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News Releases
10/14/2004 USA PATRIOT Act Monitor News Release: AmSouth
Bank Fined $10 Million for BSA Violations, Prosecutions Deferred
AmSouth Bank of Birmingham, without admitting or denying allegations, has consented
to pay a penalty of $10 million, as described in a joint news release of FinCEN
and the Federal Reserve Board (the latter being the bank's primary federal supervisor).
Among allegations contained in the Consent were the following:
1. Systems at the bank's branches for recording monetary
instruments sold to non-accountholders were not fully integrated with the bank's
system for responding to 314(a) requests sent by FinCEN.
2. Litigation reports, fraud reports, and other documents that may have indicated
that suspicious activity was occurring, were not regularly provided to BSA compliance
personnel or to corporate security personnel.
3. The Legal Department of the bank had no system for alerting BSA compliance
personnel about subpoenas and information requests received from law enforcement.
4. Some personnel believed that SARs did not have to be filed unless there was
a loss to the bank.
5. The scope of an internal audit of suspicious activity procedures was limited
to a "reasonableness and completeness" check of SARs actually filed.
Detailed analysis of the AmSouth Consent and Order will be provided in the October 2004 issue of the USA PATRIOT Act Monitor.
USA PATRIOT ACT MONITOR is published by Civic Research Institute, Inc., 4478 U.S. Route 27, P.O. Box 585, Kingston, NJ 08528, 609-683-4450, info@civicresearchinstitute.com, as an update service for Money Laundering, Terrorism and Financial Institutions: Law · Regulation · Compliance · USA PATRIOT Act Monitor © 2004 Civic Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying expressly prohibited. The information in this publication is not intended to replace the services of a trained legal professional. Neither the editors, nor the contributors, nor Civic Research Institute, Inc. are by this publication engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. The editors, contributors, and Civic Research Institute, Inc., specifically disclaim any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use or application of the contents of this publication.