AML alert investigation and SAR decision
How do we work AML alerts into cases with the evidence gathered, the decision documented and the SAR filed by the deadline?
Run each alert as a case with the 30-day clock on it from day one. When monitoring raises an alert, Callvu opens the case with the alert's details, gathers the evidence from the bank's own systems (the customer profile, the transactions, prior cases, the KYC file), requests what the analyst needs from the relationship manager or the customer through links, structures the analyst's narrative and decision in the Decision Desk, routes the BSA officer's approval, files the SAR through the bank's filing channel inside the deadline, and records everything for the exam and the continuing activity review.
In scopeComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: chase and verify, classify, decide, write back
Last updated November 7, 2026.
The problem today
The alert queue is a backlog, the evidence is in five systems, and the SAR deadline is counted from the wrong day.
Transaction monitoring produces alerts. Analysts work them in a queue, pulling the customer file from one system, the transactions from another, prior cases from a third, and writing a narrative in a document. The decision to file a SAR is made late in the queue, the 30 days are counted from the decision instead of the detection, and the BSA officer signs a stack.
The BSA requires a SAR within 30 calendar days of the initial detection of facts that may constitute a basis for filing (60 days where no suspect is identified), with a narrative that answers who, what, when, where, why and how, and a continuing activity review every 90 days with a filing within 120 days. Examiners test the detection date, the timeliness, the quality of the narrative, and the documentation of alerts closed without filing.
The work is investigation; the problem is assembly. An analyst who starts with the evidence in front of them decides faster and documents better.
How it runs
From the requestto the system of record.
The monitoring system raises an alert, a referral arrives from the frontline, a 314(a) match hits, or a subpoena indicates activity. Callvu opens the case with the source, the date and the clock.
- BSA analyst
- Investigates in the Decision Desk with the evidence assembled, writes the structured narrative and proposes the decision.
- BSA officer
- Approves the decision and the SAR, or sends it back, in the Decision Desk.
- Callvu
- Opens the case, gathers evidence, requests what is missing, structures the narrative, routes approvals, files and records.
Open and classify
The alert type (structuring, unusual wires, rapid movement, a 314(a) match, a frontline referral, a sanctions-adjacent pattern) and the customer's risk profile classify the case and set the investigation checklist. The detection date is recorded and the 30-day clock runs from it.
Gather the evidence
Callvu assembles the customer's KYC file and beneficial owners, the transactions in the review period with counterparties, prior alerts and cases, negative news and list screening results, and the account opening information, into the case. What the checklist needs and the bank's systems do not hold (a relationship manager's knowledge of the business, a customer's explanation where the policy allows a request) is requested through links.
Chase and verify, then decide
The analyst works the checklist in the Decision Desk, verifies the explanations against the evidence, and records the decision: close with documented reasons, file a SAR, or escalate. For a filing, the narrative is structured on the required elements, and the SAR form is prefilled from the case.
Approve, file and write back
The BSA officer approves or sends back in the Decision Desk. The SAR is filed through the bank's filing channel inside the deadline, the acknowledgment is recorded, and the case, the evidence, the narrative and the decision are written to the case management system. A filed case opens the continuing activity review at 90 days, and any account action the policy requires (restriction, exit) runs as its own process.
Where it ends: Every alert became a documented case with its evidence, its decision and, where filed, a SAR inside the deadline with the acknowledgment, and the continuing review is scheduled. The Decision Trace shows the classification, the detection date and the decision; the Audit Trace shows every evidence pull, request and approval.
Runtime enforcement
What is enforcedwhile the work runs.
The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.
The handoff
Between the front doorand the back office.
The front door
The monitoring system, a frontline referral, a 314(a) match, or a subpoena. The relationship manager and, where allowed, the customer meet the process through requests.
The back office
The analyst starts with the evidence assembled; the BSA officer approves in the Decision Desk; the filing goes from the case.
The Decision Desk
- The analyst records the decision in the Decision Desk with the checklist and the evidence; the BSA officer approves or sends back the filing with only those outcomes.
- A case approaching the deadline is nudged and escalated to the BSA officer before it slips.
Proof
In scope.Proof at scale, not one process at a time.
The kind of process Callvu runs in production for customers in this industry. Ask for a reference on this exact process. The results below are the industry's published proof; each claim code links to its record on agents.callvu.com.
Questions
What buyers ask next,answered plainly.
When does the 30 days start?
At the initial detection of facts that may constitute a basis for filing, which the case records at opening. Not at the decision.
Where does the evidence come from?
Callvu assembles the KYC file, the transactions, prior cases and screening results from the bank's systems into the case, and requests the rest through links.
How is a closed alert documented?
With the checklist worked and the reasons recorded in the Decision Desk, so the examiner sees why no filing was made.
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