Bank Secrecy Act

The Bank Secrecy Act is a United States federal law, also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, signed by President Richard Nixon on October 26, 1970. It requires financial institutions operating in the United States to keep records and file reports intended to detect and prevent money laundering, including reports of cash transactions exceeding 10,000 dollars in a single business day and suspicious activity reports when transactions suggest criminal conduct or tax evasion. It also requires travelers crossing United States borders with 10,000 dollars or more in currency to declare the amount to Customs and Border Protection, a threshold unchanged since 1970. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, enforces the act, which has been amended several times, including by Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, which expanded anti-money-laundering compliance requirements for financial institutions.