By Anne Eberhardt, CFE, CAMS, Senior Director, Valuation & Litigation Consulting

October 26 is National Financial Crime Fighter Day, a time to honor professionals in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) roles, whether as employees of financial institutions or as U.S. government law enforcement and regulatory personnel. Because “not all superheroes wear capes.”

Passed in 1970, the BSA – which, let’s be honest, requires banks to reveal, rather than keep, their customers’ secrets – essentially deputized financial services companies, requiring them to monitor their customers’ transactions and report certain suspicious activity to Johnny Law. The original goal of the BSA was to provide law enforcement with tangible financial evidence to be used when prosecuting criminals, but after the 9/11 attacks, and especially following the 2008 financial crisis, enforcement of the BSA and other associated AML legislation increased significantly, leading to much larger penalties for financial institutions that did not adequately comply with government rules, as well as expanded definitions of what constituted financial crime.

One of the most notable cases was against BNP Paribas in 2014, when the bank was fined $8.9 billion for violating U.S. sanctions by processing billions of dollars on behalf of Sudanese, Iranian, and Cuban entities, in violation of U.S. law. Even more egregiously,  the bank deliberately falsified transaction data by stripping information identifying sanctioned parties so that the transactions would pass undetected through the U.S. financial system.

Very naughty behavior indeed. And while it’s difficult to argue that Sudan, Iran, and Cuba are nice little social democracies that have unjustly found themselves victims of Uncle Sam’s wrath, it’s noteworthy that the bank was penalized for violating U.S. foreign policy, not that of its own country.

Critics argue that BSA and AML regulations are not just about preventing crime; they also help maintain U.S. power by supporting the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, ensuring liquidity for U.S. debt in the global capital markets.

Nevertheless, there’s no denying the impact of financial crime fighters in prosecuting actual criminal behavior. Earlier this month, TD Bank was sanctioned more than $3 billion for its role in facilitating money laundering for crimes tied to fentanyl and human trafficking.

So definitely, three cheers to those working behind the scenes fighting financial crime. They may not wear capes, but they play a crucial role promoting truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.