Company: BCTF
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001552781-25-000058
Chunk: 30

Company: Bancorp 34, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 30
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 and verify the identity of the beneficial owners of legal entity customers.

Anti-money laundering
obligations have been substantially strengthened as a result of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, which we refer to as the “USA PATRIOT Act.” Bank regulators routinely examine
institutions for compliance with these obligations and are required to consider compliance in connection with the regulatory review of
applications. The regulatory authorities have been active in imposing cease and desist orders and money penalty sanctions against institutions
that have not complied with these requirements.

The USA PATRIOT Act
amended the Bank Secrecy Act and provides, in part, for the facilitation of information sharing among governmental entities and financial
institutions for the purpose of combating terrorism and money laundering by enhancing anti-money laundering and financial transparency
laws, as well as enhanced information collection tools and enforcement mechanics for the U.S. government, including: (a) requiring standards
for verifying customer identification at account opening; (b) rules to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators,
and law enforcement entities in identifying parties that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering; (c) reports by nonfinancial
trades and businesses filed with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for transactions exceeding
$10,000; (d) filing suspicious activities reports if a bank believes a customer may be violating U.S. laws and regulations; and (e) requires
enhanced due diligence requirements for financial institutions that administer, maintain, or manage private bank accounts or correspondent
accounts for non-U.S. persons. Bank regulators routinely examine institutions for compliance with these obligations and are required
to consider compliance in connection with the regulatory review of applications.

Under the USA PATRIOT
Act, the regulators can provide lists of the names of persons suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. The Bank can be requested,
to search its records for any relationships or transactions with persons on those lists. If the Bank finds any relationships or transactions,
it must file a suspicious activity report and contact the applicable governmental authorities.

25

On January 1, 2021,
Congress overrode a Presidential veto and thereby enacted the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, or “NDAA.”
The NDAA provides for one of the most significant overhauls of the BSA and related anti-money laundering laws since the USA Patriot Act.
Notably, changes include:

    ·
    expansion of coordination and information sharing