The Anti-Money Laundering Act is a federal law in the United States that aims to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The AMLA is part of the Bank Secrecy Act which requires financial institutions to have strict “know your customer” rules and requires the filing of “Suspicious Activity Reports, or “SARS.” 

The types of illegal activities the AML Act covers is broad and may include failure to implement procedures to implement the Bank Secrecy Act, tax evasion, foreign bribery, sanctions-busting, drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms dealing, foreign corruption and any conduct designed to hide the “beneficial ownership” of money. 

The AML laws in the U.S. are enforced by various federal agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Justice, and it applies to foreign and domestic financial institutions, casinos, money service businesses, and other designated non-financial businesses and professions.