Bank Secrecy Act - BSA

An ominous sounding act, to say the least. Probably has an eerie soundtrack, too.

The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (or BSA for short), is a U.S. law requiring U.S. financial institutions to assist U.S. government agencies detect and prevent money laundering. The intent of the BSA, therefore, is the opposite of secrecy. The intent is transparency.

Under the BSA, financial institutions must:

- Keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments,

- File reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and

- Report suspicious activity that might signal criminal activity (e.g., money laundering, tax evasion)

An amendment to the BSA requires every bank to adopt a customer identification program as part of its BSA compliance program.
The Act is also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act.