Background
To combat money laundering in the United States, Congress enacted a series of laws, collectively referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), requiring financial institutions in the U.S. to assist government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering and other financial crimes. The BSA requires financial institutions to create “paper trails” by keeping records and filing reports on certain transactions to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The BSA’s reporting and recordkeeping provisions apply to banks, savings and loans, and credit unions as well as other financial institutions, including money services businesses (MSBs). The Postal Service is classified as a MSB as it sells money orders, conducts Sure Money wire transfers (an electronic money transfer service), and sells gift cards. The BSA requires all MSBs to establish and maintain an effective written anti-money laundering program.
What We Did
Our objective was to evaluate the Postal Service’s BSA and anti-money laundering program for compliance with recordkeeping, reporting, and training regulations. We reviewed 200 money order transactions for compliance with BSA recordkeeping and reporting requirements, interviewed employees who sell or manage the sale of money orders at 10 post offices, and reviewed fiscal year (FY) 2023 BSA training completion status for applicable employees.
What We Found
We found that the Postal Service generally complied with BSA recordkeeping and reporting requirements and the employees we interviewed were generally aware of their responsibilities under the BSA. However, we identified approximately 2,000 employees who had not completed the FY 2023 annual BSA compliance training and did not appear on the report used by the BSA compliance office to track training completion status.
Recommendation and Management’s Comments
We made one recommendation to review the process for generating the training status report and ensure it includes all relevant employees. Postal Service management agreed with the recommendation. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of the finding and recommendation. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General considers management’s comments responsive to the recommendation. Corrective actions should resolve the issue identified in the report.
