Banking Wire articles from August 2004

Banking Wire archives from August 2004

Starting 2nd Term As NAFCU Chair, Furnas Sees More Bank Battles, Female CEOs.
August 2, 2004... Diane Furnas describes herself as a "big NAFCU fan." Never mind that she's the current chair and the first female to oversee the board or that she's served on it and several committees for many years. The CEO of Southwest Airlines for...

ABA May Be Behind Postcards Seeking CU Membership.
August 2, 2004... The person behind the postcards that have reportedly been sent to thousands of credit unions across the country claiming to be from an individual seeking to invest in a CD and interested in the respective CU's FOM requirements has close ties to...

NCUA Proposes New Rules On Conversions.
August 2, 2004... Prompted by the failed conversion of Columbia Credit Union to a mutual savings bank, the NCUA board proposed new rules last week that will both broaden the rules required for such conversions and the related voting requirements. The...

Outsourcing Becoming Concern For NCUA.
August 2, 2004... Growing concerns over outsourced relationships has led NCUA to make plans to provide examiners with new guides for investigating risks associated with the growing use of third parties, especially with indirect lending. Both NCUA Director...

CUs Testify, But CURIA Is Expected To Wait.
August 2, 2004... In what amounts to a dress rehearsal for next year, credit union representatives last week called on Congress to support more than a dozen regulatory relief provisions included in the CU Regulatory Improvements Act, known as CURIA. But...

On Deadline.
August 2, 2004... NCUA Warns CUs Over Triple DES Deadline ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA alerted credit unions last week about the impending deadline for making all of their ATMs compliant with the new encryption standards, known as Triple DES. The new standards,...

The Starbucks of Banking.
August 2, 2004... In their battle with brokerage firms over the wallets of customers, one thing banks always have had in their favor is the marketing power of their brands. True, major brands in either camp - a Merrill Lynch or a Bank of America, for example -...

Morgan Bias Case Settled. Will This Stop Abuses?: CEOs have plenty to worry about: compliance, accounting and vocal shareholders. But sex bias cases? Please, this should be a non-issue. Sadly, it isn't.
August 2, 2004... When Morgan Stanley agreed in mid-July to pay $54 million to settle a sex discrimination case and avoid standing trial on the federal government's accusation that it denied equal pay and promotions to women in a division of its investment bank,...

HNW Services: MassMutual's In the eMoney: Product helps advisers hike assets, sales.
August 2, 2004... It's not often that a pilot program involving a mere four financial advisers yields $100 million in assets under management in 12 months, but that was the good fortune of Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Co., which has seen fit to accelerate the...

Political Contribution Management: Arnold Webifies His War Chest: Calnet deposits and e-registers donations.
August 2, 2004... The series of events that led Arnold Schwarzenegger from the set of films like "The Terminator" and "True Lies" to the California governor's office was unusual to say the least. A subtler nugget of the "Kindergarten Cop's" political prowess is...

Discussion Looks At Capital Issues.
August 3, 2004... What are the options available to credit unions feeling limited by capital constraints? Seeking answers to that question, the Filene Research Institute convened a colloquium at the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce,...

Calif. CUs Prepare To Help State Workers.
August 3, 2004... Once again California's credit unions are preparing to help state employees who will go without a paycheck until the delayed state budget is passed. The California league noted that those who will miss paychecks, however, is smaller than in...

Community Charters Get Awards Program.
August 3, 2004... The National Association of Community Credit Unions has established the inaugural Community Credit Union of the Year Award to recognize a community CU that "best exemplifies the principles of the credit union movement while serving as a...

Banks Are Gaining in Battle for Affluent.
August 3, 2004... In the financial services contest over high-net-worth individuals, banks are making headway at the expense of traditional broker-dealers, according to results of an annual survey conducted by The Phoenix Cos. and Harris Interactive. "When...

SouthTrust Reps Optimistic About Wachovia Acquisition.
August 3, 2004... The announcement of a corporate acquisition conjures the specter of layoffs, and Wachovia's acquisition of SouthTrust - announced late June - likely will result in at least some of the latter bank's employees looking for new jobs. But...

Military Banking: Financially Distressed GIs Look to Banks for Help: America's soldiers have battles at home, too.
August 3, 2004... Conflicts in afghanistan and Iraq are hitting customers harder than banks realize, and the ripple effect is likely to be felt by the families of U.S. soldiers around the globe. Some 40 percent of all overseas troops are Reservist and...

Outsourcing: Cutting Call Center Costs Trumps Catching U.S. Flak: So what if customers complain about an accent?
August 3, 2004... Despite the American backlash against offshoring, banks that make customer service a top priority aren't keeping call centers off the table. After software hosting, call center services will be the second most common service outsourced by...

Security Patches: Plugging The Leaks In The Dike: Have banks learned from BofA's 2003 error?
August 3, 2004... With banks spending more than $1 billion a year to seal gaps in applications and operating systems, patch management has become one of bank CIOs' toughest headaches, according to BITS, the technology arm of the Financial Services Roundtable. So...

CIOs are Getting Serious About the Obvious.
August 3, 2004... As the banking sector heads into the fall, chief information officers and their line-of-business counterparts are reexamining the processes and priorities for 2005. Improved profits, increased compliance requirements and the prospect of stepped...

e-Payments: Wachovia Matriculates Payment Codes: IDs for educational donors get a start at the University of Florida.
August 3, 2004... A higher form of identification is making its commercial debut at an institution of higher learning, as the University of Florida adopts the Electronic Payments Network's universal identification code (UPIC), a new means to speed payments and...

Regulators Signal VA Crackdown.
August 4, 2004... First it was mutual funds; now it's their insurance cousins, variable annuities. In mid-June, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers issued a report that pummeled financial advisors' VA...

Product News.
August 4, 2004... Allianz Life has introduced the High Five Bonus VA, which offers an upfront bonus of 4% to 7%, with a total base mortality and expense charge of 1.7%. (800) 950-5872, or www.allianzlife.com. Jefferson National Life has launched two variable...

Tools and Resources.
August 4, 2004... Ameritas Direct has a new Web site with tools and calculators for advisors and their clients. Topics addressed are life insurance needs, college cost savings, asset allocation, estate taxes and 401(k)s. (800) 555-4655, or...

News Makers.
August 4, 2004... Bush Signs Law On ID Theef President Bush last month inked a measure that imposes mandatory prison terms for those who use identity theft in committing terrorist acts. A criminal will serve an extra five years for using a false passport in...

Smart Cards: Brazil Moves Fast To Meet '06 Standards Deadline: The MasterCard-Visa measure takes hold soon, and a market with a bent on innovation is getting ready.
August 4, 2004... Brazil is moving faster than its Latin American neighbors in meeting the January 2006 deadline set to comply with EMV standards set globally for Latin America, Europe and Asia. "Brazil is one of the first countries in Latin America to...

Deals: Tech Shops Are Partying Like It's 1999 (again): A better economy and improvements in the capital markets are leading to an M&A and IPO renewal.
August 4, 2004... The financial technology sector's entered a '90s retro phase, where phrases that had fallen out of fashion-merger and acquisition, business confidence, strong economic growth and IPO- are back in vogue. While buyers still aren't lining up...

Techies.
August 4, 2004... Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of UK bank Barclays, named Amy Nauiokas to the newly created position of director and head of e-commerce. Fiserv SourceOne expanded its executive team by naming Jeff Brandmaier as president and...

Hits and Has-Beens.
August 4, 2004... After an accounting scandal last year that prompted the ouster of several top executives, Freddie Mac has tapped Stan Martin as svp and general auditor. He had served as interim general auditor since February. The bulk of Martin's 30-year...

Fresh Ink.
August 4, 2004... 1. Wachovia agreed to buy SouthTrust for $14.3 billion, which bolsters the bigger bank's presence in New Jersey and Florida. The acquisition also expedites its expansion plans in Texas. Wachovia says the move gives it 18 percent of the deposits...

Compliance: Riggs National Found No Diplomatic Immunity: Regulators defend fine, but admit lax oversight.
August 4, 2004... It's certainly true that the embassy accounts business-a specialty of Riggs National-is a banking niche occupied by few others. Nevertheless, Riggs' lax oversight of these accounts, which resulted in an unprecedented $25 million fine for the...

Pipeline.
August 4, 2004... Offshoring WAVE becoming tsunami The number of global financial institutions offshoring functions increased 38 percent, compared to last year, according to a Deloitte Research survey. By 2010, more than one-fifth of the industry's global...

Money Laundering: FATF Sets Its Sights On Informal Channels: Will FATF's broader mission make a difference?
August 5, 2004... When members of the Financial Action Task Force endorsed the international organization's mandate on May 14 for another eight years, they indicated future efforts would focus more on informal channels like cash couriers, alternative...

Steel City's Cost Cutting Slog Drags On. Are Bonds the Answer?
August 5, 2004... Prospects seem murky for new bonds to come from the troubled city of Pittsburgh, which spent the spring and early summer teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Now beholden to two different oversight boards, the Steel City government is sifting...

Noted and Noteworthy.
August 5, 2004... The swindle scoreboard this month is posting decisive gains for the prosecutors, if there was any doubt following former Credit Suisse superbanker Frank Quattrone's May conviction on charges of obstructing a federal probe. From the serious...

On-line Billing: Banks, Third-party Sites Will Rule Bill-pay Roost: By 2008, competition will be hot, hot, hot. So don't even think about charging for the service: free is in.
August 5, 2004... Electronic bill payment will soon be dominated by banks and third- party Web sites, rather than through scheduled direct payments and on- line bill payments through billers' Web sites, according to Financial Insights analyst Aaron McPherson....

At Identrus, Wendel Steers Digital Authentication: The consortium's CEO runs a 67-bank network with an energy sparked, in part, by her love of auto racing.
August 5, 2004... Identrus CEO Karen Wendel says running the bank consortium for digital identity authentication can sometimes feel like urging a temperamental Porsche 911 around a racetrack. Having spent four years as an amateur racer on a Porsche corporate...

Capital Markets: Google Goes Dutch, Rocking Ipo Sector: Google's Dutch-auction IPO was a bold choice, an indication the capital-raising business isn't just for big investment banks anymore. If other firms follow, will an industry revolution ensue?
August 5, 2004... The headline-grabbing IPO of search engine Google has flipped the floodlights on new-issue underwriting-Wall Street's most lucrative line of businesses and one of the last to become automated. Google's electronic, Dutch-auction IPO...

Trade Finance: E-advices Are Music To Bolero's Ears: Dozens of European and Asian banks already are using the firm to automate letter-of-credit advices in an effort to smooth out cross- border finance. Its product is now available to U.S. banks.
August 5, 2004... In the pantheon of financial transactions, international trade finance poses particularly thorny challenges when it comes to automation; this is mainly due to the legal and regulatory rules peculiar to each sovereign nation. But it doesn't...

Making Sense (and Dollars) of Long-Term Care Insurance: Bank customers would seem to be the ideal market for LTC coverage. Here's how leading banks are finding success.
August 5, 2004... Clients aren't particularly interested in talking about it. And most bank investment consultants probably wouldn't mind ignoring it, either. But as Baby Boomers approach retirement, long-term care insurance looms as one of the most timely...

Five Steps to Building an Effective Insurance Program.
August 5, 2004... While they're often closely related, investment and insurance programs work differently, says Dan Overbey, senior vice president and national sales manager at First Tennessee Brokerage's investment and insurance services division. Here are five...

Banks and Insurance: An Expert Sees Great Opportunities.
August 5, 2004... Will banks move beyond annuities to become insurance powerhouses? Michael White believes they can. White, chairman and CEO of an eponymous consulting firm in Radnor, Pa. (www.bankinsurance.com), produces the Bank Insurance & Investment Fee...

TLESPFCU Helps Get $1M Plus In Refunds.
August 6, 2004... The Lower East Side People's FCU said it served 1,682 community residents needing help filing their income taxes in its second year as an IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Site. Refunded to members, according to the credit union were Federal...

Worth Noting.
August 6, 2004... Deadline For Lending Awards MADISON, Wis.-The nomination deadline for the 2004 Credit Union Excellence in Lending Awards is Friday, July 30. The awards-two in consumer lending and two in mortgage lending-are sponsored by CUNA Mutual Group...

Some Insights That Captain Vancouver Could Have Shared.
August 6, 2004... More than 1,000 federal credit unions came to Vancouver for NAFCU's annual meeting, and the really, really big news was, drum roll please, that there wasn't any really, really big news. And that can only mean there will be big news around 2011....

Six More Steps To Revitalizing Your Credit Union: From the moment your members, and potential members, drive up to the parking lot they get a feeling that they either will or won't want to do business with your credit union. First impressions linger and are very difficult to change.
August 6, 2004... In the first of our two-part series (The Credit Union Journal, July 12) we introduced The 9 Critical Pathways to revitalization, and discussed how the first three create a solid foundation to any comprehensive revitalization plan. In this...

The Outlook for Annuities.
August 6, 2004... In 1987, banks and savings institutions sold just $4 billion of fixed annuities, and almost no variable. Back then, I brashly predicted that annual bank sales of annuities would hit $40 billion by 2000. In the mid-1990s, some analysts took...

Doing Business in the Buckeye State.
August 6, 2004... This month, BIC takes a front-line view of doing business in Ohio. Taking part in our roundup are Thomas Abood, vice president, senior securities sales representative, at Huntington Bank's Private Financial Group in Columbus; Per Berger, vice...

A Shot of Influence, Mr. Bartender: Break out the champagne, caviar...and peanuts. The GOP convention's coming to New York and no group's popping more corks than financial firms. Pass the aspirin.
August 6, 2004... Who says Republicans aren't party animals? When 50,000 Republicans stomp through New York City during the GOP convention from August 30 to September 2, the financial community will be feting lawmakers and delegates with a slew of intimate...

Loyalty Cards: When Clients Spend, Nonprofits Shall Receive: COMMUNITYsmart claims to be the first automated loyalty, rewards and philanthropy platform for banks.
August 6, 2004... Summit Bank CEO Terrance M. Davis knows being socially responsible can pay off big in customer loyalty, but he never realized how big. In 2003 the $230 million-asset bank in Sonoma County, CA, faced a migraine familiar to other community banks...

Business Banking: Union Bank Opens Check 21 University: The bank's seminars with Carreker aim to educate business customers on the legislation, its requirements, and its potential benefits as checking becomes more electronic than ever before.
August 6, 2004... Given the industry chatter and column inches dedicated to Check 21, it would seem inconceivable there's anyone who doesn't know about the potential triumph-someday-over physical checks. But there's still a knowledge gap, particularly in...

Marketing: Barclays Takes Aim With Predictive Analytics: The UK's third-largest bank is using KXEN technology to improve targeted marketing.
August 6, 2004... New software is allowing bank marketers to use sophisticated statistical techniques to fine-tune their campaigns while cutting costs and increasing success rates, moving predictive modeling, once the domain of expert statisticians, even closer...

Can Credit Cards Star On the Silver Screen?: "Brand entertainment" is the new catch phrase for marketers seeking product placement on TV shows and movies or in lengthy ads like Seinfeld's Superman gig.
August 9, 2004... Visa and American Express are among the first financial services firms to experiment with embedding products in TV programs and movies, blurring the line between ads and entertainment. Similar to product placement born of soap operas decades...

AD Beat: For Hispanics, PNC Avoids 'Separate-But-Equal' Ads: The Pittsburgh bank's new campaign uses humor to bring the Spanish speaker into the mainstream, acknowledging he wants to feel welcome as much as the next guy.
August 9, 2004... PNC Bank is running its first Hispanic advertising campaign anchored by a couple of funny TV spots. The effort is viewed internally as an integral part of the brand, rather than a separate component. It's a big shift in thinking for an...

This Bank Doesn't Want To Be on Every Corner: J. Downey Bridgewater, CEO of Sterling Bank, doesn't feel any pressure to plunk down new branches to catch foot traffic. There's more to his strategy.
August 9, 2004... Despite heated competition in Texas and pledges by big banks to open hundreds of new locations nationwide, J. Downey Bridgewater, president and CEO of $3.2 billion Sterling Bank, isn't sweating he'll be competing for every hot corner property...

Conquerors, Come All.
August 9, 2004... Capital-rich foreign banks are scouring the U.S. in search of targets to offset tough growth prospects at home. They're coming fast and furious, both in terms of players-French, British, Dutch, Canadian, Greek, Australian, even the Italians-and...

The Life of The Party: Credit Unions Out In Force At Democratic Convention.
August 9, 2004... The credit union movement stepped out on the national stage last week at the Democratic National Convention. Teams of lobbyists from CUNA, NAFCU and a few other groups could be seen here hosting parties, glad-handing Democratic Party pols,...

Scores For Those Without Them: Fair Isaac Rolls Out FICO Score For The Underserved.
August 9, 2004... Fair, Isaac has launched a new FICO score designed specifically for the underserved market-those people who don't have regular credit scores because they have little or no credit history with traditional financial institutions. "In the...

Fed Releases Final Rules For Check 21.
August 9, 2004... Credit unions can move forward with their Check 21 compliance plans with confidence now that the Federal Reserve has issued its final rule and language regarding the Check Processing for the 21st Century Act. "The final rule is...

CU Says CEO's Salary Didn't Derail Merger.
August 9, 2004... A published report here that the proposed merger between Oregon Community Credit Union and Portland Teachers Credit Union was called off due to the $1.6-million in annual compensation being paid one of the CEOs is being disputed by one of the...

Server With Member Data Stolen In Calif.
August 9, 2004... A server containing personal information for 33,800 members of Schools Financial Credit Union-as well as some 20 other financial institiutions, most of them CUs- was stolen from a Lake Forest, Calif.- based marketing company. Both Jim...

On Deadline.
August 9, 2004... Members Come To Rescue Of Victim FAIRFIELD, Calif.-Members of Travis CU helped turn a dream-turned- nightmare back into a dream last week for a fellow member who was robbed of her savings after withdrawing the funds from the credit union....

Reign Supreme: At Mid-Tier Banks, Low-Cost Deposits, Strict Cost Controls.
August 10, 2004... David Payne was ahead of the curve in the mid-1990s when setting Westamerica Bancorporation's strategy. At the time when most mid-sized banks were lending as much money as possible, he wisely turned to gathering low-cost deposits while taking...

Myriad Forces Buffet Corporate Loan Growth: With companies swimming in cash, they aren't hard up for bank loans. But just when that might start to change, rising interest rates loom as another possible detriment to loan growth.
August 10, 2004... Be wary of the fabulous earnings announcements you'll likely hear later this year, which tout huge growth in corporate lending; that growth will mostly be making up lost ground after a period of negative growth. What's more, with the federal...

Consumers Feeling Queasy, But Still Spending: Despite a recession, a bear market, the 9/11 attacks and two wars- all of which have roiled consumer confidence-spending has grown steadily. Does that make sense?
August 10, 2004... Of all the metrics trotted out monthly to gauge the economy's health, perhaps none is as squishy as consumer confidence. Do consumers feel good or bad this month? And exactly how much better or how much worse do they feel than a month ago? ...

The Importance of Being Alert.
August 10, 2004... Competition in the banking industry is fierce. Retaining and building relationships with customers is more important now than ever. That's why many banks have invested substantial capital in Internet and wireless initiatives to try to improve...

Could Your Bank Pass a Bank Secrecy Act Exam?
August 10, 2004... In light of the Recent enforcement action against Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C., Congress is strongly questioning why regulators like the Office of the Comptroller Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have not been...

Mass. Supreme Court Rules CU Can't Convert To Mutual.
August 10, 2004... The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the state regulator's ruling that quashed Postal Community CU's attempt to convert to a federal mutual savings bank. Thomas Curry, who was the state's Comissioner of Banks at the time...

Matz Stresses New Markets.
August 10, 2004... In remarks before NAFCU's annual meeting here, NCUA Board Member Debbie Matz said the key to CUs' future lies in remembering their past. "This year, as we commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Federal Credit Union Act, credit union...

Texans' Sponsorship A Kick.
August 10, 2004... Texans CU has become the 10-year "signature partner" of the Frisco Soccer & Entertainment Center and will be the title sponsor of the facility's Walk of Fame recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport of...

3 CUs Awarded CDFI Grants.
August 10, 2004... Three credit unions were among 21 community development financial institutions awarded a total of $930,000 in technical assistance grants Friday by the Treasury's CDFI Program. Brookland FCU, West Columbia, S.C., will use its $50,000 grant...

Worth Noting.
August 10, 2004... Calif., Arizona Leagues Partner RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-The California league has entered into a partnership with the Arizona league under which the CCUL will provide and administer education and training offerings to Arizona league-member...

Military Banking: Banks Get Automated To Serve Strapped Soldiers: Extended tours make remote access a key part of serving GIs stationed abroad.
August 11, 2004... Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are hitting customers hard as soldiers spend large amounts of time away from their families, and in the case of reservists-jobs and businesses. Bank of America and Eisenhower Bank are turning to channels...

10 Technology Companies to watch.
August 11, 2004... There's something to be said for having the foresight to be in the right business at the right time. It is the underlying thread that binds BTN's 10 Technology Companies to Watch-all making big waves in financial services. Among our picks, each...

On-line Billing: Customer Literacy, Software Cut Errors: BofA, Frost Bank, Bank Rhode Island and others have found consumer Web literacy and streamlined tools can help reduce blunders. The equation will likely never be perfect.
August 11, 2004... As more bill payments go electronic, billing errors are going down- but switching banking customers from the paper check to keyboard and mouse still isn't seamless. People can type in wrong amounts, misplace decimal points, hit the enter key...

Wireless Banking: News of Its Demise Is Greatly Exaggerated: Sure, full-fledged wireless banking flopped when Wells tried it in 2001. But other banks have had success with elements like text-message alerts. Next up: bill payment.
August 11, 2004... The announcement came like a bolt of lightning. Wells Fargo would tap the wireless banking business. Not just dip its toes in, mind you- but take an all-out plunge that would put an Acapulco cliff diver to shame. The date was Feb. 7, 2001....

Managing Expansion: Tackling It Security When A Bank Grows: As community banks expand via acquisition, they're struggling to secure operations and systems, while keeping a lid on costs. They want the feds to provide guidance.
August 11, 2004... Community banks are getting larger, and they want the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to provide minimum standards for securing operations and systems, particularly as banks' assets and branches increase. IT chiefs at several local...

Product & Service.
August 11, 2004... Fair, Isaac & LSI In Partnership MINNEAPOLIS-Fair Isaac Corp., a provider of analytics and decision technology, is teaming with Lending Solutions, Inc., a provider of lending services and consulting programs, in a partnership that "enables...

How To Retain Employees As U.S. Economy Improves.
August 11, 2004... As credit unions eye an improving economy and what it means to ALM and their own bottom lines, they shouldn't forget the challenge it can present in another area-recruiting and retaining employees. Yvonne Evers, president and CEO of...

Wash. League Effort Aims To Identify Potential CU CEOs.
August 11, 2004... The Washington CU League has created a program to recognize and encourage the advancement of up and coming CU leaders called Tomorrow's Leaders. With forecasts indicating some 20% of credit union CEO will retire over the next five years,...

Product & Service.
August 11, 2004... TNB Acquires Four Portfolios DALLAS-TNB Card Services has signed agent issuing agreements with four credit unions to purchase and manage their credit card portfolios. Selling their portfolios were: OCHA CU in California, A/C Credit Union...

The CU Journal Daily.
August 11, 2004... Pentagon Acquires Defense CU ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Pentagon FCU said it has agreed to merge into it the Veterans of Foreign Wars FCU, in Kansas City, the credit union giant's sixth acquisition in the past two years. VFW FCU, which is...

IT spending: Key Taps Troux To Track IT Costs: Nearly one-third of all technology investments are now being made outside the IT department. Banks want a way to keep tabs on diverse spending-and its efficiencies. Enter, Troux.
August 12, 2004... Next year, Cleveland-based Key Bank plans to implement a new tool from Troux Technologies designed to help banks do something that a surprising number of them don't already: track IT costs. Key is now using other Troux products to prepare...

Turning Basel II Compliance Into A Competitive Advantage.
August 12, 2004... The Basel II Capital Accord is the latest in a long line of regulatory requirements to emerge in international financial services. While many companies view Basel II as a costly and often confusing exercise in regulatory compliance, an...

Automating Fight on Money Laundering.
August 12, 2004... Financial organizations have been required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) since it took effect, but recent BSA enforcement actions and a heightened awareness by regulators make compliance in this area more important now than ever. In...