Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts, 47070-47071 [2019-19268]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
• Office of Foreign Assets Control

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47070-47071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19268]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Foreign Assets Control


Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Hizballah Financial 
Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions 
of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed or continuing 
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the 
Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's 
Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. 
Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through 
Accounts.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 5, 2019 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions on the website for submitting comments. Refer to Docket 
Number OFAC-2019-0004 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
control number 1505-0255.
    Fax: Attn: Request for Comments (Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of 
Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts) 202-622-1759.
    Mail: Attn: Request for Comments (Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of 
Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts), Office of Foreign 
Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20220. Refer to Docket Number OFAC-2019-0004 and the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 1505-0255.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and the Federal Register Doc. number that appears at the end of this 
document. Comments received will be made available to the public via 
www.regulations.gov or upon request, without change and including any 
personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: OFAC: Assistant Director for 
Licensing, tel.: 202-622-2480; Assistant Director for Regulatory 
Affairs, tel.: 202-622-4855; or the Assistant Director for Sanctions 
Compliance & Evaluation, tel.: 202-622-2490.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure 
by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-
Through Accounts.
    OMB Number: 1505-0255.
    Abstract: Section 566.504(b) of the Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR part 566 (the HFSR) provides that a U.S. financial 
institution that maintained a correspondent account or payable-through 
account for a foreign financial institution (FFI), whose name is added 
to the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Correspondent 
Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA) List \1\ 
(previously the HFSR List) on OFAC's website (www.treasury.gov/ofac) as 
subject to a prohibition on the maintaining of such accounts, must file 
a report with OFAC that provides full details on the closing of each 
such account within 30 days of the closure of the account. The report 
must include complete information on all transactions processed or 
executed through the account, including the account outside the United 
States to which funds remaining in the account were transferred. This 
collection of information assists in verifying that U.S. financial 
institutions are complying with prohibitions on maintaining 
correspondent accounts or payable-through accounts for FFIs subject to 
such prohibitions pursuant to 31 CFR part 566. The reports will be 
reviewed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and may be used for 
compliance, civil penalty, and enforcement purposes by the agency.
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    \1\ The CAPTA List, published on March 14, 2019, is designed to 
include FFIs subject to correspondent or payable-through account 
sanctions pursuant to sanctions authorities including the Ukraine 
Freedom Support Act of 2014, as amended by the Countering America's 
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act; the North Korea Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR part 510; the Iran Freedom and Counter-
Proliferation Act of 2012; the Iranian Financial Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR part 561; the Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR part 566; Executive Order 13846; and Executive 
Order 13871.
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    Current Actions: There are no changes being made to the information 
collection at this time.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    Affected Public: U.S. financial institutions operating 
correspondent accounts or payable-through accounts for FFIs.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The likely respondents and record-
keepers affected by this collection of information in section 
566.504(b) are U.S. financial institutions operating correspondent 
accounts or payable through accounts for FFIs. Since the date this 
reporting requirement was added to the HFSR (April 15, 2016) through 
the current reporting period, OFAC has added no names related to the 
HFSR to the CAPTA List; therefore, the number of respondents to this 
collection remains zero. For future notices, OFAC will continue to 
report retrospectively on the number of respondents during the 
reporting period.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 hours per response.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: While no responses are 
expected, an estimate of 1 response (2 hours) is being included to 
account for the possibility that someone could have to provide a 
notification in the future.

Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or 
included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a 
matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the

[[Page 47071]]

agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) 
the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection 
of information, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of 
the collection of information on respondents, including through the use 
of automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of 
operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide 
information.

    Approved: September 3, 2019.
Andrea Gacki,
Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
[FR Doc. 2019-19268 Filed 9-5-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AL-P