NCJ Number
146549
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This testimony reports on the U.S. General Accounting Office's (GAO's) assessment of the Federal Government's anti-money laundering efforts and the use of the Bank Secrecy Act report in these efforts. The assessment is based on previous reports and ongoing assignments. It found that over 95 percent of the reports filed under the Bank Secrecy Act are Currency Transaction Reports (CTR's). The act requires CTR's for each deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency, or other payment or transfer by, through, or to financial institutions and certain businesses that involve a transaction in currency of more than $10,000. In the past several years, the number of CTR's filed annually has continually increased. Almost 50 million CTR's have been filed thus far, and the total could exceed 92 million in 4 years. The GAO study found that CTR's are not used to their full extent by law enforcement agencies. The large number of reports has made meaningful analysis of each report difficult. Also, access to the data, particularly at the State level, is limited and cumbersome. Federal resources to enforce CTR provisions at nonbank institutions may be insufficient to ensure compliance. Increased involvement by State authorities in enforcing reporting requirements could supplement Federal efforts. GAO is examining these issues in more detail in ongoing assignments. 1 figure and 3 tables