Bank Secrecy Act and Anti Money Laundering: What You Need to Know About BSA and AML
In 1970, as an effort to fight and prevent financial crimes, the US Government Introduced the Bank Secrecy Act. The BSA requires financial institutions to develop Anti-Money Laundering programs to help combat financial crimes.
Here are the three Anti money laundering requirements you must maintain to legally operate your financial institution:
Requirement #1: You must report any transaction over $10,000 using the Currency Transaction Report.
Requirement #2: You must properly identify parties involved in those transactions.
Requirement #3: You must keep appropriate records of transactions and maintain an accurate paper trail of them.
In addition to these three requirements, your institution must implement
The Five Pillars of BSA AML They are:
Pillar #1: Internal Controls: Your AML program should be codified with written policies and procedures designed to help employees identify money laundering and other financial crimes
Pillar #2: A BSA AML Compliance officer: A principal of the firm should be appointed to oversee the AML program, arrange independent audits, and assure the firm is remaining compliant.
Pillar #3: A BSA AML Training Program: A program needs to be designed for all employees to be capable of detecting financial frauds. The higher level of responsibility, the higher level of training.
Pillar #4: Independent audits and testing: A third party audit should be regularly scheduled to ensure your institution is compliant and can detect money laundering and other frauds.
Pillar #5: Customer due diligence: To help identify suspicious activity, you must make a reasonable effort to understand who your customers are and the types of transactions they perform.
Old School AML Tools Are Obsolete
Since the BSA was first implemented in 1970 everything has changed. New technology used by fraudsters makes AML efforts obsolete. Now, staying compliant is more difficult than ever.
However, real-time artificial intelligence solutions, like those from ToolCASE. are far more advanced than the fraudsters. With ToolCASE, you’ll maintain compliance AND reduce money laundering and fraud costs.
See how you can stay compliant and save your institutions bottom line at: www.ToolCASE.com
