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, one state controls the entry and exit of people and goods, oversees security, and has the capacity to impose its decisions, laws, and policies on millions of people without their consent.
> A one-state reality could, in principle, be based on democratic rule and equal citizenship. But such an arrangement is not on offer at the moment. Forced to choose between Israel\u2019s Jewish identity and liberal democracy, Israel has chosen the former. It has locked in a system of Jewish supremacy, wherein non-Jews are structurally discriminated against or excluded in a tiered scheme: some non-Jews have most of, but not all, the rights that Jews have, while most non-Jews live under severe segregation, separation, and domination.
[2]
> In November 2022, the United Nations warned that the Israeli-\nPalestinian conflict was \u201cagain reaching a boiling point.\u201d Amit Saar, a top\nIsraeli intelligence official, predicted that violence in the West Bank\n(although not Gaza) will rank as Israel\u2019s second biggest challenge in 2023,\njust below the perennial threat from Iran. Saar warned not only that\nviolence was increasing but also that the foundations for managing it were\nbecoming \u201cunstable.\u201d The policing capacity of the Palestinian Authority,\nthe governing body in the West Bank, and its relationship with Israel are\neroding. No political process holds the promise of Palestinian\nindependence. And ordinary Palestinians are growing frustrated with\nestablished groups and leaders that reject violence\u2014such as Fatah, the\nparty that has long dominated Palestinian politics, and its head,\nMahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA. In yet another foreboding\ndevelopment, in December 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\ncreated a new government that put settlers, political extremists, and racists\nin key positions overseeing the West Bank. All this leads to a despairing,\ninescapable conclusion: the odds of a third intifada are higher than they\nhave been in years.
[3]
> By responding positively to the restraint and discipline manifested in the uprising, and by seizing benefits from the alterations that it represented for accession to peace and security, for decades professed as Israel's goal, Israel could have neutralized the regression to bankrupt ideologies of armed struggle and in so doing lessen the allure of the Palestinian commando units and Qassamite cells of Islamic resistance. By 1988 and with policy implications for Israel, the vocabulary of armed struggle had all but disappeared for the leaflets of the intifada. The vigorous debate on civil disobedience disclosed the fact that Israel was facing a nonviolent, political, and information-based struggle, against which military suppression would not work.
> Instead of profiting from this dramatic development, Israel gave preference to perpetuating the status quo, characterized by harsh suppression of the uprising and its protection and favored status then accorded to the Qassamite groups. Official Israel's refusal to recognize the intifada as an effort to lift the occupation through nonviolent action, not an attempt to defeat Israel with armed struggle, had the effect of weakening the very Palestinians who were working to substitute nonviolent means of contention for organized violence on a permanent basis.
> The creators and exhorters of the new political lexicon, who had been rewriting the orthodoxies of _thawra_ during the 1970s and 1980s--Radwan Abu Ayyash, Ziad Abu Zayyad, Feisel Husseini, Muhammad Jadallah, Zahira Kamal, Ghassan Khatib, and Sari Nusseibeh--were locked up, despite Israel's longstanding claim it lacked suitable negotiating partners. An unfettered intifada would have been the most potent countervailing force to the PLO, a known Israeli objective. Yet Israel compromised those who were pressing from dissociation from the PLO and expelled Mubarak Awad--among the keenest advocates for nonviolent struggle not dependent on the PLO. Old assumptions rebounded as Israeli authorities jailed the representatives on the Command one by one so that none remained whose thinking had been honed by the Committee Confronting the Iron Fist, the Arab Studies Society, the writings of activist intellectuals, or the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence. Impaired by "interference" from Tunis, and vitiated by the lack of PLO support, the Palestinians in the occupied territories were unable to sustain their increased power in the equation with Israel, which was necessary for compromise and negotiations. Meanwhile, forces on the Israeli landscape marginalized the efforts of diverse and numerous Israeli groups that wanted accommodation with the Palestinians.
[1] - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/israel-palestine-...
[2] - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/third-intifada-israeli...
[3] - A Quiet Revolution, pp. 323-24"},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Underground Nightmare: Hamas Tunnels and the Wicked Problem Facing the IDF"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://mwi.westpoint.edu/underground-nightmare-hamas-tunnels-and-the-wicked-problem-facing-the-idf/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_l3mure","story_38002106"],"author":"l3mure","comment_text":"Instead of insipid reference to fable, read any kind of actual analysis of reality, such as:
[1]
> A one-state arrangement is not a future possibility; it already exists, no matter what anyone thinks. Between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, one state controls the entry and exit of people and goods, oversees security, and has the capacity to impose its decisions, laws, and policies on millions of people without their consent.
> A one-state reality could, in principle, be based on democratic rule and equal citizenship. But such an arrangement is not on offer at the moment. Forced to choose between Israel\u2019s Jewish identity and liberal democracy, Israel has chosen the former. It has locked in a system of Jewish supremacy, wherein non-Jews are structurally discriminated against or excluded in a tiered scheme: some non-Jews have most of, but not all, the rights that Jews have, while most non-Jews live under severe segregation, separation, and domination.
[2]
> In November 2022, the United Nations warned that the Israeli-\nPalestinian conflict was \u201cagain reaching a boiling point.\u201d Amit Saar, a top\nIsraeli intelligence official, predicted that violence in the West Bank\n(although not Gaza) will rank as Israel\u2019s second biggest challenge in 2023,\njust below the perennial threat from Iran. Saar warned not only that\nviolence was increasing but also that the foundations for managing it were\nbecoming \u201cunstable.\u201d The policing capacity of the Palestinian Authority,\nthe governing body in the West Bank, and its relationship with Israel are\neroding. No political process holds the promise of Palestinian\nindependence. And ordinary Palestinians are growing frustrated with\nestablished groups and leaders that reject violence\u2014such as Fatah, the\nparty that has long dominated Palestinian politics, and its head,\nMahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA. In yet another foreboding\ndevelopment, in December 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\ncreated a new government that put settlers, political extremists, and racists\nin key positions overseeing the West Bank. All this leads to a despairing,\ninescapable conclusion: the odds of a third intifada are higher than they\nhave been in years.
[3]
> By responding positively to the restraint and discipline manifested in the uprising, and by seizing benefits from the alterations that it represented for accession to peace and security, for decades professed as Israel's goal, Israel could have neutralized the regression to bankrupt ideologies of armed struggle and in so doing lessen the allure of the Palestinian commando units and Qassamite cells of Islamic resistance. By 1988 and with policy implications for Israel, the vocabulary of armed struggle had all but disappeared for the leaflets of the intifada. The vigorous debate on civil disobedience disclosed the fact that Israel was facing a nonviolent, political, and information-based struggle, against which military suppression would not work.
> Instead of profiting from this dramatic development, Israel gave preference to perpetuating the status quo, characterized by harsh suppression of the uprising and its protection and favored status then accorded to the Qassamite groups. Official Israel's refusal to recognize the intifada as an effort to lift the occupation through nonviolent action, not an attempt to defeat Israel with armed struggle, had the effect of weakening the very Palestinians who were working to substitute nonviolent means of contention for organized violence on a permanent basis.
> The creators and exhorters of the new political lexicon, who had been rewriting the orthodoxies of _thawra_ during the 1970s and 1980s--Radwan Abu Ayyash, Ziad Abu Zayyad, Feisel Husseini, Muhammad Jadallah, Zahira Kamal, Ghassan Khatib, and Sari Nusseibeh--were locked up, despite Israel's longstanding claim it lacked suitable negotiating partners. An unfettered intifada would have been the most potent countervailing force to the PLO, a known Israeli objective. Yet Israel compromised those who were pressing from dissociation from the PLO and expelled Mubarak Awad--among the keenest advocates for nonviolent struggle not dependent on the PLO. Old assumptions rebounded as Israeli authorities jailed the representatives on the Command one by one so that none remained whose thinking had been honed by the Committee Confronting the Iron Fist, the Arab Studies Society, the writings of activist intellectuals, or the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence. Impaired by "interference" from Tunis, and vitiated by the lack of PLO support, the Palestinians in the occupied territories were unable to sustain their increased power in the equation with Israel, which was necessary for compromise and negotiations. Meanwhile, forces on the Israeli landscape marginalized the efforts of diverse and numerous Israeli groups that wanted accommodation with the Palestinians.
[1] - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/israel-palestine-...
[2] - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/third-intifada-israeli...
[3] - A Quiet Revolution, pp. 323-24","created_at":"2023-10-24T21:00:44Z","created_at_i":1698181244,"objectID":"38005522","parent_id":38003904,"story_id":38002106,"story_title":"Underground Nightmare: Hamas Tunnels and the Wicked Problem Facing the IDF","story_url":"https://mwi.westpoint.edu/underground-nightmare-hamas-tunnels-and-the-wicked-problem-facing-the-idf/","updated_at":"2024-09-20T15:23:33Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"fullyHighlighted":true,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["saris"],"value":"Saris"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"You still need to pass through a bank to convert it to anything usable."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"OnlyFans drops planned porn ban"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/onlyfans-drops-porn-ban-sexually-explicit-policy-1235048705/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_Saris","story_28300797"],"author":"Saris","children":[28303735,28306066],"comment_text":"You still need to pass through a bank to convert it to anything usable.","created_at":"2021-08-25T14:38:20Z","created_at_i":1629902300,"objectID":"28302243","parent_id":28301713,"story_id":28300797,"story_title":"OnlyFans drops planned porn ban","story_url":"https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/onlyfans-drops-porn-ban-sexually-explicit-policy-1235048705/","updated_at":"2024-09-20T09:12:19Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"sremani"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"Its not fair to say, worse than before. The amount of money involved now a days in Politics is unheard of. People with political connections will get large loans from Publicly backed banks, with almost no collateral. So, is it bad from that stand point. India has made tremendous strides in other areas, including market economy, number of people lifted out of poverty etc. There are massive improvement and massive transgressions happening in parallel. The pollution has gotten worse but the salaries of people and disposal income has gotten better. Long story short, its a mixed bag. Politics in India are very much tribal, massive reliance on caste or religious identity followed by buying up or attempts to buy up voters from slums or who ever is economically backward, either through immediate gifts, like liquor, food packets etc or through promises of Government largess like free cable tv or free saris etc. The Political process in India has become crass and rely on power brokers and money brokers to create a political machine for winning and ruling. This is "a" monster that is taxing Indian people with perpetual corruption of worst form even from the highest of the elected offices."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"The mystery of India\u2019s deadly exam scam"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/the-mystery-of-indias-deadly-exam-scam"}},"_tags":["comment","author_sremani","story_10750980"],"author":"sremani","comment_text":"Its not fair to say, worse than before. The amount of money involved now a days in Politics is unheard of. People with political connections will get large loans from Publicly backed banks, with almost no collateral. So, is it bad from that stand point. India has made tremendous strides in other areas, including market economy, number of people lifted out of poverty etc. There are massive improvement and massive transgressions happening in parallel. The pollution has gotten worse but the salaries of people and disposal income has gotten better. Long story short, its a mixed bag. Politics in India are very much tribal, massive reliance on caste or religious identity followed by buying up or attempts to buy up voters from slums or who ever is economically backward, either through immediate gifts, like liquor, food packets etc or through promises of Government largess like free cable tv or free saris etc. The Political process in India has become crass and rely on power brokers and money brokers to create a political machine for winning and ruling. This is "a" monster that is taxing Indian people with perpetual corruption of worst form even from the highest of the elected offices.","created_at":"2015-12-18T06:47:44Z","created_at_i":1450421264,"objectID":"10757074","parent_id":10756997,"story_id":10750980,"story_title":"The mystery of India\u2019s deadly exam scam","story_url":"http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/the-mystery-of-indias-deadly-exam-scam","updated_at":"2024-09-19T22:36:17Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"raincom"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"Since the first SAR is filled with \u201ctransaction with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose\u201d, subsequent transactions from the same account would become "transactions with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose". So, Banks are on the hook to file subsequent SARs. Banks exit customers after a couple of SARs in the name of de-risking.
One way to avoid getting out of this trap is to join the club of "private banking" services provided by big banks. It is like Airline's first class vs. economy class customers. Banks put different resources for private banking clients such as: (a) manual override by humans (b) reduce false positives by algorithms by tweaking parameters (c) specialized representatives, cust service folks."},"story_title":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts"},"story_url":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/business/banks-accounts-close-suddenly.html"}},"_tags":["comment","author_raincom","story_38150606"],"author":"raincom","comment_text":"Since the first SAR is filled with \u201ctransaction with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose\u201d, subsequent transactions from the same account would become "transactions with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose". So, Banks are on the hook to file subsequent SARs. Banks exit customers after a couple of SARs in the name of de-risking.
One way to avoid getting out of this trap is to join the club of "private banking" services provided by big banks. It is like Airline's first class vs. economy class customers. Banks put different resources for private banking clients such as: (a) manual override by humans (b) reduce false positives by algorithms by tweaking parameters (c) specialized representatives, cust service folks.","created_at":"2023-11-08T01:03:28Z","created_at_i":1699405408,"objectID":"38185417","parent_id":38176002,"story_id":38150606,"story_title":"Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts","story_url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/business/banks-accounts-close-suddenly.html","updated_at":"2024-09-20T15:40:59Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"motohagiography"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"It may be related to a general policy of burning grey market businesses that has been going on for a decade or so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point
While I don't know what the incentives are for payment processors, they act as though they are under a quota, similar to SARs in banks, where it's mainly about showing they are getting petty crime as a means to protect their interest in partnership level crime."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Stripe has decided to nuke my entire business"}},"_tags":["comment","author_motohagiography","story_32854528"],"author":"motohagiography","comment_text":"It may be related to a general policy of burning grey market businesses that has been going on for a decade or so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point
While I don't know what the incentives are for payment processors, they act as though they are under a quota, similar to SARs in banks, where it's mainly about showing they are getting petty crime as a means to protect their interest in partnership level crime.","created_at":"2022-09-16T00:43:26Z","created_at_i":1663289006,"objectID":"32860497","parent_id":32855923,"story_id":32854528,"story_title":"Stripe has decided to nuke my entire business","updated_at":"2024-09-20T12:04:01Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"elliekelly"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"Banks absolutely do have this ability and I would guess SARs from banks are what led to the Secret Service eventually uncovering this elaborate scheme. Though I imagine more SARs would have come from the outgoing transfers (from the mules\u2019 accounts to the criminals) than from the suspicious unemployment deposits. Generally government money is considered \u201cclean\u201d but if a mule suddenly started receiving more money than usual it would be investigated regardless of the source."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"US Secret Service: \u201cMassive Fraud\u201d Against State Unemployment Insurance Programs"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/05/u-s-secret-service-massive-fraud-against-state-unemployment-insurance-programs/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_elliekelly","story_23213162"],"author":"elliekelly","comment_text":"Banks absolutely do have this ability and I would guess SARs from banks are what led to the Secret Service eventually uncovering this elaborate scheme. Though I imagine more SARs would have come from the outgoing transfers (from the mules\u2019 accounts to the criminals) than from the suspicious unemployment deposits. Generally government money is considered \u201cclean\u201d but if a mule suddenly started receiving more money than usual it would be investigated regardless of the source.","created_at":"2020-05-17T18:38:38Z","created_at_i":1589740718,"objectID":"23214153","parent_id":23213276,"story_id":23213162,"story_title":"US Secret Service: \u201cMassive Fraud\u201d Against State Unemployment Insurance Programs","story_url":"https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/05/u-s-secret-service-massive-fraud-against-state-unemployment-insurance-programs/","updated_at":"2024-09-20T06:10:54Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"mhluongo"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"To your point about SARs / CTRs- SARs at banks are usually triggered by cash deposits and withdrawals at a much lower level, and every bitcoin transaction is roughly equivalent to a cash transaction. Thus "bank-level scrutiny".
> I mean isn't that the point of the government request?
It's not clear to me whether they actually need this at all, considering Coinbase's existing reporting requirements. It's common enough from other branches to make overreaching requests to set a precedent (eg the DoJ / Apple iPhone) so I wouldn't just assume it's business as usual."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"IRS Requests Bitcoin Buyer Records in Broad Tax Evasion Case"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"http://fortune.com/2016/11/20/irs-bitcoin-tax-evasion-case/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_mhluongo","story_13005272"],"author":"mhluongo","children":[13006607],"comment_text":"To your point about SARs / CTRs- SARs at banks are usually triggered by cash deposits and withdrawals at a much lower level, and every bitcoin transaction is roughly equivalent to a cash transaction. Thus "bank-level scrutiny".
> I mean isn't that the point of the government request?
It's not clear to me whether they actually need this at all, considering Coinbase's existing reporting requirements. It's common enough from other branches to make overreaching requests to set a precedent (eg the DoJ / Apple iPhone) so I wouldn't just assume it's business as usual.","created_at":"2016-11-21T15:53:35Z","created_at_i":1479743615,"objectID":"13006283","parent_id":13006143,"story_id":13005272,"story_title":"IRS Requests Bitcoin Buyer Records in Broad Tax Evasion Case","story_url":"http://fortune.com/2016/11/20/irs-bitcoin-tax-evasion-case/","updated_at":"2024-09-19T23:57:39Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"IOT_Apprentice"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"They are interested in a platform other than X (filled with alt right, Q, megalomaniac Elon & his worshippers) or Meta who tracks everything you do ion the internet & sells that data, that nation states use to spread propaganda to influence our elections and general falsehoods, spread by a handful of people that as a result, turned family members into conspiracy fanatics & turned them to MAGA).
Cambridge Analytics partnered with Meta to target elections around the world, bragged of using the data to install into office whoever paid them the most.
Americans, found in TikTok a place where they could learn about history, hobbies, comedy, and information about things NEVER taught in schools & being able to use it as a search engine instead of google to find people talking about what they wanted to find.
The world is already filled with propaganda from the US government, at the behest of corporations.
It is all out in the open.
As for monitoring? We have been monitored heavily and all our data is in the hands of the NSA, GCHQ, the Chinese government, the 5 eyes & every social media platform. There must have been thousands of data breaches with ALL. Of your financial data, your credit history, and more.
All governments use propaganda and have done evil by their citizens in the interests of power,control & wealth.
We are monitored by our devices with our internet traffic collected and sold.
We are tracked by TransUnion, Experian et al.
Our license plates are scanned on the roads, at shopping center, malls.
Google will send police lists of whose phones were in what area based on geofencing.
NSA was copying ALL inter data center traffic between all google data centers.
Our banks file SARS reports on deposits & withdrawals."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"RedNote Scrambles to Hire English-Speaking Content Moderators"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://www.wired.com/story/xiaohongshu-english-moderators-red-note/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_IOT_Apprentice","story_42752452"],"author":"IOT_Apprentice","children":[42755343],"comment_text":"They are interested in a platform other than X (filled with alt right, Q, megalomaniac Elon & his worshippers) or Meta who tracks everything you do ion the internet & sells that data, that nation states use to spread propaganda to influence our elections and general falsehoods, spread by a handful of people that as a result, turned family members into conspiracy fanatics & turned them to MAGA).
Cambridge Analytics partnered with Meta to target elections around the world, bragged of using the data to install into office whoever paid them the most.
Americans, found in TikTok a place where they could learn about history, hobbies, comedy, and information about things NEVER taught in schools & being able to use it as a search engine instead of google to find people talking about what they wanted to find.
The world is already filled with propaganda from the US government, at the behest of corporations.
It is all out in the open.
As for monitoring? We have been monitored heavily and all our data is in the hands of the NSA, GCHQ, the Chinese government, the 5 eyes & every social media platform. There must have been thousands of data breaches with ALL. Of your financial data, your credit history, and more.
All governments use propaganda and have done evil by their citizens in the interests of power,control & wealth.
We are monitored by our devices with our internet traffic collected and sold.
We are tracked by TransUnion, Experian et al.
Our license plates are scanned on the roads, at shopping center, malls.
Google will send police lists of whose phones were in what area based on geofencing.
NSA was copying ALL inter data center traffic between all google data centers.
Our banks file SARS reports on deposits & withdrawals.","created_at":"2025-01-19T03:24:43Z","created_at_i":1737257083,"objectID":"42753300","parent_id":42752550,"story_id":42752452,"story_title":"RedNote Scrambles to Hire English-Speaking Content Moderators","story_url":"https://www.wired.com/story/xiaohongshu-english-moderators-red-note/","updated_at":"2025-01-19T09:12:55Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"mandevil"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"FINCEN (and others who have search access to it, which rounds to most Federal Government criminal investigators) can see all SARs filed. Banks (and other financial institutions obligated to file a SAR- like casinos!) don't get to see what any other institution has filed. The point of a SAR is to provide a data point for an investigator, not to create a black-list of unbankable people."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Debanking (and Debunking?)"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/debanking-and-debunking/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_mandevil","story_42371476"],"author":"mandevil","comment_text":"FINCEN (and others who have search access to it, which rounds to most Federal Government criminal investigators) can see all SARs filed. Banks (and other financial institutions obligated to file a SAR- like casinos!) don't get to see what any other institution has filed. The point of a SAR is to provide a data point for an investigator, not to create a black-list of unbankable people.","created_at":"2024-12-10T17:03:57Z","created_at_i":1733850237,"objectID":"42378703","parent_id":42377898,"story_id":42371476,"story_title":"Debanking (and Debunking?)","story_url":"https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/debanking-and-debunking/","updated_at":"2025-10-31T16:38:17Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"raincom"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"Regulators fine big banks for "weak controls". To show that they have "strong controls", they have to show quantitative data. Now, every bank is engaged in one-upmanship. Since we don't have data on the number of account closures, we should look at SAR/CTR statistics provided by FinCen. Every year, SAR numbers go up by 20%; that's because banks fill SARs with "transaction with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose". Just gamify SAR reports with vague stuff."},"story_title":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts"},"story_url":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/business/banks-accounts-close-suddenly.html"}},"_tags":["comment","author_raincom","story_38150606"],"author":"raincom","children":[38158253,38159640],"comment_text":"Regulators fine big banks for "weak controls". To show that they have "strong controls", they have to show quantitative data. Now, every bank is engaged in one-upmanship. Since we don't have data on the number of account closures, we should look at SAR/CTR statistics provided by FinCen. Every year, SAR numbers go up by 20%; that's because banks fill SARs with "transaction with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose". Just gamify SAR reports with vague stuff.","created_at":"2023-11-06T01:49:26Z","created_at_i":1699235366,"objectID":"38157858","parent_id":38157793,"story_id":38150606,"story_title":"Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts","story_url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/business/banks-accounts-close-suddenly.html","updated_at":"2024-09-20T15:37:52Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"raincom"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"The way things work like this (based on court filings publicly available). Imagine some madam is involved in sex trafficking in the states. She comes under the radar of police and other investigative agencies. These agencies gather all circumstantial evidence, but still this evidence doesn't pass muster to convict this madam. However, she goes around and deposits at various ATMs of different banks (say, Chase, PNC, USBank). She thinks that she is smart by depositing $6K (split across three banks) every week. Over the time, AML algos at these banks look at the sliding window of her cash deposits: $10K every five weeks at every bank, and her profession doesn't match up to the story. All three banks file SARs with Fincen. Now the prosecutors dig through FinCen database, and convict her on the structuring charges, instead of sex trafficking. That's what Beria's law is: "Show me the man, I will find you the crime"."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"SEC asks for emergency order to freeze Binance US assets anywhere in the world"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/sec-asks-for-emergency-order-to-freeze-binance-us-assets-anywhere-in-the-world.html"}},"_tags":["comment","author_raincom","story_36218932"],"author":"raincom","comment_text":"The way things work like this (based on court filings publicly available). Imagine some madam is involved in sex trafficking in the states. She comes under the radar of police and other investigative agencies. These agencies gather all circumstantial evidence, but still this evidence doesn't pass muster to convict this madam. However, she goes around and deposits at various ATMs of different banks (say, Chase, PNC, USBank). She thinks that she is smart by depositing $6K (split across three banks) every week. Over the time, AML algos at these banks look at the sliding window of her cash deposits: $10K every five weeks at every bank, and her profession doesn't match up to the story. All three banks file SARs with Fincen. Now the prosecutors dig through FinCen database, and convict her on the structuring charges, instead of sex trafficking. That's what Beria's law is: "Show me the man, I will find you the crime".","created_at":"2023-06-07T23:09:56Z","created_at_i":1686179396,"objectID":"36234951","parent_id":36229712,"story_id":36218932,"story_title":"SEC asks for emergency order to freeze Binance US assets anywhere in the world","story_url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/sec-asks-for-emergency-order-to-freeze-binance-us-assets-anywhere-in-the-world.html","updated_at":"2024-09-20T14:13:17Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"A4ET8a8uTh0"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"I think, and I might paraphrasing someone said on this forum before, that it indicates the government is not a monolithic entity, but rather a collection of various institutions each with its own mandates, goals and related agendas. Since I am, for better or worse, part AML industry, I get to see some of the contradictions and opposing demands.
Just the other week, I was listening to a guy complaining banks don't make SARs useful to to LEOs and not long before that regulator making a banks defend its non-submission of some SARs effectively forcing banks everywhere to adopt defensive SAR filing. It is truly weird to watch from a distance."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Tether will not freeze Tornado Cash addresses"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://tether.to/en/tether-holds-firm-on-decision-not-to-freeze-tornado-cash-addresses-awaits-law-enforcement-instruction/"}},"_tags":["comment","author_A4ET8a8uTh0","story_32585606"],"author":"A4ET8a8uTh0","comment_text":"I think, and I might paraphrasing someone said on this forum before, that it indicates the government is not a monolithic entity, but rather a collection of various institutions each with its own mandates, goals and related agendas. Since I am, for better or worse, part AML industry, I get to see some of the contradictions and opposing demands.
Just the other week, I was listening to a guy complaining banks don't make SARs useful to to LEOs and not long before that regulator making a banks defend its non-submission of some SARs effectively forcing banks everywhere to adopt defensive SAR filing. It is truly weird to watch from a distance.","created_at":"2022-08-25T01:41:37Z","created_at_i":1661391697,"objectID":"32588349","parent_id":32587244,"story_id":32585606,"story_title":"Tether will not freeze Tornado Cash addresses","story_url":"https://tether.to/en/tether-holds-firm-on-decision-not-to-freeze-tornado-cash-addresses-awaits-law-enforcement-instruction/","updated_at":"2024-09-20T11:55:29Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"woodruffw"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"> It would seem to be at odds with the requirement that a bank keeps the filing of SARs secret from the accountholder.
If you have a SAR filed against your account, your bank will not tell you. They'll tell you that they've closed your account for internal policy or compliance reasons. And they won't be lying: the BSA doesn't require them to close the account.
The liabilities in question are both regulatory and financial.
On the regulatory side: bank employees are instructed never to tell a customer about the presence of a SAR, but mistakes can happen (and thus open the bank up to regulatory scrutiny or punishment). Similarly, the FDIC and Fed track SAR patterns, and may increase their scrutiny of a bank if customers who have historically received SARs at other banks successfully maintain accounts with a different bank.
On the financial side: SARs are filed for all kinds of crimes, including crimes against financial institutions themselves. It's a financial risk to keep those accounts around, because their rotating value might not reflect their actual "ultimate" settled value.
As for sources: here is a FAQ on SARs from the NCUA[1]. I don't have a pre-existing source for banks immediately closing accounts on SARs. Here's one I randomly found that states that a little over 1/4th of all SARs lead to account closure[2].
[1]: https://www.ncua.gov/newsroom/press-release/2021/ncua-federa...
[2]: https://bpi.com/the-truth-about-suspicious-activity-reports/"},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"I was wrong, we need crypto"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://world.hey.com/dhh/i-was-wrong-we-need-crypto-587ccb03"}},"_tags":["comment","author_woodruffw","story_30414842"],"author":"woodruffw","comment_text":"> It would seem to be at odds with the requirement that a bank keeps the filing of SARs secret from the accountholder.
If you have a SAR filed against your account, your bank will not tell you. They'll tell you that they've closed your account for internal policy or compliance reasons. And they won't be lying: the BSA doesn't require them to close the account.
The liabilities in question are both regulatory and financial.
On the regulatory side: bank employees are instructed never to tell a customer about the presence of a SAR, but mistakes can happen (and thus open the bank up to regulatory scrutiny or punishment). Similarly, the FDIC and Fed track SAR patterns, and may increase their scrutiny of a bank if customers who have historically received SARs at other banks successfully maintain accounts with a different bank.
On the financial side: SARs are filed for all kinds of crimes, including crimes against financial institutions themselves. It's a financial risk to keep those accounts around, because their rotating value might not reflect their actual "ultimate" settled value.
As for sources: here is a FAQ on SARs from the NCUA[1]. I don't have a pre-existing source for banks immediately closing accounts on SARs. Here's one I randomly found that states that a little over 1/4th of all SARs lead to account closure[2].
[1]: https://www.ncua.gov/newsroom/press-release/2021/ncua-federa...
[2]: https://bpi.com/the-truth-about-suspicious-activity-reports/","created_at":"2022-02-22T20:46:37Z","created_at_i":1645562797,"objectID":"30433507","parent_id":30430929,"story_id":30414842,"story_title":"I was wrong, we need crypto","story_url":"https://world.hey.com/dhh/i-was-wrong-we-need-crypto-587ccb03","updated_at":"2024-09-20T10:34:25Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"k2enemy"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"> Banks and other financial institutions file SARs when they believe a client is using their services for potential criminal activity.
It sounds like banks file SARs about their own clients. I'm guessing they don't have to cease doing business with the client because that would create an incentive not to file SARs."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"Leak reveals $2T of possibly corrupt US financial activity"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/20/leak-reveals-2tn-of-possibly-corrupt-us-financial-activity"}},"_tags":["comment","author_k2enemy","story_24578518"],"author":"k2enemy","children":[24578978],"comment_text":"> Banks and other financial institutions file SARs when they believe a client is using their services for potential criminal activity.
It sounds like banks file SARs about their own clients. I'm guessing they don't have to cease doing business with the client because that would create an incentive not to file SARs.","created_at":"2020-09-24T14:35:12Z","created_at_i":1600958112,"objectID":"24578969","parent_id":24578912,"story_id":24578518,"story_title":"Leak reveals $2T of possibly corrupt US financial activity","story_url":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/20/leak-reveals-2tn-of-possibly-corrupt-us-financial-activity","updated_at":"2024-09-20T07:00:59Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"arafa"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"You're thinking of a currency transaction report (CTR), which has a standard of $10,000 instead. Banks file SARs against customers so that the feds can follow up. No one would work with cash above that limit if they had to file a SAR every time.
Though when banks see transactions over $5,000, they will sometimes write SARs. It sounds like you're mixing and matching the concepts and standards of CTRs and SARs, which seems like a reasonable enough mistake.
I also agree that when stuff is this complicated for what seems like no good reason, the answer is often money laundering.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_transaction_report\nhttps://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase/pages_manual/OLM_015...."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"A Business with No End"},"story_url":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/27/style/what-is-inside-this-internet-rabbit-hole.html"}},"_tags":["comment","author_arafa","story_18546614"],"author":"arafa","comment_text":"You're thinking of a currency transaction report (CTR), which has a standard of $10,000 instead. Banks file SARs against customers so that the feds can follow up. No one would work with cash above that limit if they had to file a SAR every time.
Though when banks see transactions over $5,000, they will sometimes write SARs. It sounds like you're mixing and matching the concepts and standards of CTRs and SARs, which seems like a reasonable enough mistake.
I also agree that when stuff is this complicated for what seems like no good reason, the answer is often money laundering.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_transaction_report\nhttps://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase/pages_manual/OLM_015....","created_at":"2018-11-28T16:02:55Z","created_at_i":1543420975,"objectID":"18552536","parent_id":18549044,"story_id":18546614,"story_title":"A Business with No End","story_url":"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/27/style/what-is-inside-this-internet-rabbit-hole.html","updated_at":"2024-09-20T03:21:48Z"},{"_highlightResult":{"author":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"jrochkind1"},"comment_text":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"full","matchedWords":["saris","banks"],"value":"So he was the CEO, all the way at the top, not just a manager -- but yes, it seems like there were some things that could be improved with their controls, in retrospect.
It was a small bank, looks like probably only a dozen or so employees total, if that paints a picture of how this might have happened.
Aha, here's the writeup by the Federal Reserve, very well-done!
> Heartland employees circumvented the bank\u2019s internal controls and policies; following those internal controls and policies may have prevented or detected the alleged fraudulent activity. We believe that the CEO\u2019s dominant role in the bank and prominent role in the community contributed to a reluctance on the part of Heartland employees to question or report the alleged fraudulent activities earlier.
> The events leading to Heartland\u2019s failure revealed a significant breakdown of internal controls, including controls related to wire transfers and suspicious activity reports (SARs). Specifically, senior bank employees circumvented the bank\u2019s wire policy and daily limits to approve and process the CEO\u2019s alleged fraudulent wire transfer requests. Additionally, Heartland employees did not follow the bank\u2019s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) (together, BSA/AML) policy.
https://oig.federalreserve.gov/reports/board-material-loss-r...
Yer policies are only as good as the people following them..."},"story_title":{"matchLevel":"none","matchedWords":[],"value":"A cryptocurrency scam that turned a small town against itself"},"story_url":{"fullyHighlighted":false,"matchLevel":"partial","matchedWords":["banks"],"value":"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/magazine/cryptocurrency-scam-kansas-heartland-bank.html"}},"_tags":["comment","author_jrochkind1","story_43116410"],"author":"jrochkind1","comment_text":"So he was the CEO, all the way at the top, not just a manager -- but yes, it seems like there were some things that could be improved with their controls, in retrospect.
It was a small bank, looks like probably only a dozen or so employees total, if that paints a picture of how this might have happened.
Aha, here's the writeup by the Federal Reserve, very well-done!
> Heartland employees circumvented the bank\u2019s internal controls and policies; following those internal controls and policies may have prevented or detected the alleged fraudulent activity. We believe that the CEO\u2019s dominant role in the bank and prominent role in the community contributed to a reluctance on the part of Heartland employees to question or report the alleged fraudulent activities earlier.
> The events leading to Heartland\u2019s failure revealed a significant breakdown of internal controls, including controls related to wire transfers and suspicious activity reports (SARs). Specifically, senior bank employees circumvented the bank\u2019s wire policy and daily limits to approve and process the CEO\u2019s alleged fraudulent wire transfer requests. Additionally, Heartland employees did not follow the bank\u2019s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) (together, BSA/AML) policy.
https://oig.federalreserve.gov/reports/board-material-loss-r...
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