The Risk Management Association and the American Association of Bank Directors to hold special audioconference on the Bank Secrecy Act, January 12, 2005, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. EST.
Philadelphia, Pa. (December 3, 2004) — The Risk Management Association (RMA) and the American Association of Bank Directors (AABD) will cosponsor an audioconference about compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act. The audioconference, which is open to members as well as nonmembers, will be held January 12, 2005, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $125 per telephone line. Multiple listeners are encouraged.
"Compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its related laws and regulations is probably the number one regulatory risk facing banks today," said RMA President and CEO Maurice H. Hartigan II. "While the costs of compliance can be substantial in terms of dollars, time and resources, the costs of non-compliance can be severe in fines as well as in reputational damage. Yet insufficient guidance is available today."
To fill the information gap, RMA and AABD have invited nationally recognized experts to address the issue in the January 12, 2005, audioconference. David Baris, attorney and partner, Kennedy & Baris, LLP is the executive director of the AABD, an organization that represents the interests of bank and savings institution directors before Congress and the federal and state banking agencies. Robert Serino, senior advisor for Financial Services, Watkins Consulting, is an advisor to the AABD on money laundering and bank enforcement. He is a retired deputy chief counsel with the OCC.
The audioconference is designed to help bank directors, CEOs and senior management understand their role in establishing and monitoring a BSA program. It will provide participants with concrete steps that any bank can take to minimize the risk of liability from BSA non-compliance.
It’ll help management and directors to:
- Know what the "hot buttons" are for the regulators and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Created in 1990, FinCEN maximizes information sharing among law enforcement agencies and the regulatory and financial communities to combat money laundering.
- Learn how the bank will be evaluated and rated.
- Understand how examiners are given broad leeway to interpret each institution’s BSA compliance responsibilities.
- Hear examples of examiner interpretations that could have a hugely negative impact on a bank—unless the bank is prepared.
About RMA
Founded in 1914, RMA is a nonprofit, member-driven professional association whose sole purpose is to advance the use of sound risk principles in the financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise-wide approach to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and operational risk.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, RMA has 3,000 institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as nonbank financial institutions. They are represented in the Association by 16,400 risk management professionals in North America and numerous cities overseas, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and London. Members meet regularly through RMA's strong chapter network.
Visit RMA on the Web at www.rmahq.org.
About AABD
Founded in 1989 in the midst of the last bank crisis, AABD is devoted to serving the information, education and advocacy needs of individual bank and savings institution directors.