Common Forms Used by Banks Relating to the Bank Secrecy Act
The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) of 1970 places requirements on financial institutions which are meant to assist the government in detecting and preventing money laundering and underlying crimes. Perhaps the most commonly known requirement under the BSA is that financial institutions must keep records of and file reports for currency transactions exceeding $10,000.00. The report filed for each transaction over $10,000.00 is called a currency transaction report (CTR). The BSA further requires financial institutions to report suspicious activity when there is reason to believe a customer is attempting to structure transactions in order to avoid the CTR filing requirement. This form is known as a suspicious activity report (SAR). All CTRs and SARs are sent to government agencies for review. But what if you run a cash-intensive business? For example, you have cash receipts each day that total $9,000. You go to the bank on Monday and make a $9,000 cash deposit. You go to the bank on