Bank Secrecy Act

Bank Secrecy Act of 1970

Other short titles	Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act Reports of Currency and Foreign Transactions Domestic Currency Transactions Reports of Exports and Imports of Monetary Instruments Foreign Transactions
Long title	An Act to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to require insured banks to maintain certain records, to require that certain transactions in U.S. currency be reported to the Department of the Treasury, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	BSA
Nicknames	Federal Deposit Insurance Act Amendments
Enacted by	the 91st United States Congress
Effective	October 26, 1970
Citations
Public law	91-508
Statutes at Large	84 Stat. 1114-2 aka 84 Stat. 1118
Codification
Titles amended	12 U.S.C.: Banks and Banking 15 U.S.C.: Commerce and Trade
U.S.C. sections amended	12 U.S.C. ch. 13 § 1724 12 U.S.C. ch. 16 § 1813 15 U.S.C. ch. 2B § 78a
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 15073 Passed the House on May 25, 1970 (302-0) Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on October 26, 1970
United States Supreme Court cases
California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz, 416 U.S. 21 (1974) United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435 (1976) United States v. $8,850, 461 U.S. 555 (1983) Ratzlaf v. United States, 510 U.S. 135 (1994) United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321 (1998) Bittner v. United States, No. 21-1195, 598 U.S. ___ (2023)

The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, is a U.S. law requiring financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering.^[1] Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports if the daily aggregate exceeds $10,000, and report suspicious activity that may signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities.^[2]

The BSA is sometimes referred to as an anti-money laundering law (AML) or jointly as BSA/AML.^[3]