An adverse action notice is a document sent to a loan applicant stating a bank’s rationale for denying a loan. It may also contain a counteroffer, such as a lesser amount or a request for an approved co-borrower.
An authorized signer form is a document that allows an account holder to grant a range of clearance levels to individuals to perform certain functions within a bank account.

A BSA Compliance Officer coordinates and monitors adherence to Bank Secrecy Act regulatory requirements, which are focused on detecting and halting money laundering. This senior-level position spends much of his or her time analyzing data and ensuring the successful implementation of various policies and procedures. In smaller financial institutions, these functions may fall under the Bank Compliance Officer’s purview, but larger financial institutions often create a specific BSA compliance position.

Pinpointing Anomalies

The BSA Compliance Officer’s responsibilities center around AML (anti-money laundering) efforts. BSA Compliance Officers develop and implement systems to proactively detect suspicious activity, such as:

  • Frequent deposits and/or withdrawals of large amounts, often from one branch to another
  • Shell companies that have been established specifically for money laundering purposes
  • Purchasing large amounts of cashier’s checks
  • Other BSA Compliance Officer Duties

In addition to detecting suspicious activity patterns, BSA Compliance Officers implement and manage the financial institution’s AML programs. This may entail, among other items:

  • Creating internal policies, procedures, and controls to flag potential money laundering schemes
  • Staying up to date on new BSA requirements
  • Training staff as necessary
  • Performing independent testing to measure the bank or credit union’s effectiveness in identifying money laundering attempts
  • Ensuring that identified issues are sufficiently addressed

Leveraging Technology

Modern banks and credit unions are turning to electronic document imaging software, such as AccuDoc, to assist with BSA compliance in a variety of ways. Some examples include:

  • Storing and retrieving Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), and internal/external audit reports related to due diligence and independent testing
  • Enabling convenient access to BSA policies and procedures
  • Ensuring tight security at the document level for sensitive information
  • Reducing risk of the loss of (or unauthorized access to) sensitive compliance information

BSA Compliance Officer Resources

Looking for more information about banking compliance? Be sure to check out our extensive resource library with free spreadsheets, whitepapers, and eBooks.

Browse our banking definitions page for more terminology.

Explore more resources

Exception Tracking Cost Calculator

Exception tracking has many moving parts—from notice generation to recordkeeping and reporting. How much does it cost your financial institution each year? Find out with Alogent’s free calculator.
Read More »

Related articles

Tuesday 3 October 2023

The Last Mile of Check Processing: A Hidden Financial and Operational Impact

In the age of technology, financial institutions are often looking for ways to automate processes and make them more cost-efficient. However, when it comes to…

Learn More »

Wednesday 27 September 2023

How to Enable Better Experiences for Multiple Stakeholders with Streamlined Document Management

Document management is often considered a “back-office” function that minimally impacts a financial institution’s key business objectives. In reality, streamlined document management can play a…

Learn More »

Tuesday 19 September 2023

From Data to Results: The Role of Personalization in Your Digital Banking Platform

One powerful strategy to enhance the user experience and drive engagement on digital platforms is through built-in contextual marketing. In the world of digital banking…

Learn More »

Wednesday 6 September 2023

[Playbook] Efficiently Managing To-Dos with Task Exceptions

Your financial institution is growing—more branches, more team members, more loan and account holders, and more follow-up. To keep pace with this complexity, you need…

Learn More »

Monday 28 August 2023

Exception Tracking: Is Now the Right Time to Upgrade Your Workflow?

Documentation and follow-up tasks for financial institutions to manage is commonplace—especially for banks and credit unions involved in commercial lending. Proactively tracking missing and expired…

Learn More »

Thursday 17 August 2023

[Playbook] Tracking and Resolving Recurring Document Exceptions

Proactively dealing with missing and expiring documents is a key component of an effective exception management strategy. However, that’s easier said than done when your…

Learn More »

Wednesday 9 August 2023

Six Steps to Maximize Your Financial Institution’s Digital Transformation Journey within the Digital Banking Channel

In today's rapidly evolving digital banking market, digital transformation and the adoption of cutting-edge, scalable solutions has become a necessity for banks and credit unions…

Learn More »

Tuesday 1 August 2023

Check Volumes are Declining, But Check Fraud is Rising: What’s it Costing your Financial Institution?

No financial institution – large or small – is protected from transaction or check fraud. And, the difficult reality for institutions is that fraud can…

Learn More »