Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) is the foundational US anti-money-laundering law, enacted in 1970. It requires financial institutions to maintain a written AML program, verify and document who their customers are, keep records of transactions, and report certain activity to FinCEN — suspicious activity reports (SARs) for potentially illicit activity and currency transaction reports (CTRs) for cash transactions over $10,000. FinCEN administers the BSA, and the institution’s designated BSA officer is accountable for the program.
By Krisan Nichani, Chief Compliance OfficerLast updated July 2026
In practice the BSA is why every financial institution has a compliance function: risk assessments, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, independent testing, and training all trace back to its program requirements (often summarized as the "pillars" of an AML program). Regulators examine against it, and enforcement actions for weak programs are common and public.
The BSA never requires reviews to be slow — it requires them to be complete and documented. Infinite Agents assembles and documents every case before an analyst opens it, with every decision made by a human, so BSA-grade case files get built in days instead of weeks without moving the human out of the loop.
Frequently asked questions
Who must comply with the Bank Secrecy Act?
US financial institutions broadly — banks, and nonbank institutions including money services businesses and money transmitters. Each must maintain a written AML program and file the required reports. Money services business (MSB)
What reports does the BSA require?
Currency transaction reports (CTRs) for cash transactions over $10,000 in a day, suspicious activity reports (SARs) for potentially illicit activity, and recordkeeping that lets regulators reconstruct what happened and why. Suspicious activity report (SAR)
What is the difference between the BSA and AML?
AML is the broad practice of detecting and preventing money laundering, used worldwide. The BSA is the specific US law that makes an AML program mandatory — it defines the programs, records, and reports US financial institutions must maintain.
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