BB&T: Tackling anti-money laundering issues with SAS®

The banking industry has always addressed the need for due diligence to identify suspicious activity, maintain financial integrity and to reduce operating costs. However, post-9/11 regulations under the USA PATRIOT Act require additional due diligence in identifying and reporting money-laundering activities, particularly as related to suspected terrorist financing activity.

In response, BB&T Corporation, the nation's ninth largest financial-holding company, turned to SAS Anti-Money Laundering to help meet regulatory requirements. The organization found that SAS provided an easy-to-use program with solid technical support.

"There's a lot more scrutiny placed on financial institutions to prevent and to report financial crime," says Mason Hinkle, BB&T's AML Manager. "In a global economic environment, AML tracking really is a best practice from a safety perspective and in terms of the soundness of our institution."

With more than 16 million accounts tracked daily at BB&T, manual AML monitoring was out of the question. The bank could not handle this monumental task with traditional detection solutions. In fact, BB&T created a 26-member group devoted specifically to AML monitoring. The group came up with solutions to meet regulations and to contribute to the overall stability of the company, including the need for tracking software.

Though other software vendors offer AML tracking services, BB&T opted to go with SAS. BB&T uses other SAS tools and factored in SAS' corporate stability into their decision to select it for AML. BB&T needed an AML solution that was flexible and could grow as business needs and regulations changed. The bank's leaders felt comfortable investing in SAS to meet their needs.

"We had a very smooth implementation," Hinkle says. "BB&T was dedicated to the project and allocated appropriate resources to make sure this project was successful. SAS Anti-Money Laundering went live in 2004, and since then we have continued to enhance the solution."

The database of banking transactions processed through SAS is updated nightly rather than in weeks or even months. Scenarios are run against the database to pinpoint suspicious activities, which are quickly revealed. At any given time, BB&T runs about 25 scenarios, ranging from structuring to wire activities to cash transactions. This provides a good overview of the complex activities of a large and growing number of bank clients.

"Consolidation of all the data provides a unique advantage," says Ann Norvell, BB&T's AML Investigations Manager. "We can retain and house information with the SAS application. Activities that may not look suspicious or may not warrant further investigation at the time may come into play at a later date. The historical data and comparative analytics give us a real advantage."

SAS has helped BB&T to identify criminal activity. For example, if multiple red flags start popping up, the bank contacts law enforcement and government agencies.

"It is rewarding to read in the press that some of the activities we detected with SAS assisted law enforcement in their investigations," says Hinkle. "Having a dedicated AML solution provides access to accurate data, which allows us to quickly identify suspicious activity."

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