In 1970, in an effort to thwart the efforts of criminals trying to hide the sources of illegal funds through money laundering, Congress passed the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, commonly referred to today as the Bank Secrecy Act. The Bank Secrecy Act, or B.S.A., mandates that financial institutions monitor and report specific potentially suspicious activities and create traceable paper trails with regard to all large transactions so as to help the government identify and prosecute cases of money laundering. With such regulations comes the need to have someone at financial institutions as well as at banking and tax regulators that ensures all BSA guidelines are followed. Among the jobs in compliance tasked with this responsibility, the title often assigned to such roles is B.S.A. Compliance Analyst.

Generally, an entry level B.S.A. Compliance Analyst assists the Chief Compliance officer at a bank or financial institution in the effective implementation of a Bank Secrecy Act compliance program. A compliance job of this nature usually requires an individual to perform various quality control reviews of transactions and procedures, and guides the bank in establishing certain controls and safety measures to limit the risk of fraud and money laundering at their branch. Jobs in compliance such as these might also require the employee to train new hires, or existing staff when new policies and procedures are implemented.

Because a B.S.A. Compliance Analyst will be privy to confidential, and sometimes sensitive, financial information, he or she must be absolutely trustworthy in terms of protecting clients' privacy and managing classified data. Jobs in compliance often require such a level of secrecy, but anything relating to the Bank Secrecy Act will necessarily will require a much higher level of confidentiality.

Any candidate interested in an entry level BSA Compliance Analyst position or any other compliance job for that matter should make sure they assess their skills and aptitudes. Because the B.S.A. Compliance Analyst will regularly review large amounts of financial data, he or she must possess a high level of attention to detail. The analyst must also be able to identify and articulate suspicious activity in a certain set of transactions, so a certain aptitude for data and trend analysis is mandatory. The financial world is also a very conservative work environment. Any person pursuing a career as a B.S.A. Compliance Analyst must feel comfortable working in a formal setting, interacting with high profile persons whether within the banks themselves or the regulators.

A Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution is generally required of a candidate for the position of B.S.A. Compliance Analyst. Finance, Business, Political Science, or Pre-law might be good majors for the person interested in jobs in compliance. More important than the specific degree, however, is gaining the right experience in the field of banking and financial services. Most B.S.A. Compliance Analysts have held previous positions in the field of banking and have proven themselves trustworthy with confidential financial information, as well as dependable in terms of attention to detail and data analysis. Because of the high level of responsibility, despite the fact that technically it is an entry level position, a B.S.A Compliance Analyst can enjoy an above average salary and a very stable career.

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