US BSA/AML Framework
The US federal anti-money laundering regime -- from the Bank Secrecy Act through the PATRIOT Act to the AML Act of 2020 and the embattled Corporate Transparency Act -- requiring financial institutions to detect, report, and prevent illicit finance through a layered system of transaction reporting, customer due diligence, and beneficial ownership disclosure.
Every bank, credit union, money transmitter, and crypto exchange operating in the United States must follow a set of federal rules designed to stop criminals from moving dirty money through the financial system. These rules are collectively called the BSA/AML framework, and they have been building up since 1970 -- making them one of the oldest and most layered anti-money laundering regimes in the world.
At its core, the framework requires financial institutions to know who their customers are, watch for suspicious activity, and report it to the government. If a customer deposits more than USD 10,000 in cash, the bank must file a Currency Transaction Report. If a transaction looks suspicious -- regardless of amount -- the institution must file a Suspicious Activity Report with FinCEN, the Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit. Tipping off the customer about the report is a federal crime.
The most recent major expansion is the Corporate Transparency Act, which was supposed to require nearly every US-formed company to disclose its real owners to FinCEN. However, a wave of court challenges has effectively paused enforcement for domestic companies since early 2025, and the law's future is uncertain while the courts sort out whether Congress had the constitutional authority to impose the requirement in the first place.
Penalties for getting this wrong are severe and getting larger. In 2024, TD Bank agreed to pay over USD 3 billion in combined fines across multiple federal agencies for BSA failures -- the largest bank penalty of its kind. The message from regulators is clear: inadequate compliance programmes will be treated as enabling money laundering, regardless of whether the institution intended to break the law.
Switzerland is not subject to US BSA/AML requirements, but Swiss financial institutions with US customers, US-dollar correspondent banking relationships, or a US branch presence can fall within the reach of US enforcement. FinCEN and the DOJ have repeatedly demonstrated willingness to pursue foreign banks that facilitate illicit dollar flows through the US financial system, as seen in historic settlements with Credit Suisse and others.
Switzerland's own AML framework -- anchored in the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and enforced by FINMA -- is considered broadly equivalent to the FATF standards that also underpin the US regime. However, key differences remain: Switzerland uses a risk-based suspicious activity reporting model without fixed cash thresholds, while the US relies on a rules-based approach with specific dollar triggers. Swiss institutions serving US clients or processing US-dollar transactions should maintain familiarity with both regimes, particularly around beneficial ownership requirements and the evolving CTA obligations for foreign entities.
The US AML regime is not a single law but a layered stack of statutes enacted over five decades, each building on and expanding the last. Click any layer to explore.
Financial institutions must file multiple types of reports with FinCEN. Each has specific thresholds, deadlines, and consequences for non-compliance. Structuring transactions to avoid reporting is itself a federal crime.
Notable recent enforcement actions demonstrate the scale of BSA/AML penalties and the breadth of entities targeted -- from traditional banks to crypto exchanges.
| YEAR | ENTITY | PENALTY | VIOLATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | TD Bank | USD 3.09B | BSA/AML programme failures, failure to file SARs, facilitating money laundering through three separate networks |
| 2023 | Binance | USD 4.3B | Failure to maintain effective AML programme, BSA violations, sanctions violations (OFAC), failure to register as MSB |
| 2022 | USAA Federal Savings Bank | USD 140M | Wilful BSA violations, inadequate transaction monitoring, failure to file SARs |
| 2021 | Capital One | USD 390M | Wilful BSA violations related to check-cashing operations |
| 2020 | Deutsche Bank AG | USD 130M | FCPA and commodities fraud, with BSA programme deficiencies |
FinCEN has progressively extended BSA obligations to virtual asset service providers. Crypto exchanges must register as MSBs and comply with the full BSA reporting framework. New rules for DeFi and unhosted wallets remain under development.
The two largest AML regimes in the world are converging in some areas (beneficial ownership, crypto) while diverging in others (scope of obliged entities, enforcement approach). Understanding both is essential for any multinational compliance programme.
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