If the Board recently appointed a person as the BSA Officer, is it strange that they are an hourly employee (discouraged from any overtime) and are not actually considered to be a true Officer of the bank? They were told they did not meet the qualifications to be considered an exempt employee because they didn't have decision making authority.

Individuals Background: Successful BSAO for 15 plus years and has CAMS, well-known in the industry.

This just seems odd and begs to question their actual authority relative to the role of a BSAO in accordance wit the BSA/AML Exam Manual. I'm curious to see what others think of this situation.

"They were told they did not meet the qualifications to be considered an exempt employee because they didn't have decision making authority. "

The board of directors is responsible for ensuring that the BSA compliance officer has appropriate authority, independence, and access to resources to administer an adequate BSA/AML compliance program based on the bank’s ML/TF and other illicit financial activity risk profile.

https://bsaaml.ffiec.gov/manual/AssessingTheBSAAMLComplianceProgram/04

And welcome to BOL

I don't see any issue with them being hourly but not having decision making authority is a big red flag. Can you define what they mean by that? Does the BSA Officer have the ability to file a SAR even if the Board or others don't feel it is necessary or is there a SAR committee?

And welcome to BOL!

Thank you for the feedback.

There is a SAR Committee but the the BSAO has the authority to override the committee's decision as to filing a SAR even if they don't agree. This is actually stating the the BSA Policy.

Just a few thoughts to add:

Does being an "official" officer at your institution have any additional perks like more vacation and such? If not, consider yourself fortunate that you don't have to stay a bunch of extra hours that aren't compensated and you still have the ability to file when needed.

If being a officer at your institution does have additional perks then bring this up with your direct supervisor and let them know you hold the title of Officer in your BSAO position and that being considered an officer is warranted. If it means that much to you then you might need to be prepared to find another employer if this one won't budge as you will resent this and it might interfere in your work and enjoyment of what you do.

Best of luck

is it HR not understanding the role of a BSA Officer and making this decision that they don't meet the qualifications of an officer? If the BSAO has the authority to override the SAR committee then they do have decision making authority.
I agree with everyone else, its time to have a frank discussion on what the BSAO does and how important this role is to the institution.
In my past BSA has not been an issue until it becomes an issue and at that time its way too late in the game to backtrack....Have HR or whomever is not understanding take a look at some past CMPs where large dollar fines were instituted for poor AML Programs.
I know you can't share specifics on your institution but when I hear things like this it make my blood boil.

this is so relevant.....BSAO 15+ years, not an official Officer by Reg O standards, do make SAR decisions however can't make policy / procedure / process revisions without jumping through lots of hoops, not salaried (be careful what you wish for) glad i'm not as there are days when you do put in an boatload of time - i like "that" compensation!

what i am curious about and think it branches off of this - is the communication / organizational channel...what does that look like when you need something? if you have no authority, what do your channels look like to get what you need done/changed/resolved? Retail Officer , Compliance Officer, President, etc.??

I read your question more as a position question, then authority. The seniority of the BSA Officer role is dependent on the Bank's risk profile. I know some banks where the BSA Officer reports directly to the CEO because their risk profile warrants it and I know others (Small community banks who do mostly retail business) where it's barely a full-time role.

There is no one size fits all approach here.

The issues as I see it have been alluded to. What is the BSA risk and will this person be in a position to effectively manage the risk mitigation and duties of a BSA officer? We can't answer that here.

I knew a banker in Florida who was an officer and director because he was one of the persons who started the bank. They could not find a qualified BSA officer (Florida - risk) they could afford. He was a CRCM and went for BSA certification and said he'd do it. The examiners were fine with that but he had to resign from the board for reasons of independence. Unable to find anyone else, that's what he did. This was years ago, but I imagine it could happen today.