Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Purchases of Bank Checks and Drafts, Cashier's Checks, Money Orders, and Traveler's Checks, 6411-6416 [2021-01187]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Notices
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Issued in Washington, DC, on January 13,
2021 under authority delegated at 49 U.S.C.
1.25a.
Thomas Finch Flton,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation
Policy.
[FR Doc. 2021–01115 Filed 1–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Renewal;
Comment Request; Renewal Without
Change of Purchases of Bank Checks
and Drafts, Cashier’s Checks, Money
Orders, and Traveler’s Checks
Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network (FinCEN), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
As part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, FinCEN invites comments on
the proposed renewal, without change,
of a currently approved information
collection found in existing Bank
Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically,
the regulations require recordkeeping
for the issuance or sale of bank checks
and drafts, cashier’s checks, money
orders, and traveler’s checks when the
issuance or sale involves the use of
currency in an amount between $3,000
and $10,000, inclusive. Although no
changes are proposed to the information
collection itself, this request for
comments covers a future expansion of
the scope of the annual hourly burden
and cost estimate associated with these
regulations. This request for comments
is made pursuant to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Notices
Written comments are welcome,
and must be received on or before
March 22, 2021.
DATES:
Comments may be
submitted by any of the following
methods:
• Federal E-rulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Refer to Docket Number FINCEN–2021–
0001 and the specific Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) control
number 1506–0057.
• Mail: Policy Division, Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, P.O. Box
39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket
Number FINCEN–2021–0001 and OMB
control number 1506–0057.
Please submit comments by one
method only. Comments will also be
taken into account in FinCEN’s review
of existing regulations, consistent with
Treasury’s 2011 Plan for Retrospective
Analysis of Existing Rules. All
comments submitted in response to this
notice will become a matter of public
record. Therefore, you should submit
only information that you wish to make
publicly available.
ADDRESSES:
The
FinCEN Regulatory Support Section at
1–800–767–2825 or electronically at
frc@fincen.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions
The legislative framework generally
referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act
(BSA) consists of the Currency and
Financial Transactions Reporting Act of
1970, as amended by the Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001
(USA PATRIOT Act) (Public Law 107–
56) and other legislation. The BSA is
codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C.
1951–1959, 31 U.S.C. 5311–5314 and
5316–5332, and notes thereto, with
implementing regulations at 31 CFR
Chapter X.
The BSA authorizes the Secretary of
the Treasury, inter alia, to require
financial institutions to keep records
and file reports that are determined to
have a high degree of usefulness in
criminal, tax, and regulatory matters, or
in the conduct of intelligence or
counter-intelligence activities to protect
against international terrorism, and to
implement anti-money laundering
(AML) programs and compliance
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procedures.1 Regulations implementing
the BSA appear at 31 CFR Chapter X.
The authority of the Secretary to
administer the BSA has been delegated
to the Director of FinCEN.2
The BSA prohibits financial
institutions from issuing any ‘‘bank
check, cashier’s check, traveler’s check,
or money order to any individual in
connection with a transaction or group
of such contemporaneous transactions
which involves United States coins or
currency (or such other monetary
instruments as the Secretary may
prescribe) in amounts or denominations
of $3,000 or more’’ unless the individual
either has a verified transaction account
with the financial institution or
furnishes the financial institution with
the information required by regulations
and that information is verified and
recorded by the financial institution;
financial institutions must record the
method of account verification or the
information required to be furnished.3
To implement these requirements,
FinCEN issued a regulation requiring
financial institutions to maintain
records of the issuance or sale of bank
checks and drafts, cashier’s checks,
money orders, and traveler’s checks.4
The regulation on its face applies to all
financial institutions as defined in 31
CFR 1010.100(t). However, as a practical
matter banks and money services
businesses (MSBs) are the types of
financial institutions most likely to be
issuing or selling bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
and traveler’s checks.
Under 31 CFR 1010.415, financial
institutions are required to maintain
records of certain information related to
the issuance or sale of bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
1 Section 358 of the USA PATRIOT Act added
language expanding the scope of the BSA to
intelligence or counter-intelligence activities to
protect against international terrorism. Section 6101
of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (‘‘the
AML Act’’) added language further expanding the
scope of the BSA but did not disturb these
longstanding purposes. The AML Act is Division F
of Pub. L. 116–283 (January 1, 2021).
2 Treasury Order 180–01 (re-affirmed Jan. 14,
2020).
3 31 U.S.C. 5325.
4 31 CFR 1010.415. This regulation was originally
published in 1990 as 31 CFR 103.29. See
Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations
Relating to Identification Required to Purchase
Bank Checks and Drafts, Cashier’s Checks, Money
Orders and Traveler’s Checks, 55 FR 20139 (May
15, 1990). It was modified slightly in 1994. See
Amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations
Relating to Identification Required to Purchase
Bank Checks and Drafts, Cashier’s Checks, Money
Orders, and Traveler’s Checks, 59 FR 52250
(October 17, 1994).
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and traveler’s checks when the issuance
or sale involves currency between
$3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to any
individual purchaser of one or more of
these instruments. Under 31 CFR
1010.415(a)(1)(i), if the purchaser has a
deposit account with the financial
institution, the financial institution is
required to maintain records of: (A) The
name of the purchaser; (B) the date of
purchase; (C) the type(s) of
instrument(s) purchased; (D) the serial
number(s) of each of the instrument(s)
purchased; and (E) the amount in
dollars of each of the instrument(s)
purchased. Under 31 CFR
1010.415(a)(1)(ii), the financial
institution must also verify that the
individual is a deposit accountholder or
must verify the individual’s identity.5
Under 31 CFR 1010.415(a)(2)(i), if the
purchaser does not have a deposit
account with the financial institution,
the financial institution must maintain
a record of: (A) The name and address
of the purchaser; (B) the social security
number of the purchaser, or if the
purchaser is an alien and does not have
a social security number, the alien
identification number; (C) the date of
birth of the purchaser; (D) the date of
the purchase; (E) the type(s) of
instrument(s) purchased; (F) the serial
number(s) of the instrument(s)
purchased; and (G) the amount in
dollars of each of the instrument(s)
purchased. Under 31 CFR
1010.415(a)(2)(ii), the financial
institution must also verify the
purchaser’s name and address by
examination of a document which is
normally acceptable as a means of
identification when cashing checks for
nondepositors and which contains the
name and address of the purchaser, and
must record the specific identifying
information.
5 Verification may be either through a signature
card or other file or record at the financial
institution provided the deposit accountholder’s
name and address were verified previously and that
information was recorded on the signature card or
other file or record; or by examination of a
document which is normally acceptable as a means
of identification when cashing checks for
nondepositors and which contains the name and
address of the purchaser. If the deposit
accountholder’s identity has not been verified
previously, the financial institution may only verify
the deposit accountholder’s identity by examination
of a document which is normally acceptable within
the banking community as a means of identification
when cashing checks for nondepositors and which
contains the name and address of the purchaser,
and must also record the specific identifying
information (e.g., State of issuance and number of
driver’s license).
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Under 31 CFR 1010.415(b), financial
institutions must treat contemporaneous
purchases of the same or different types
of instruments totaling $3,000 or more
as one purchase. Multiple purchases
during one business day totaling $3,000
or more must be treated as one purchase
if an individual employee, director,
officer, or partner of the financial
institution has knowledge that these
purchases have occurred.
Under 31 CFR 1010.415(c), financial
institutions must retain all required
records for a period of five years and
make those records available to the
Secretary upon request at any time.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA) 6
Title: Purchases of bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
and traveler’s checks (31 CFR 1010.415).
OMB Control Number: 1506–0057.
Report Number: Not applicable.
Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this
notice to renew the OMB control
number for the recordkeeping
requirement for the issuance or sale of
bank checks and drafts, cashier’s
checks, money orders, and traveler’s
checks when the issuance or sale
involves the use currency in an amount
between $3,000 and 10,000, inclusive.
Affected Public: Businesses or other
for-profit institutions, and non-profit
institutions.
Type of Review:
• Renewal without change of a
currently approved information
collection.
• Propose for review and comment a
renewal of the portion of the PRA
burden that has been subject to notice
and comment in the past (the
‘‘traditional annual PRA burden’’).
• Propose for review and comment a
future expansion of the scope of the
PRA burden (the ‘‘future annual PRA
burden’’).
Frequency: As required.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
15,677 financial institutions.7
Estimated Recordkeeping Burden:
117,579 burden hours.
Part 1 of this notice describes the
breakdown of the estimated number of
financial institutions, by type. Part 2
proposes for review and comment a
renewal of the estimate of the traditional
annual PRA hourly burden, which
includes a scope and methodology
similar to the estimate used in the past,
with the incorporation of a more robust
cost estimate. The scope and
methodology used in the past was
limited to an estimate of the burden of
the overall regulation and did not assign
or categorize burden estimates
according to the specific steps to create
and maintain records for issuances or
sales of bank checks and drafts,
cashier’s checks, money orders, and
traveler’s checks between $3,000–
$10,000, inclusive, to deposit
accountholders or other customers. Part
6413
3 of this notice proposes for review and
comment a methodology for a future
estimate of an annual PRA burden. The
estimate would include the PRA hourly
burden and cost of creating and
maintaining records related to issuances
or sales of bank checks and drafts,
cashier’s checks, money orders, and
traveler’s checks between $3,000 and
10,000, based on estimates of the
volume of these instruments issued or
sold, the number of depository
accountholder or other customers
purchasing these instruments per year,
and the average time to verify the
identity of depository accountholder
and other customers. Finally, Part 4
solicits input from the public about: (a)
The accuracy of the traditional annual
PRA burden estimate; (b) the more
granular calculation needed to establish
a future annual PRA burden; (c) the
criteria, metrics, and most appropriate
questions FinCEN should consider
when conducting research to obtain the
information on which to base an
estimate of the future annual PRA
burden; and (d) any other comments
about the regulations and the current
and proposed future hourly burden and
cost estimates of these requirements.
Part 1. Breakdown of the Financial
Institutions Covered by This Notice
The breakdown of financial
institutions, by type, covered by this
notice is reflected in Table 1 below:
TABLE 1—BREAKDOWN OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS COVERED BY THIS NOTICE, BY TYPE OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Number of
financial
institutions
Type of financial institution
Banks ...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Issuers/Sellers of Money Orders .........................................................................................................................................................
Issuers/Sellers of Traveler’s Checks ...................................................................................................................................................
8 11,161
Total Number of Financial Institutions .............................................................................................................................................
15,677
Part 2. Traditional Annual PRA Burden
and Cost
The scope of the traditional annual
PRA burden and cost estimates in this
renewal encompasses all of the
recordkeeping requirements for the
issuance or sale of bank checks and
6 Public
Law 104–13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
1 below sets forth a breakdown of the
types of financial institutions covered by this
notice.
8 According to the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) there were 5,103 FDIC-insured
banks as of March 31, 2020. According to the
Federal Reserve Board (FRB), there were 203 other
entities supervised by the FRB, as of June 16, 2020,
that fall within the definition of bank (20 Edge Act
institutions, 15 agreement corporations (as defined
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7 Table
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9 4,353
10 163
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
and traveler’s checks between $3,000–
$10,000, inclusive. FinCEN continues to
estimate the annual hourly burden of
creating and maintaining records for the
issuance or sale of bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
or traveler’s checks to individual
purchasers when the sale involves
currency between $3,000–$10,000,
inclusive, at seven and a half hours per
covered financial institution,
irrespective of the volume of such
transactions. This estimate covers the
burden of (i) verifying the identity of
depository accountholder and other
in 12 CFR 28.2) and 168 foreign banking
organizations). According to the National Credit
Union Administration there were 5,236 federally
regulated credit unions as of December 31, 2019.
Approximately 297 state-chartered non-depository
trust companies, 228 non-federally insured credit
unions, 12 non-federally insured state-chartered
banks and savings and loan or building and loan
associations, 1 private bank, 52 international
financial entities, and 29 international banking
entities—all of which are required to implement
written AML program as a result of a final rule
issued on September 15, 2020 (85 FR 57129)—are
also required to keep the records described in this
notice.
9 This number is derived from self-reported
information in MSB registrations submitted to
FinCEN. FinCEN’s MSB registration database
available at https://www.fincen.gov/msb-stateselector.
10 Id.
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customers purchasing bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
or traveler’s checks when the issuance
or sale involves currency between
$3,000-$10,000, inclusive, and (ii)
creating and maintaining records of
certain information for a minimum of
five years to be made available to the
Secretary upon request.11
The estimated burden associated with
each portion of the traditional annual
PRA estimate is as follows:
TABLE 2—BURDEN ASSOCIATED WITH MAINTAINING RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUANCE/SALE OF BANK
CHECKS AND DRAFTS, CASHIER’S CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS, OR TRAVELER’S CHECKS
Number of
financial
institutions
Type of financial institution
Total burden
hours
Time per financial institution
Banks ............................................................................
Issuers/Sellers of Money Orders ..................................
Issuers/Sellers of Travel Checks ..................................
11,161
4,353
163
7.5 hour ........................................................................
7.5 hour ........................................................................
7.5 hour ........................................................................
83,708
32,648
1,223
Total Burden Hours ...............................................
........................
.......................................................................................
117,579
To calculate the hourly costs of the
burden estimate, FinCEN identified two
roles and corresponding staff positions
involved in verifying documentation
and maintaining records for the
issuance or sale of bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders
and traveler’s checks between $3,000-
$10,000, inclusive: (i) Direct supervision
(reviewing operational-level work and
cross-checking all or a sample of the
work product against supporting
documentation) and (ii) clerical work
(engaging in verification and
recordkeeping).
FinCEN calculated the fully-loaded
hourly wage for each of these two roles
by using the median wage estimated by
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS),12 and computing an additional
benefits cost as follows:
TABLE 3—FULLY-LOADED HOURLY WAGE BY ROLE AND BLS JOB POSITION FOR ALL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS COVERED
BY THIS NOTICE
Role
BLS-Code
Direct supervision .............................
Clerical work (research, review, and
recordkeeping).
13–1041
43–3099
FinCEN estimates that, in general and
on average,13 each role would spend
different amounts of time on each
portion of the traditional annual PRA
Median hourly
wage
BLS-Name
Compliance Officer ...........................
Financial Clerk .................................
burden. For verifying the identity of the
purchaser and maintaining the
recordkeeping requirement, the
estimated cost of the hourly burden is
$33.20
20.40
Fully-loaded
hourly wage
Benefit factor
1.50
1.50
$49.80
30.60
$33.00, per the calculations in Table 4
below:
TABLE 4—WEIGHTED AVERAGE HOURLY COST OF MAINTAINING RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS
Direct supervision
Clerical work
% time
Hourly cost
% time
Hourly cost
Weighted average hourly
cost
10%
$4.98
90%
$27.54
* $33.00
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(*) $32.52 rounded to $33.00.
The total estimated cost of the
traditional annual PRA burden is
$3,880,107 as reflected in Table 5
below:
11 Some of this estimated burden, particularly
with respect to depository customers of a bank, may
duplicate burden estimated in connection with a
bank’s compliance with its ordinary customer
identification program obligations under 31 CFR
1020.220. FinCEN plans to take this other burden
into account in future estimates.
12 The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Occupational Employment Statistics-National, May
2019, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/
tables.htm. The most recent data from the BLS
corresponds to May 2019. For the benefits
component of total compensation, see U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Employer’s Cost per Employee
Compensation as of December 2019, available at
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm. The
ratio between benefits and wages for financial
activities is $15.95 (hourly benefits)/$32.05 (hourly
wages) = 0.50. The benefit factor is 1 plus the
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benefit/wages ratio, or 1.50. Multiplying each
hourly wage by the benefit factor produces the
fully-loaded hourly wage per position.
13 By ‘‘in general,’’ FinCEN means without regard
to outliers. By ‘‘on average,’’ FinCEN means the
mean of the distribution of each subset of the
population.
14 See Table 2.
15 See Table 4.
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TABLE 5—TOTAL COST OF TRADITIONAL ANNUAL PRA BURDEN
Steps
Hourly cost
Total cost
Verifying and maintaining records (divided between the roles listed in Table 4) .......................
14 117,579
15 $33
$3,880,107
Total Cost .............................................................................................................................
........................
........................
$3,880,107
Part 3. Future Annual PRA Burden
In the future, FinCEN intends to be
more granular in estimating the annual
PRA burden, by including the estimated
hourly burden and cost behind the
individual steps required to maintain
records for the issuance or sale of bank
checks and drafts, cashier’s checks,
money orders, and traveler’s checks
between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to
depository accountholder and other
customers. In particular, FinCEN seeks
to include in this calculation the
number of these instruments issued or
sold per financial institution annually,
the number of depository accountholder
and other customers purchasing these
instruments per year, and the average
time per financial institution to verify
the identity of depository accountholder
and other customers. FinCEN does not
have the information to estimate the
annual number of instruments issued or
sold to depository accountholder and
other customers that trigger the
recordkeeping requirements being
renewed in this notice. For that reason,
FinCEN is relying on estimates used in
prior renewals of this OMB control
number and the applicable regulations.
FinCEN further recognizes that after
receiving public comments as a result of
this notice, future traditional annual
PRA hourly burden and cost estimates
may vary significantly from those
contained in this document. FinCEN
intends to conduct more granular
studies of the actions included in the
proposed scope of the annual PRA
burden in the near future, to arrive at
more accurate estimates of net BSA
hourly burden and cost.16 The data
obtained in these studies also may result
in a significant change from the
estimated traditional annual PRA
burden.
Estimated Recordkeeping Burden: The
average estimated annual PRA burden,
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Hourly burden
16 Net hourly burden and cost are the burden and
cost a financial institution incurs to comply with
requirements that are unique to the BSA, and that
do not support any other business purpose or
regulatory obligation of the financial institution.
Burden for purposes of the PRA does not include
the time and financial resources needed to comply
with an information collection, if the time and
resources are for things a business (or other person)
does in the ordinary course of its activities if the
agency demonstrates that the reporting activities
needed to comply are usual and customary. 5 CFR
1320.3(b)(2).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:44 Jan 19, 2021
Jkt 253001
measured in hours per respondent, is
seven and a half hours.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
15,677, as set out in Table 1.
Estimated Total Annual
Recordkeeping Burden: The estimated
total annual PRA burden is 117,579
hours, as set out in Table 2.
Estimated Total Annual
Recordkeeping Cost: The estimated total
annual PRA cost is $3,880,107, as set
out in Table 5.
An Agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a valid OMB control number.
Records required to be retained under
the BSA must be retained for five years.
Part 4. Request for Comments
(a) Specific Request for Comments on
the Traditional Annual PRA Hourly
Burden and Cost
FinCEN invites comments on any
aspect of the traditional annual PRA
burden, as set out in Part 2 of this
notice. In particular, FinCEN seeks
comments on the adequacy of: (i)
FinCEN’s assumptions underlying its
burden estimate; (ii) the estimated
number of hours required by each
portion of the burden; and (iii) the
organizational roles of the financial
institution engaged in each portion of
the burden, the roles’ estimated hourly
remuneration, and the estimated
proportion of time spent by each role on
the requirements. FinCEN encourages
commenters to include any publicly
available sources for alternative
estimates or methodologies.
(b) Specific Request for Comments on
the Proposed Criteria for Determining
the Scope of a Future Annual PRA
Hourly Burden and Cost Estimate
FinCEN invites comments on any
aspect of the criteria for an estimate of
the future annual PRA burden, as set out
in Part 3 of this notice.
to question financial institutions about
the annual hourly burden and cost
attributable solely to creating and
maintaining records for the issuance or
sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier’s
checks, money orders and traveler’s
checks between $3,000-$10,000,
inclusive (i.e., the hourly burden and
cost of complying with the
recordkeeping requirements imposed
exclusively by the BSA; the volume of
these instruments issued or sold; the
number of depository accountholder
and other customers purchasing these
instruments per year; and the average
time to verify the identity of depository
accountholder and other customers).
The future annual PRA hourly burden
and cost estimate of the recordkeeping
necessary to comply with maintaining
records for issuance or sale of bank
checks and drafts, cashier’s checks,
money orders and traveler’s checks
between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to
any individual purchaser must take into
consideration only the effort involved in
obtaining those data elements that are
used exclusively for complying with
requirements under 31 CFR 1010.415.
FinCEN seeks comments from the
public regarding any questions we
should consider posing in future
notices, in addition to the specific
questions for comment outlined directly
below. Also, due to the evident
difficulty involved in estimating the
volume of bank checks and drafts,
cashier’s checks, money orders and
traveler’s checks issued or sold that
involve currency between $3,000$10,000, inclusive, the annual number
of depository accountholder and other
customers purchasing these
instruments, and the average time to
verify the identity of depository
accountholder and other customers,
FinCEN welcomes any suggestions as to
how to derive these estimates by using
publicly available financial information.
(c) Specific Request for Comments on
the Appropriate Criteria, Methodology,
and Questionnaire Required To Obtain
Information to More Precisely Estimate
the Future Annual PRA Hourly Burden
and Cost
FinCEN invites comments on the most
appropriate and comprehensive means
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Notices
(d) Specific Questions for Comment
Associated With Recordkeeping
Requirements for Issuance or Sale of
Bank Checks and Drafts, Cashier’s
Checks, Money Orders and Traveler’s
Checks That Involve Currency Between
$3,000-$10,000, Inclusive, by
Depository Accountholder and Other
Customers
• Annually, on average, how often
does your financial institution issue or
sell bank checks and drafts, cashier’s
checks, money orders, or traveler’s
checks that involve currency between
$3,000-$10,000, inclusive?
• On average, how long does it take
your institution to create a record for the
issuance or sale of bank checks and
drafts, cashier’s checks, money orders,
or traveler’s checks that involve
currency between $3,000-$10,000,
inclusive?
• On average, what is the cost to
maintain records of the issuance or sale
of bank checks and drafts, cashier’s
checks, money orders, or traveler’s
checks that involve currency between
$3,000-$10,000, inclusive?
• On average, what is the amount of
time and cost to verify and maintain a
record for depository customers that
purchase bank checks and drafts,
cashier’s checks, money orders, or
traveler’s checks that involve currency
between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, for a
period of five years?
• On average, what is the amount of
time and cost to verify and maintain a
record for customers who do not hold
depository accounts that purchase bank
checks and drafts, cashier’s checks,
money orders, or traveler’s checks that
involve currency between $3,000$10,000, inclusive, for a period of five
years?
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
(e) General Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for OMB
approval. All comments will become a
matter of public record. Comments are
invited on: (i) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information shall have practical utility;
(ii) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the collection of
information; (iii) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; (iv) 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 (v) estimates of capital
or start-up costs and costs of operation,
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:44 Jan 19, 2021
Jkt 253001
maintenance, and purchase of services
to provide information.
Kenneth A. Blanco,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network.
[FR Doc. 2021–01187 Filed 1–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Foreign Assets Control
Notice of OFAC Sanctions Actions
Office of Foreign Assets
Control, Treasury.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of the
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) is publishing the names
of one or more individuals that have
been placed on OFAC’s Specially
Designated Nationals and Blocked
Persons List based on OFAC’s
determination that one or more
applicable legal criteria were satisfied.
All property and interests in property
subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these
individuals blocked, and U.S. persons
are generally prohibited from engaging
in transactions with them.
DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section for effective date(s).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
OFAC: Andrea Gacki, Director, tel.:
202–622–2480; Associate Director for
Global Targeting, tel.: 202–622–2420;
Assistant Director for Sanctions
Compliance & Evaluation, tel.: 202–622–
2490; Assistant Director for Licensing,
tel.: 202–622–2480; or Assistant Director
for Regulatory Affairs, tel.: 202–622–
4855.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Electronic Availability
The Specially Designated Nationals
and Blocked Persons List and additional
information concerning OFAC sanctions
programs are available on OFAC’s
website (https://www.treasury.gov/ofac).
Notice of OFAC Actions
On December 30, 2020 OFAC
determined that the property and
interests in property subject to U.S.
jurisdiction of the following individuals
are blocked under the relevant sanctions
authority listed below.
Individuals
1. CORNIELLES RUIZ, Lorena
Carolina, Coche Miguel Otero Silva
Vereda 80, Casa 3, Caracas, Venezuela;
DOB 03 Jul 1988; nationality Venezuela;
Gender Female; Cedula No. V–18967792
(Venezuela) (individual) [VENEZUELA].
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Designated pursuant to section
1(a)(ii)(C) of E.O. 13692, as amended by
E.O. 13857, for being a current or former
official of the Government of Venezuela.
2. TORRES ESPINOZA, Ramon
Antonio, Castillejo Principal del Portico
0301, Guatire, Venezuela; DOB 13 Sep
1968; nationality Venezuela; Gender
Male; Cedula No. V–6303894
(Venezuela) (individual) [VENEZUELA].
Designated pursuant to section
1(a)(ii)(C) of E.O. 13692, as amended by
E.O. 13857, for being a current or former
official of the Government of Venezuela.
Dated: December 30, 2020.
Bradley T. Smith,
Deputy Director, Office of Foreign Assets
Control, Department of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 2020–29153 Filed 1–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AL–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request for Regulation Project
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The
IRS is soliciting comments concerning
Diesel Fuel and Kerosene Excise Tax;
Dye Injection.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before March 22, 2021 to
be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Kinna Brewington, Internal Revenue
Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the regulations should be
directed to Sara Covington, at (737)
800–6149 or at Internal Revenue
Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224, or
through the internet at
Sara.L.Covington@irs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Diesel Fuel and Kerosene Excise
Tax; Dye Injection.
OMB Number: 1545–1418.
Regulation Project Number: T.D. 9199.
Abstract: In order for diesel fuel and
kerosene that is used in a nontaxable
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\21JAN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 12 (Thursday, January 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6411-6416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01187]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal;
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Purchases of Bank Checks and
Drafts, Cashier's Checks, Money Orders, and Traveler's Checks
AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal,
without change, of a currently approved information collection found in
existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, the regulations
require recordkeeping for the issuance or sale of bank checks and
drafts, cashier's checks, money orders, and traveler's checks when the
issuance or sale involves the use of currency in an amount between
$3,000 and $10,000, inclusive. Although no changes are proposed to the
information collection itself, this request for comments covers a
future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost
estimate associated with these regulations. This request for comments
is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
[[Page 6412]]
DATES: Written comments are welcome, and must be received on or before
March 22, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Federal E-rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Refer to Docket Number
FINCEN-2021-0001 and the specific Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
control number 1506-0057.
Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2021-0001 and OMB control number 1506-0057.
Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will also be
taken into account in FinCEN's review of existing regulations,
consistent with Treasury's 2011 Plan for Retrospective Analysis of
Existing Rules. All comments submitted in response to this notice will
become a matter of public record. Therefore, you should submit only
information that you wish to make publicly available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FinCEN Regulatory Support Section
at 1-800-767-2825 or electronically at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions
The legislative framework generally referred to as the Bank Secrecy
Act (BSA) consists of the Currency and Financial Transactions Reporting
Act of 1970, as amended by the Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) (Public Law 107-56) and other
legislation. The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-
1959, 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5332, and notes thereto, with
implementing regulations at 31 CFR Chapter X.
The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, inter alia, to
require financial institutions to keep records and file reports that
are determined to have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax,
and regulatory matters, or in the conduct of intelligence or counter-
intelligence activities to protect against international terrorism, and
to implement anti-money laundering (AML) programs and compliance
procedures.\1\ Regulations implementing the BSA appear at 31 CFR
Chapter X. The authority of the Secretary to administer the BSA has
been delegated to the Director of FinCEN.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Section 358 of the USA PATRIOT Act added language expanding
the scope of the BSA to intelligence or counter-intelligence
activities to protect against international terrorism. Section 6101
of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (``the AML Act'') added
language further expanding the scope of the BSA but did not disturb
these longstanding purposes. The AML Act is Division F of Pub. L.
116-283 (January 1, 2021).
\2\ Treasury Order 180-01 (re-affirmed Jan. 14, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BSA prohibits financial institutions from issuing any ``bank
check, cashier's check, traveler's check, or money order to any
individual in connection with a transaction or group of such
contemporaneous transactions which involves United States coins or
currency (or such other monetary instruments as the Secretary may
prescribe) in amounts or denominations of $3,000 or more'' unless the
individual either has a verified transaction account with the financial
institution or furnishes the financial institution with the information
required by regulations and that information is verified and recorded
by the financial institution; financial institutions must record the
method of account verification or the information required to be
furnished.\3\ To implement these requirements, FinCEN issued a
regulation requiring financial institutions to maintain records of the
issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders, and traveler's checks.\4\ The regulation on its face applies to
all financial institutions as defined in 31 CFR 1010.100(t). However,
as a practical matter banks and money services businesses (MSBs) are
the types of financial institutions most likely to be issuing or
selling bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders, and
traveler's checks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ 31 U.S.C. 5325.
\4\ 31 CFR 1010.415. This regulation was originally published in
1990 as 31 CFR 103.29. See Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act
Regulations Relating to Identification Required to Purchase Bank
Checks and Drafts, Cashier's Checks, Money Orders and Traveler's
Checks, 55 FR 20139 (May 15, 1990). It was modified slightly in
1994. See Amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations Relating to
Identification Required to Purchase Bank Checks and Drafts,
Cashier's Checks, Money Orders, and Traveler's Checks, 59 FR 52250
(October 17, 1994).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under 31 CFR 1010.415, financial institutions are required to
maintain records of certain information related to the issuance or sale
of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders, and
traveler's checks when the issuance or sale involves currency between
$3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to any individual purchaser of one or more
of these instruments. Under 31 CFR 1010.415(a)(1)(i), if the purchaser
has a deposit account with the financial institution, the financial
institution is required to maintain records of: (A) The name of the
purchaser; (B) the date of purchase; (C) the type(s) of instrument(s)
purchased; (D) the serial number(s) of each of the instrument(s)
purchased; and (E) the amount in dollars of each of the instrument(s)
purchased. Under 31 CFR 1010.415(a)(1)(ii), the financial institution
must also verify that the individual is a deposit accountholder or must
verify the individual's identity.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Verification may be either through a signature card or other
file or record at the financial institution provided the deposit
accountholder's name and address were verified previously and that
information was recorded on the signature card or other file or
record; or by examination of a document which is normally acceptable
as a means of identification when cashing checks for nondepositors
and which contains the name and address of the purchaser. If the
deposit accountholder's identity has not been verified previously,
the financial institution may only verify the deposit
accountholder's identity by examination of a document which is
normally acceptable within the banking community as a means of
identification when cashing checks for nondepositors and which
contains the name and address of the purchaser, and must also record
the specific identifying information (e.g., State of issuance and
number of driver's license).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under 31 CFR 1010.415(a)(2)(i), if the purchaser does not have a
deposit account with the financial institution, the financial
institution must maintain a record of: (A) The name and address of the
purchaser; (B) the social security number of the purchaser, or if the
purchaser is an alien and does not have a social security number, the
alien identification number; (C) the date of birth of the purchaser;
(D) the date of the purchase; (E) the type(s) of instrument(s)
purchased; (F) the serial number(s) of the instrument(s) purchased; and
(G) the amount in dollars of each of the instrument(s) purchased. Under
31 CFR 1010.415(a)(2)(ii), the financial institution must also verify
the purchaser's name and address by examination of a document which is
normally acceptable as a means of identification when cashing checks
for nondepositors and which contains the name and address of the
purchaser, and must record the specific identifying information.
[[Page 6413]]
Under 31 CFR 1010.415(b), financial institutions must treat
contemporaneous purchases of the same or different types of instruments
totaling $3,000 or more as one purchase. Multiple purchases during one
business day totaling $3,000 or more must be treated as one purchase if
an individual employee, director, officer, or partner of the financial
institution has knowledge that these purchases have occurred.
Under 31 CFR 1010.415(c), financial institutions must retain all
required records for a period of five years and make those records
available to the Secretary upon request at any time.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Purchases of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders, and traveler's checks (31 CFR 1010.415).
OMB Control Number: 1506-0057.
Report Number: Not applicable.
Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control
number for the recordkeeping requirement for the issuance or sale of
bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders, and traveler's
checks when the issuance or sale involves the use currency in an amount
between $3,000 and 10,000, inclusive.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit institutions, and
non-profit institutions.
Type of Review:
Renewal without change of a currently approved information
collection.
Propose for review and comment a renewal of the portion of
the PRA burden that has been subject to notice and comment in the past
(the ``traditional annual PRA burden'').
Propose for review and comment a future expansion of the
scope of the PRA burden (the ``future annual PRA burden'').
Frequency: As required.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 15,677 financial institutions.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Table 1 below sets forth a breakdown of the types of
financial institutions covered by this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Recordkeeping Burden: 117,579 burden hours.
Part 1 of this notice describes the breakdown of the estimated
number of financial institutions, by type. Part 2 proposes for review
and comment a renewal of the estimate of the traditional annual PRA
hourly burden, which includes a scope and methodology similar to the
estimate used in the past, with the incorporation of a more robust cost
estimate. The scope and methodology used in the past was limited to an
estimate of the burden of the overall regulation and did not assign or
categorize burden estimates according to the specific steps to create
and maintain records for issuances or sales of bank checks and drafts,
cashier's checks, money orders, and traveler's checks between $3,000-
$10,000, inclusive, to deposit accountholders or other customers. Part
3 of this notice proposes for review and comment a methodology for a
future estimate of an annual PRA burden. The estimate would include the
PRA hourly burden and cost of creating and maintaining records related
to issuances or sales of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks,
money orders, and traveler's checks between $3,000 and 10,000, based on
estimates of the volume of these instruments issued or sold, the number
of depository accountholder or other customers purchasing these
instruments per year, and the average time to verify the identity of
depository accountholder and other customers. Finally, Part 4 solicits
input from the public about: (a) The accuracy of the traditional annual
PRA burden estimate; (b) the more granular calculation needed to
establish a future annual PRA burden; (c) the criteria, metrics, and
most appropriate questions FinCEN should consider when conducting
research to obtain the information on which to base an estimate of the
future annual PRA burden; and (d) any other comments about the
regulations and the current and proposed future hourly burden and cost
estimates of these requirements.
Part 1. Breakdown of the Financial Institutions Covered by This Notice
The breakdown of financial institutions, by type, covered by this
notice is reflected in Table 1 below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) there were 5,103 FDIC-insured banks as of March 31, 2020.
According to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), there were 203 other
entities supervised by the FRB, as of June 16, 2020, that fall
within the definition of bank (20 Edge Act institutions, 15
agreement corporations (as defined in 12 CFR 28.2) and 168 foreign
banking organizations). According to the National Credit Union
Administration there were 5,236 federally regulated credit unions as
of December 31, 2019. Approximately 297 state-chartered non-
depository trust companies, 228 non-federally insured credit unions,
12 non-federally insured state-chartered banks and savings and loan
or building and loan associations, 1 private bank, 52 international
financial entities, and 29 international banking entities--all of
which are required to implement written AML program as a result of a
final rule issued on September 15, 2020 (85 FR 57129)--are also
required to keep the records described in this notice.
\9\ This number is derived from self-reported information in MSB
registrations submitted to FinCEN. FinCEN's MSB registration
database available at https://www.fincen.gov/msb-state-selector.
\10\ Id.
Table 1--Breakdown of Financial Institutions Covered by This Notice, by
Type of Financial Institution
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Type of financial institution financial
institutions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks................................................... \8\ 11,161
Issuers/Sellers of Money Orders......................... \9\ 4,353
Issuers/Sellers of Traveler's Checks.................... \10\ 163
---------------
Total Number of Financial Institutions................ 15,677
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 2. Traditional Annual PRA Burden and Cost
The scope of the traditional annual PRA burden and cost estimates
in this renewal encompasses all of the recordkeeping requirements for
the issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders, and traveler's checks between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive. FinCEN
continues to estimate the annual hourly burden of creating and
maintaining records for the issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts,
cashier's checks, money orders, or traveler's checks to individual
purchasers when the sale involves currency between $3,000-$10,000,
inclusive, at seven and a half hours per covered financial institution,
irrespective of the volume of such transactions. This estimate covers
the burden of (i) verifying the identity of depository accountholder
and other
[[Page 6414]]
customers purchasing bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders, or traveler's checks when the issuance or sale involves
currency between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, and (ii) creating and
maintaining records of certain information for a minimum of five years
to be made available to the Secretary upon request.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Some of this estimated burden, particularly with respect to
depository customers of a bank, may duplicate burden estimated in
connection with a bank's compliance with its ordinary customer
identification program obligations under 31 CFR 1020.220. FinCEN
plans to take this other burden into account in future estimates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The estimated burden associated with each portion of the
traditional annual PRA estimate is as follows:
Table 2--Burden Associated With Maintaining Recordkeeping Requirements for Issuance/Sale of Bank Checks and
Drafts, Cashier's Checks, Money Orders, or Traveler's Checks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Type of financial institution financial Time per financial institution Total burden
institutions hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks......................................... 11,161 7.5 hour........................ 83,708
Issuers/Sellers of Money Orders............... 4,353 7.5 hour........................ 32,648
Issuers/Sellers of Travel Checks.............. 163 7.5 hour........................ 1,223
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Total Burden Hours........................ .............. ................................ 117,579
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To calculate the hourly costs of the burden estimate, FinCEN
identified two roles and corresponding staff positions involved in
verifying documentation and maintaining records for the issuance or
sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders and
traveler's checks between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive: (i) Direct
supervision (reviewing operational-level work and cross-checking all or
a sample of the work product against supporting documentation) and (ii)
clerical work (engaging in verification and recordkeeping).
FinCEN calculated the fully-loaded hourly wage for each of these
two roles by using the median wage estimated by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS),\12\ and computing an additional benefits cost
as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational
Employment Statistics-National, May 2019, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. The most recent data from the BLS
corresponds to May 2019. For the benefits component of total
compensation, see U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer's Cost
per Employee Compensation as of December 2019, available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm. The ratio between benefits
and wages for financial activities is $15.95 (hourly benefits)/
$32.05 (hourly wages) = 0.50. The benefit factor is 1 plus the
benefit/wages ratio, or 1.50. Multiplying each hourly wage by the
benefit factor produces the fully-loaded hourly wage per position.
Table 3--Fully-Loaded Hourly Wage by Role and BLS Job Position for All Financial Institutions Covered by This
Notice
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Median hourly Fully-loaded
Role BLS-Code BLS-Name wage Benefit factor hourly wage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct supervision............ 13-1041 Compliance $33.20 1.50 $49.80
Officer.
Clerical work (research, 43-3099 Financial Clerk. 20.40 1.50 30.60
review, and recordkeeping).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FinCEN estimates that, in general and on average,\13\ each role
would spend different amounts of time on each portion of the
traditional annual PRA burden. For verifying the identity of the
purchaser and maintaining the recordkeeping requirement, the estimated
cost of the hourly burden is $33.00, per the calculations in Table 4
below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ By ``in general,'' FinCEN means without regard to outliers.
By ``on average,'' FinCEN means the mean of the distribution of each
subset of the population.
Table 4--Weighted Average Hourly Cost of Maintaining Recordkeeping Requirements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct supervision Clerical work
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average
% time Hourly cost % time Hourly cost hourly cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10% $4.98 90% $27.54 * $33.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*) $32.52 rounded to $33.00.
The total estimated cost of the traditional annual PRA burden is
$3,880,107 as reflected in Table 5 below:
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\14\ See Table 2.
\15\ See Table 4.
[[Page 6415]]
Table 5--Total Cost of Traditional Annual PRA Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steps Hourly burden Hourly cost Total cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verifying and maintaining records (divided between the roles \14\ 117,579 \15\ $33 $3,880,107
listed in Table 4).............................................
-----------------------------------------------
Total Cost.................................................. .............. .............. $3,880,107
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 3. Future Annual PRA Burden
In the future, FinCEN intends to be more granular in estimating the
annual PRA burden, by including the estimated hourly burden and cost
behind the individual steps required to maintain records for the
issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders, and traveler's checks between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to
depository accountholder and other customers. In particular, FinCEN
seeks to include in this calculation the number of these instruments
issued or sold per financial institution annually, the number of
depository accountholder and other customers purchasing these
instruments per year, and the average time per financial institution to
verify the identity of depository accountholder and other customers.
FinCEN does not have the information to estimate the annual number of
instruments issued or sold to depository accountholder and other
customers that trigger the recordkeeping requirements being renewed in
this notice. For that reason, FinCEN is relying on estimates used in
prior renewals of this OMB control number and the applicable
regulations. FinCEN further recognizes that after receiving public
comments as a result of this notice, future traditional annual PRA
hourly burden and cost estimates may vary significantly from those
contained in this document. FinCEN intends to conduct more granular
studies of the actions included in the proposed scope of the annual PRA
burden in the near future, to arrive at more accurate estimates of net
BSA hourly burden and cost.\16\ The data obtained in these studies also
may result in a significant change from the estimated traditional
annual PRA burden.
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\16\ Net hourly burden and cost are the burden and cost a
financial institution incurs to comply with requirements that are
unique to the BSA, and that do not support any other business
purpose or regulatory obligation of the financial institution.
Burden for purposes of the PRA does not include the time and
financial resources needed to comply with an information collection,
if the time and resources are for things a business (or other
person) does in the ordinary course of its activities if the agency
demonstrates that the reporting activities needed to comply are
usual and customary. 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Recordkeeping Burden: The average estimated annual PRA
burden, measured in hours per respondent, is seven and a half hours.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 15,677, as set out in Table 1.
Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Burden: The estimated total
annual PRA burden is 117,579 hours, as set out in Table 2.
Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Cost: The estimated total
annual PRA cost is $3,880,107, as set out in Table 5.
An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of
information displays a valid OMB control number. Records required to be
retained under the BSA must be retained for five years.
Part 4. Request for Comments
(a) Specific Request for Comments on the Traditional Annual PRA Hourly
Burden and Cost
FinCEN invites comments on any aspect of the traditional annual PRA
burden, as set out in Part 2 of this notice. In particular, FinCEN
seeks comments on the adequacy of: (i) FinCEN's assumptions underlying
its burden estimate; (ii) the estimated number of hours required by
each portion of the burden; and (iii) the organizational roles of the
financial institution engaged in each portion of the burden, the roles'
estimated hourly remuneration, and the estimated proportion of time
spent by each role on the requirements. FinCEN encourages commenters to
include any publicly available sources for alternative estimates or
methodologies.
(b) Specific Request for Comments on the Proposed Criteria for
Determining the Scope of a Future Annual PRA Hourly Burden and Cost
Estimate
FinCEN invites comments on any aspect of the criteria for an
estimate of the future annual PRA burden, as set out in Part 3 of this
notice.
(c) Specific Request for Comments on the Appropriate Criteria,
Methodology, and Questionnaire Required To Obtain Information to More
Precisely Estimate the Future Annual PRA Hourly Burden and Cost
FinCEN invites comments on the most appropriate and comprehensive
means to question financial institutions about the annual hourly burden
and cost attributable solely to creating and maintaining records for
the issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders and traveler's checks between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive (i.e.,
the hourly burden and cost of complying with the recordkeeping
requirements imposed exclusively by the BSA; the volume of these
instruments issued or sold; the number of depository accountholder and
other customers purchasing these instruments per year; and the average
time to verify the identity of depository accountholder and other
customers).
The future annual PRA hourly burden and cost estimate of the
recordkeeping necessary to comply with maintaining records for issuance
or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders and
traveler's checks between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to any individual
purchaser must take into consideration only the effort involved in
obtaining those data elements that are used exclusively for complying
with requirements under 31 CFR 1010.415. FinCEN seeks comments from the
public regarding any questions we should consider posing in future
notices, in addition to the specific questions for comment outlined
directly below. Also, due to the evident difficulty involved in
estimating the volume of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks,
money orders and traveler's checks issued or sold that involve currency
between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, the annual number of depository
accountholder and other customers purchasing these instruments, and the
average time to verify the identity of depository accountholder and
other customers, FinCEN welcomes any suggestions as to how to derive
these estimates by using publicly available financial information.
[[Page 6416]]
(d) Specific Questions for Comment Associated With Recordkeeping
Requirements for Issuance or Sale of Bank Checks and Drafts, Cashier's
Checks, Money Orders and Traveler's Checks That Involve Currency
Between $3,000-$10,000, Inclusive, by Depository Accountholder and
Other Customers
Annually, on average, how often does your financial
institution issue or sell bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks,
money orders, or traveler's checks that involve currency between
$3,000-$10,000, inclusive?
On average, how long does it take your institution to
create a record for the issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts,
cashier's checks, money orders, or traveler's checks that involve
currency between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive?
On average, what is the cost to maintain records of the
issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money
orders, or traveler's checks that involve currency between $3,000-
$10,000, inclusive?
On average, what is the amount of time and cost to verify
and maintain a record for depository customers that purchase bank
checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders, or traveler's checks
that involve currency between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, for a period
of five years?
On average, what is the amount of time and cost to verify
and maintain a record for customers who do not hold depository accounts
that purchase bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders,
or traveler's checks that involve currency between $3,000-$10,000,
inclusive, for a period of five years?
(e) General Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (i) Whether
the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall
have practical utility; (ii) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the collection of information; (iii) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (iv)
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 (v) estimates
of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and
purchase of services to provide information.
Kenneth A. Blanco,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2021-01187 Filed 1-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P
