Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
The primary U.S. anti-money laundering regulatory statute (Title 31, U.S. Code Sections 5311- 5355) enacted in 1970 and most notably amended by the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001. Among other measures, it imposes money laundering controls on financial institutions and many other businesses, including the requirement to report and keep records of various financial transactions.
Bank Secrecy
These refer to laws and regulations in several nations that prevent banks from sharing account information or simply revealing its existence without the account holder’s permission. This process prevents the movement of information across national borders between financial organisations and their regulators. One of FATF’s 40 Recommendations states that countries should ensure that secrecy laws […]
Bank Guarantee
A bank guarantee is a guarantee issued by a bank on behalf of an applicant to cover a payment obligation to a third party. In other words, the bank becomes a guarantor and is liable for the individual requesting the guarantee if they cannot make the payment they agreed upon with a third party.
Bank Draft
A bank draft is a payment similar to a check, except the issuing bank guarantees the amount. The monies are pulled from the requesting payer’s account and held in the bank’s reserve account until the payee cashed the draft. Bank drafts give the payee a more secure payment method than personal checks.
Back-to-Back Letters of Credit
A form of financing in which Bank A issues a letter of credit as collateral to Bank B to issue a separate letter of credit to the beneficiary. This process occurs when the underlying agreement between the applicant and beneficiary includes restrictions on the credit quality of the Bank issuing the letter of credit, the […]
Background Check
A background check is a procedure that combines data sources and public information to investigate a person or entity. They can be used to verify if a person is who they claim to be or to ascertain if a company exists and is competent within a subject matter area it claims to be.