| Enacted in 1970, the Bank Secrecy Act became a legal instrument making it difficult to "launder" illegally obtained cash through legitimate channels.; The U.S. Treasury Department is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the law through its various services and agencies. In 1981, after an extensive review of compliance and enforcement provisions of the 1970 Act, the law was revised in order to enable the government to inhibit money laundering. The inputs from the law enforcement community, the banking and financial institutions, academic respondents and criminal informants into the formation of the original Bank Secrecy Act and Subsequent revision constitute the basis of the study.; How a law is created and modified has been the subject of much theoretical discussion in the recent past. The analysis examines three major theoretical perspectives on law creation dynamics and uses the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act and its 1981 revision as an empirical test of these perspectives, in order to determine which of these is more fruitful as an explanation of this process. |
