October 2018
To recognize almost 50 years of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), thought leader and industry expert, Jim Richards, has produced this thoughtful and insightful whitepaper.
In it, Richards reflects on the circumstances surrounding the birth of the BSA as the Foreign Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, charting its history through various updates and iterations, and exploring how world events, changing technologies, and the fluctuating social and economic climates have informed its evolution through the years. Richards speaks to the purpose of the Act, the difficult times surrounding the 2008 financial crisis and the years that followed, and how the last couple of years have seen a change of intention and approach in the financial crimes risk management industry.
Finally, Richards suggests a subtle but important change to the language of the BSA/AML Manual, centred around “providing timely and actionable intelligence to law enforcement” in order to lead the industry forward into what he calls “an exciting and dynamic time”.