BSA: Bank Secrecy Act
The Bank Secrecy Act (31 U.S.C. 5311 et seq., from Pub. L. 91-508 of 1970) is the core US AML statute, requiring currency transaction reports, foreign account reports, AML compliance programs, and FinCEN registration of money services businesses; FinCEN administers it under 31 CFR Chapter X.
At a glance
| Official title | Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970 (codified as the Bank Secrecy Act, 31 U.S.C. 5311 et seq., with related provisions at 12 U.S.C. 1829b and 1951-1960)1 |
|---|---|
| English title | Bank Secrecy Act |
| Citation | 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314, 5316-5336 (Pub. L. 91-508, as amended); implementing rules at 31 CFR Chapter X |
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| Type | act |
| Adopted | 1970-10-26 |
| In force from | 1970-10-26 |
| Status | in force |
Full text
Official full text: Bank Secrecy Act (HTML, en)1 · 659 KB · file checked 2026-09-24 · consolidated version of 2023-12-31
Official page: fincen.gov1
Summary
The Bank Secrecy Act (formally the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970), codified mainly at 31 U.S.C. 5311-5336, is the foundational US anti-money-laundering statute. It requires domestic financial institutions to keep records and file reports (currency transaction reports over $10,000 under Sec. 5313, foreign bank account reports under Sec. 5314, reports on exporting/importing monetary instruments under Sec. 5316) useful in criminal, tax and regulatory investigations. Sec. 5318 authorizes AML compliance-program and customer-identification rules; Sec. 5324 bans structuring transactions to evade reporting; Sec. 5330 requires money transmitting businesses to register with the Secretary of the Treasury. FinCEN administers the Act; implementing regulations sit in 31 CFR Chapter X, including 31 CFR 1022.380 (MSB registration). Sec. 5321-5322 set civil and criminal penalties. It applies to banks, money services businesses, casinos, broker-dealers and other financial institutions operating in or with the United States.
Summary written by the Atlas from the official text; the law itself prevails.
Main articles
- 31 U.S.C. 5312: Defines 'financial institution', 'money services business' and other terms used throughout the chapter.
- 31 U.S.C. 5313: Requires domestic financial institutions to report currency transactions as the Secretary prescribes (CTRs).
- 31 U.S.C. 5314: Requires records and reports on transactions with foreign financial agencies (FBAR).
- 31 U.S.C. 5318: Authorizes Treasury to require AML compliance programs, customer identification and other compliance measures.
- 31 U.S.C. 5324: Prohibits structuring cash transactions to evade the reporting requirements.
- 31 U.S.C. 5330: Requires money transmitting businesses to register with the Secretary of the Treasury within 180 days of establishment.
- 31 U.S.C. 5321-5322: Set civil monetary penalties and criminal penalties (fines, imprisonment) for violations.
Licences it governs
Regulators that apply it
Sources
- fincen.gov: bank secrecy act · retrieved 2026-09-24
Does BSA apply to your business?
Send us a short description of what you do. We tell you which obligations and licences follow from it, and what it takes to comply.
A free preliminary assessment: we check your business model against the licence before you spend on an application. We handle this licence and any other fintech licence, including jurisdictions the Atlas does not cover yet.