Private Banking: Information on Private Banking and Its Vulnerability to Money Laundering

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed private banking activities in the United States and the vulnerability of such activities to money laundering, focusing on: (1) the nature and extent of private banking activities in the United States; (2) regulatory efforts to monitor private banking activities and ensure that these activities comply with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA); (3) policies and procedures of banks to ensure that their private banking activities comply with BSA; (4) law enforcement perspectives on the vulnerability of international private banking activities to money laundering; and (5) U.S. regulators' efforts to oversee the offshore private banking activities of banks located in the United States.