What is Banking Secrecy Act (BSA)?

Banking Secrecy Act is a law that prevents criminals from laundering and masking their illegal profits. And thanks to this law, money laundering, and other similar malicious acts are successfully detected and prevented on a daily basis. The policy is also known as the Currency and Foreign Transaction Reporting act.

The success of BSA in managing illegal acts is often flattered, but the policy also receives some criticism regarding the absence of an explanation about “suspect transaction." Because law enforcement officials do not require a court order to have access to the information.

BSA obligates financial institutions and banks to reveal files of the chronology of accounts to regulated authorities, and currency exchange statements. Also, all transfers above $10,000 made by account holders of banks, must have verification and documentation.

Furthermore, there are a few exceptions to the $10,000 rule and the BSA in general. This covers government departments or agencies, as well as firms listed on major North American stock markets.

However, estates, organizations, firms, corporations, people, and companies must all follow the policy. For example, anyone who earns more than $10,000 in cash in a single transaction is required to file "Form 8300". Form submission is required for a part of monetary transactions conducted in the United States. To be precise, the paperwork must be submitted to the authorities after the 15th day after the transaction.

People and companies (that operate in the gray area) are rather confused about what law they must obey and what legal responsibility they have by providing their information to the authorities.

To make things clear, these companies have to get in touch with the white-collar defense attorney that had encountered cryptocurrency cases before. 

Nonetheless, laws and regulations are shifting quickly, resulting in legal issues emerging from digital currency transactions that demand the assistance of an attorney, who is both technically knowledgeable about how digital currencies work, and their legal standing.

It's no secret that cryptocurrencies are seen as the financial future, and their popularity is growing by the day. This sparks considerable discussion over whether organizations who conduct exchanges using Bitcoin or even altcoins should be compelled to comply with the BSA. 

The fact that cryptocurrencies enable anonymous, virtual, and encrypted exchanges is the most alluring feature to users. You can perform any undetectable translation and store your virtual currency in wallets. On the other hand, these elements make it very easy for criminals to commit malicious and illegal activities.