Company: CMTV
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001654954-25-003447
Chunk: 15

Company: COMMUNITY BANCORP /VT
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 15
---
 Network, which allows the Company to exchange deposits with other financial institutions on a dollar-for-dollar basis in order to provide deposit insurance in excess of FDIC limits and thereby enhance customer attraction and retention, build deposits and improve net interest margins.  Reciprocal deposits are not considered to be brokered deposits, in accordance with a provision of the 2018 Regulatory Relief Act.  As of December 31, 2024, we had $235,500 in purchased deposits through CDARS and $13.6 million through another source.  Also as of such date, we had reciprocal deposits representing exchanged funds outstanding in the amount of $2.5 million of CDARS, $44.4 million of ICS money market deposits and $109.5 million of ICS demand deposits.

USA Patriot Act.  The USA PATRIOT Act is intended to strengthen the ability of U.S. law enforcement and the intelligence community to work cooperatively to combat terrorism on a variety of fronts.  The Act contains extensive anti-money laundering and financial transparency provisions and imposes various requirements, including standards for verifying client identification at account opening, and rules to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement entities in identifying parties that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering.  The Secretary of the Treasury and federal banking regulators have adopted several regulations to implement these provisions.  The Act also amended the federal Bank Holding Company Act and the Bank Merger Act to require the federal banking regulatory authorities to consider the effectiveness of a bank holding company or a financial institution’s anti-money laundering activities when reviewing an application to expand operations.  As required by law, the Bank has in place a Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance program, as well as a customer identification program.  (See “BSA/AML Requirements” below.)

BSA/AML and OFAC Requirements. BSA/AML. We are subject to a number of AML requirements, which are primarily derived from the BSA, as amended by the USA Patriot Act and subsequent legislation.  These laws and regulations are designed to prevent the financial system from being used by criminals to hide illicit proceeds and to impede terrorists’ ability to access and move funds used in support of terrorist activities. Among other things, BSA/AML laws and regulations require financial institutions to establish AML programs that meet certain standards, including, in some instances, expanded reporting, particularly in the area of suspicious transactions, and enhanced information gathering and recordkeeping requirements.