<Li> Passed the House on May 25, 1970 (302 - 0) </Li> <Li> Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on October 26, 1970 </Li> <P> The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (or BSA, or otherwise known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act) requires financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering . Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, and file reports of cash purchases of these negotiable instruments of more than $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities . </P> <P> The BSA was originally passed by the Congress of the United States in 1970, and amended several times since then, including provisions in title III of the USA PATRIOT Act . (See 31 USC 5311--5330 and 31 CFR Chapter X .) The BSA is sometimes referred to as an "anti-money laundering" law ("AML") or jointly as "BSA / AML". </P>

What was the original purpose of the bsa
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