The 2006 Revisions to the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual July 28, 2006

PDF Download : final_joint_interagency_transmital_07262006.pdf

 

This Notice reminds financial institutions who file Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) forms by magnetic media that the only approved filing media are 3.5 inch diskettes and 18/36 track cartridges.

The Internal Revenue Services' Enterprise Computing Center - Detroit (ECC-Detroit) has reported receiving BSA filings submitted on other magnetic media, such as CD and DVD, which do not conform to the filing specifications. Due to technical limitations, ECC-Detroit cannot accept filings that are not on the approved media. In light of the availability of BSA E-filing, which does not require magnetic media, ECC-Detroit does not plan to issue new specifications for magnetic media filing.

Magnetic media filers should review the specifications contained on FinCEN's website for information on approved filing media. Failure to adhere to the filing specifications can result in a financial institution being discontinued as a magnetic media filer.

Please visit: Forms and scroll down to the Magnetic Media Specifications section.

This Notice does not affect filers who utilize BSA E-filing since it does not require magnetic tapes or disks. FinCEN strongly encourages financial institutions to utilize BSA E-filing to file their BSA forms. Magnetic media filers may easily convert to e-filing. BSA E-file accepts files formatted the same as magnetic media but eliminates the need for the magnetic storage media. The BSA E-files are sent via a secure Internet connection. Log on tohttp://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/index.jsp for further information on BSA E-filing.