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Bank Secrecy Act
In 1970, Congress passed the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act commonly
known as the “Bank Secrecy Act” (BSA), establishing recordkeeping and reporting
requirements by private individuals, banks and other financial institutions.
The BSA is intended to safeguard the U.S. financial system and the financial institutions
that make up that system from the abuses of financial crime, including money laundering,
terrorist financing and other illicit financial transactions.
All credit unions must comply with the BSA regulations.
To assist credit unions with their efforts in establishing and maintaining procedures
designed to assure and monitor compliance with the BSA, the following information
is provided:
Joint Guidance: NCUA, FDIC, FRS, OCC, OTS and FinCEN
Please note the term “bank” is used interchangeably with “credit union” for ease
in drafting joint statements from the FFIEC Agencies. Treasury and FinCEN
regulations use the term “bank” to define a variety of financial institutions, including
credit unions.