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Bank Secrecy Act

For federally insured credit unions, the Bank Secrecy Act is addressed in Part 748 of the National Credit Union Administration Rules and Regulations.

USA Patriot Act of 2001

The USA Patriot (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act of 2001 amends select provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act.

The following sections of the USA Patriot Act are of particular interest to credit unions:

  • Section 312 requires expanded due diligence on personal banking accounts containing more than $1 million in deposits and accounts held by foreign nationals.
  • Section 314 requires information sharing between financial institutions and law enforcement through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen).
  • Section 326 requires a program for customer identification be established and records maintained of information used in the verification process.

To ensure consistency among credit unions and other financial institutions, NCUA and other agencies belonging to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) jointly prepared the following list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers concerning the USA Patriot Act.

Jointly prepared FAQs follow:

FAQ: Section 326 of USA Patriot Act - PDF

The Suspicious Activity Report may be found by following this link.

Interagency Advisory - Federal Court Reaffirms Protections for Financial Institutions Filing Suspicious Activity Reports

Bank Secrecy Act Examination Procedures for Customer Identification Programs - PDF

Please note the term "bank" is used interchangeably with "credit union" for ease in drafting this joint statement from the FFIEC Agencies. Treasury and FinCen regulations use the term "bank" to define a variety of financial institutions, including credit unions.