Examination Support

Examination Support

All money services businesses subject to Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) laws will encounter examiners who inspect their operations for potential compliance issues. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) maintains examination procedures that examiners should use to conduct their investigations into BSA/AML policies. The FFIEC regularly updates these procedures, and the latest update was in the summer of 2021. 

Examinations can involve:

• Reporting of any international transportation of currency or monetary instruments
• Recordkeeping purchase and sale of monetary instruments
• Reports of foreign financial accounts
• Other special measures

If your organization is being looked into and undergoing an examination, you need to be prepared. It is far too easy to overlook something that results in serious issues with the government. Do not risk a failed examination – instead, speak with our BSA/AML examination support experts at Bates Group LLC. We are Corporate Compliance specialists ready to help. 

Mock State Examinations

There are two main parts of an examination, which are:

• Assessing the quality of the compliance program
• Checking for all necessary regulatory compliance
• Identifying areas of unaddressed risk

The last thing that your company needs is to undergo an examination and be surprised by violations or other problems. This is why we help with mock examinations so your business can be as prepared as possible. 

Our mock examiners will find any gaps in your policies or compliance programs, which allows you to address them before the actual examination happens. This can help keep costs down and prevent any issues with government examiners. 

If you would like to learn more about our mock state examination program and services, contact our team directly today.

Lookback Reviews

BSA/AML compliance involves more than minimizing risk for future transactions, as examinations can address past transactions, as well. Our professionals can perform a lookback review, in which we analyze past transactions and activities to identify whether there were policy compliance issues or overlooked risk. 

We can review and evaluate:

• Deposit accounts
• Transaction activity
• New account holders and their activity
• Recordkeeping diligence for all necessary transactions

If we find anything that does not fully comply with BSA/AML requirements or that might create undue risk, we can notify your organization and help to make recommendations to rectify the situation. It is much more preferable that our team discovers suspicious activity during a lookback review than to have an examiner for the government discover it. 

Speak with Our Professionals About Examination Support Today

For money transmitters and other financial institutions, being prepared for a state BSA/AML examination is essential, as failing to take proper steps can be costly or even jeopardize your entire operation. This is not something that you want – or need – to do on your own, as it takes time and resources. You need the help of professionals who can provide effective examination support. 

At Bates Group LLC., our team is composed of licensed compliance professionals, and we can assist you with examination support and lookback reviews. Contact us for more information.