Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Regulations - Civil and
Criminal Penalties
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On October 3, 2007 I attended the
Practitioners Council Liaison Meeting at the Internal Revenue Service's
Birmingham, Alabama office. One of the IRS speakers at this meeting was Susan
Vega, Bank Secrecy Act Expert. I found the information Mrs. Vega presented to be
very interesting and informative and decided to dedicate several pages of our
website to it. |
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Greg Cook, EA, CPA
Civil and criminal penalties can be imposed for violations of anti-money
laundering laws and regulations. Penalties can result in substantial fines and
in prison terms. Any MSB that fails to comply with BSA reporting and recording
keeping requirements faces possible civil penalties of up to $500 for negligent
violations and the greater of the following two amounts for willful violations:
the amount involved in the transaction (up to $100,000) or $25,000. Under
certain circumstances, businesses can also be held criminally liable for the
acts of their employees. The maximum criminal penalty for violating a BSA
requirement is a fine of up to $500,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to 10
years, or both.
It is therefore important that employees are thoroughly trained on how to comply
with BSA regulations and that a system is in place to ensure that employees are
following all anti-money laundering laws and regulations.
MSBs can do a great deal to help the federal government in its anti-money
laundering efforts. At a minimum, MSBs should file all BSA reports accurately
and in a timely fashion, create and maintain accurate BSA records for the
requisite time period, establish and maintain appropriate compliance programs
and follow all Treasury Department guidance related to the BSA.
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