Nixon signs the Bank Secrecy Act mandating reports on large cash transactions

President Nixon signed the Bank Secrecy Act (Pub. L. 91-508) on October 26, 1970, establishing the first federal framework requiring financial institutions to maintain records and file reports on large currency transactions. The law mandated that banks report cash transactions exceeding $10,000 and keep records on negotiable instruments, creating the foundational architecture for federal anti-money-laundering surveillance. By requiring financial institutions to act as government informants, the BSA fundamentally redefined the relationship between banks and their customers — a framework that would later be used to scrutinize immigrant account holders.