06/20/2005
If a grocery or convenience store states, in writing, that they will no longer cash checks (for free) of $1,000 or more, must they register as an MSB? Is it, once an MSB, always an MSB?
06/13/2005
05/30/2005
New IRS Team Provides Education to Combat Money Laundering
by Susan Vega, a Bank Secrecy Act Specialist with the IRS
05/16/2005
If a casino owned and operated by a Indian Tribe on Tribal land meets the requirements of a MSB for cashing checks over $1,000.00 for any one person in any one day, are they exempt from MSB reporting due to the fact they are a government entity?
05/16/2005
I assume that on the loan side we need to determine whether the customer is an MSB and get all the required documents. However, from a practical standpoint, how does one monitor such a relationship if all they have with us is a loan?
04/18/2005
A customer's business is a local convenience store and he is obviously in the business of cashing checks on a regular basis and depositing those checks to his account at our bank. Occasionally, checks are cashed out to the benefit of the same person on the same day in an amount exceeding $1,000. As BSA Officer, I discussed this with the relationship manager and we decided to inform the customer that he might want to make sure he understands the requirements concerning operating as an unregistered MSB. He replied that he was confident that he was doing nothing wrong. Our question: What, if any, obligation do we have to (for instance) file a SAR, instruct him to not deposit checks that are subject to MSB regulations, or any other potential obligations we might have based on what we know about his activities that are subject to MSB regs?
04/18/2005
Per the BSA, an MSB does not include a bank, nor shall it include a person registered with, and regulated by the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Does this mean that I do not have to perform any enhanced due diligence on an MSB that is a 34 Act company? By enhanced due diligence, I mean determining whether the business has procedures to comply with applicable BSA requirements, whether the company has proper controls to monitor for suspicious activity and whether the company has procedures to ensure compliance with OFAC regulations
04/04/2005
The Bank Secrecy Act includes a check casher as a form of an MSB. A check casher is defined as a person engaged in the business of a check casher. What is meant by "engaged in the business of a check casher"? An ice cream store, which derives more than 50% of its revenue from the sale of ice cream, cashes checks for some ot its patrons, some of which are in excess of $1,000, and may or may not charge a fee. Is the store a check casher for purposes of the BSA? In looking at the purpose, spirit, intent, etc. of the BSA, I would say that the store qualifies as an MSB, should register with FinCEN, have AML policy and procedure, etc. But since they are not "engaged in the business of a check casher" but engaged in the business of selling ice cream, are they an MSB?
04/01/2005
Part of a joint statement from all the regulatory agencies and FinCEN issued the last week of March read, "Money Services Businesses (MSB) are losing access to banking services as a result of conce
04/01/2005
Question: We have a depositor who sells traveler's checks for Travel X.