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.
12 USC 1786(q)(2) requires that the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) include a review of the BSA compliance program at each examination of a federally insured credit union. NCUA plays a critical role in implementing BSA regulations by developing examination guidance, ensuring compliance with the BSA and enforcing the BSA in federally insured credit unions.
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.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a final rule (the “Access Rule”) regarding access by…
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today released one new section and updates to three sections of the Bank Secrecy Act/…
The National Credit Union Administration Board unanimously approved, by notation vote, a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend the agency’s…
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For federally insured credit unions, the BSA is addressed in Part 748 of the NCUA Rules and Regulations and Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The links to these regulations are provided below.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and is the delegated administrator of the BSA. In this capacity, FinCEN issues regulations and interpretive guidance, provides outreach to regulated industries, supports the examination functions performed by federal banking agencies and pursues civil enforcement actions when warranted.
As of April 1, 2013, financial institutions must use the new FinCEN reports, which are available only electronically through the BSA E-Filing System. FinCEN is no longer accepting legacy reports. For more information, click here.
The BSA E-Filing system supports electronic filing of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) forms (either individually or in batches) by a filing organization to the BSA database through a FinCEN secure network. It also allows members of filing organizations to send and receive secure messages to and from FinCEN. Additionally, FinCEN uses the system to issue advisories and system updates to the user community.
To File a BSA report, visit BSA E-Filing System.
To view a BSA report or test your batch filing program, visit BSA E-Filing Test System. Do not mail or electronically attempt to file a test report.
If you have a BSA related question for the NCUA, please send an email to the BSA Policy mailbox at BSAPolicy@NCUA.gov.
