US financial services companies are urging the federal government to adopt new rules on the filing of "suspicious activity reports", warning that a flood of such reports is costing billions of dollars and hampering government efforts to crack down on money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents many of the largest US banks, insurance and securities firms, yesterday asked the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and other regulatory agencies to launch a formal process aimed at reducing the number of filings.