Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Transactions of Exempt Persons Regulations, and FinCEN Report 110, Designation of Exempt Person Report, 6964-6969 [2021-01451]
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specifically designated as CBI will be
placed in the public docket for this
matter.
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Renewal;
Comment Request; Renewal Without
Change of Transactions of Exempt
Persons Regulations, and FinCEN
Report 110, Designation of Exempt
Person Report
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
General: Ms. Kay McIver by telephone
at 202–366–0113, or by email at
kay.mciver@dot.gov.
Technical: Mr. Steve Nanney by
telephone at 713–272–2855, or by email
at steve.nanney@dot.gov.
PHMSA
received a special permit request from
EPNG seeking a waiver from the
requirements of 49 CFR 192.611(a) and
(d): Change in class location:
Confirmation or revision of maximum
allowable operating pressure, and
§ 192.619(a): Maximum allowable
operating pressure: Steel or plastic
pipelines. This special permit is being
requested in lieu of pipe replacement or
pressure reduction for one (1) special
permit segment of 650 feet (0.123 miles)
on the EPNG pipeline system. The
proposed special permit segment is
located in Ward County, Texas. The
EPNG pipeline class location in the
special permit segment has changed
from a Class 2 to a Class 3 location. The
EPNG pipeline special permit segment
is a 30-inch diameter pipeline with an
existing maximum allowable operating
pressure of 944 pounds per square inch
gauge. The installation of the special
permit segment occurred in 2003.
The special permit request, proposed
special permit with conditions, and
Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA)
for the EPNG pipeline are available for
review and public comment in Docket
No. PHMSA–2020–0008. We invite
interested persons to review and submit
comments on the special permit request
and DEA in the docket. Please include
any comments on potential safety and
environmental impacts that may result
if the special permit is granted.
Comments may include relevant data.
Before issuing a decision on the
special permit request, PHMSA will
evaluate all comments received on or
before the comment closing date.
Comments received after the closing
date will be evaluated, if it is possible
to do so without incurring additional
expense or delay. PHMSA will consider
each relevant comment it receives in
making its decision to grant or deny this
special permit request.
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Issued in Washington, DC, under authority
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2021–01522 Filed 1–22–21; 8:45 am]
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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 permit banks to file a
FinCEN Report 110, Designation of
Exempt Person (‘‘DOEP Report’’), to
designate eligible customers as exempt
persons, such that a bank is not required
to file a report with respect to any
transaction in currency over $10,000
with such customers. Under the
regulations, a bank, to exempt a person,
must also take steps to ensure that a
person meets the requirements for an
exemption, document the basis for the
bank’s initial conclusion that a person is
exempt, annually review the eligibility
of certain exempt persons, document
compliance with the DOEP Report
requirements, and maintain a
monitoring system that is reasonably
designed to detect, for each account of
a non-listed business or payroll
customer, transactions in currency
requiring a bank to file a suspicious
transaction report. 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.
DATES: Written comments are welcome,
and must be received on or before
March 26, 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–2020–
0018 and the specific Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) control
number 1506–0012.
SUMMARY:
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• Mail: Policy Division, Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, P.O. Box
39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket
Number FINCEN–2020–0018 and OMB
control number 1506–0012.
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
frc@fincen.gov.
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) (Pub. L. 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
The requirement for financial
institutions to report certain
transactions in currency has been an
important component of the BSA from
its inception.3 Regulations
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 added
language further expanding the scope of the BSA
but did not disturb these longstanding purposes.
2 Treasury Order 180–01 (re-affirmed Jan. 14,
2020).
3 Public Law 91–508 (Oct. 26, 1970), 84 Stat.
1122.
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implementing this requirement have
long established a one-person, one-day,
one-institution aggregate currency
transaction threshold of $10,000, above
which every financial institution must
file a Currency Transaction Report
(CTR).4 The Money Laundering
Suppression Act of 1994 amended the
BSA to create certain mandatory
exemptions applicable to banks from the
requirement for financial institutions to
file CTRs, and to give the Secretary
authority to create additional such
exemptions.5 Regulations implementing
this exemption authority, including by
requiring the collection of information
on the DOEP Report, are found at 31
CFR 1020.315.
Under 31 CFR 1020.315(a), a bank is
not required to file a CTR with respect
to any transaction in currency between
exempt persons and the bank, or
between an exempt person and other
banks that are affiliated with the bank.6
31 CFR 1020.315(b) sets out that an
exempt person is: (1) A bank, to the
extent of such bank’s domestic
operations; (2) a department or agency
of the United States, of any State, or of
any political subdivision of any State;
(3) any entity established under the laws
of the United States, any State, or any
political subdivision of any State, or
under an interstate compact, that
exercises governmental authority on
behalf of the United States, any such
State, or any such political subdivision;
(4) any entity, other than a bank, whose
common stock or analogous equity
interests are listed on the New York
Stock Exchange, the American
Exchange, or the NASDAQ Stock Market
(a ‘‘listed entity’’), provided that, if the
listed entity is a financial institution
other than a bank, it is an exempt
person only to the extent of its domestic
operations; (5) any subsidiary, other
than a bank, of a listed entity mentioned
in the previous item (4) that is organized
under the laws of the United Sates or of
any State, provided that the listed entity
owns at least 51 percent of the equity
interest of the subsidiary, and subject to
the qualification that if the subsidiary is
a financial institution other than a bank,
it is an exempt person only to the extent
of its domestic operations; (6) any other
commercial enterprise, with certain
exceptions, that maintains a transaction
4 31
CFR 1010.311.
Law 103–325, Title IV, Section 402 (Sep.
23, 1994), 108 Stat. 2243. These authorities are
codified at 31 U.S.C. 5313(d) (mandatory
exemptions) and (e) (discretionary exemptions).
6 31 CFR 1010.315(a). The exemption does not
apply when the exempt person is acting as agent for
another person who is the beneficial owner of the
funds that are the subject of the transaction. 31 CFR
1010.315(f).
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account at the bank for at least two
months, frequently engages in
transactions with the bank in currency
in excess of $10,000, and is
incorporated or organized under the
laws of, or is registered as and eligible
to do business within, the United States
or a State (a ‘‘non-listed business’’), but
only to the extent of the non-listed
business customers’ domestic
operations and only with respect to
transactions conducted through the nonlisted business customer’s exemptible
accounts; or (7) any other person, with
certain exceptions, that maintains a
transaction account at the bank for at
least two months, operates a firm that
frequently withdraws more than
$10,000 in order to pay its U.S.
employees in currency, and is
incorporated or organized under the
laws of, or is registered as and eligible
to do business within, the United States
or a State (a ‘‘payroll customer’’), but
solely with respect to withdrawals for
payroll purposes from existing
exemptible accounts.7
31 CFR 1020.315(c)(1) requires a bank
to designate an exempt person by filing
the DOEP Report 8 within 30 calendar
days after the day of the first reportable
transaction in currency with that person
that the bank seeks to exempt from
reporting. A bank holding company or
one of its bank subsidiaries may make
such a designation on behalf of any or
all of the bank holding company’s bank
subsidiaries by listing those bank
subsidiaries in the DOEP Report that it
files.9 However, a bank is not required
to file a DOEP Report for transfer of
currency to or from (1) any of the 12
Federal Reserve Banks, (2) a bank, to the
extent of such bank’s domestic
operations, (3) a department or agency
of the United States, of any State, or of
any political subdivision of any State, or
(4) any entity established under the laws
of the United States, any State, or any
political subdivision of any State, or
under an interstate compact between
two or more States, that exercises
governmental authority on behalf of the
United States or any such State or
political subdivision.10
31 CFR 1020.315(d) requires a bank to
review at least once annually the
continued eligibility of an exempt
person that is a (1) listed entity, (2)
7 In certain circumstances, a limited exemption
from the two month transaction account holding
requirement may apply to non-listed business and
payroll customers pursuant to the special rule at 31
CFR 1010.315(c)(2)(ii).
8 This is referred to in the regulations as ‘‘FinCEN
Form 110.’’ FinCEN has referred to its forms as
‘‘reports’’ since moving to electronic filing.
9 31 CFR 1020.315(c)(1) and (e)(6).
10 31 CFR 1020.315(c)(2)(A) and (B).
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subsidiary of a listed entity, (3) nonlisted business customer, or (4) payroll
customer. As part of the annual review,
a bank must also review the application
to each existing account of a non-listed
business or payroll customer of the
monitoring system that 31 CFR
1020.315(h)(2) requires the bank to
maintain (related to suspicious activity
monitoring).
Under 31 CFR 1020.315(e), a bank
must take steps to assure itself that an
exempt person meets the definition of
that term (see 31 CFR 1020.315(b),
summarized above), document the basis
for its conclusion, and document its
compliance with the terms of the
exemption, including the operating
rules in 31 CFR 1020.315(e)(2)-(9). A
bank must also take steps to document
compliance with its suspicious activity
monitoring obligations under 31 CFR
1020.315(h)(2). The steps that the bank
takes under 31 CFR 1020.315(e) must be
those that a reasonable and prudent
bank would take and document to
protect itself from fraud or loss based on
misidentification of a person’s status
and, in the case of the suspicious
activity monitoring obligations, to
identify suspicious transactions.
31 CFR 1020.315(h)(1) states that the
CTR exemption rules do not relieve a
bank of its obligation to report any
suspicious transactions pursuant to 31
CFR 1020.320, including any suspicious
transactions or attempted transactions
in currency associated with the
accounts of an exempt person, or relieve
a bank of any other reporting or
recordkeeping obligation imposed under
the authority of the BSA.
Under 31 CFR 1020.315(h)(2), a bank
must establish and maintain a
monitoring system that is reasonably
designed to detect, for each account of
a non-listed business or payroll
customer, transactions in currency that
would require a bank to file a suspicious
activity report (SAR).
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA) 11
Title: Transactions of Exempt Person
(31 CFR 1020.315), and FinCEN Report
110—DOEP Report.
OMB Control Number: 1506–0012.
Report Number: FinCEN Report 110—
DOEP Report.
Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this
notice to renew the OMB control
number for the transactions of exempt
person regulations and the DOEP
Report.
Affected Public: Businesses or other
for-profit institutions, and non-profit
institutions.
11 Public
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Law 104–13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
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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 ‘‘supplemental annual
PRA burden’’).
Frequency: As required.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
11,161 banks.12
Estimated Number of Responses:
18,141.13
Estimated Recordkeeping Burden:
In Part 1 of this notice, FinCEN
describes the breakdown of the
estimated number of financial
institutions, by type. In Part 2, FinCEN
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 that used in the past, with the
incorporation of a more robust cost
estimate. The scope and methodology
used in the past was limited to filling
out, filing, and maintaining a copy of
the DOEP Report filed. In Part 3,
FinCEN proposes for review and
comment a methodology to estimate a
future estimate of a supplemental
annual PRA burden that includes the
burden and cost to a bank related to the
regulatory requirements to: (1)
Determine the initial eligibility of
exempt persons, document the bank’s
basis for its conclusion, and document
compliance with, inter alia, the
operating rules set out in 1020.315(e);
(2) conduct an annual review to
determine whether certain exempt
persons remain eligible for the CTR
exemption, and consistent with that
review, to maintain a monitoring system
to identify suspicious transactions
associated with the accounts of nonlisted business and payroll customers;
and (3) establish and maintain a
monitoring system reasonably designed
to monitor currency transactions and
report suspicious transactions pursuant
to the bank’s general obligation to report
any suspicious transactions.14 Finally,
in Part 4, FinCEN solicits input from the
public about: (1) The accuracy of the
estimate of the traditional annual PRA
burden; (2) the method proposed for the
calculation of the future supplemental
annual PRA burden; (3) the criteria,
metrics, and most appropriate questions
FinCEN should consider when
researching the information to estimate
the future traditional and supplemental
annual PRA burden, according to the
methodology proposed; and (4) 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
Banks are the only financial
institutions covered by this notice.
FinCEN estimates there are 11,161
banks.15
Part 2—Traditional Annual PRA Burden
And Cost
The scope of the traditional annual
PRA burden was limited to the annual
burden of filling out, filing, and
maintaining a record of the initial filed
DOEP Report.
FinCEN continues to estimate the
annual hourly burden of the designation
of exempt persons as one hour per form.
This estimate covers the burden of: (1)
45 minutes to fill out and file the report;
and (2) 15 minutes to save the report
electronically and print out a copy to
keep in hard-copy files. FinCEN
believes that the information required to
be included on the DOEP Report is basic
information that banks need to maintain
to conduct business. The e-filing system
prompts banks to save the report after
submission.
FinCEN’s estimate of the traditional
annual PRA burden, therefore, is 18,141
hours, as detailed in Table 1 below:
TABLE 1—BURDEN ASSOCIATED WITH COMPLETION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE REPORT
Time per form
Type of financial institution
Completion
(filling out and
filing)
(minutes)
Maintenance
(minutes)
Completion
(filling out and
filing)
Maintenance
Grand total
burden hours
18,141
45
15
13,605.75
4,535.25
18,141 16
Banks
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Total burden hours per step
Number of
DOEP reports
filed in 2019
To calculate the hourly costs of the
burden estimate, FinCEN identified
three roles and corresponding staff
positions involved in filling out,
reviewing, filing, and maintaining a
copy of the report: (1) General
supervision (providing process
oversight); (2) direct supervision
(reviewing operational-level work, and
cross-checking all or a sample of the
work product against supporting
documentation); and (3) clerical work
(engaging in research and administrative
review, completing the DOEP Report,
and recordkeeping).
FinCEN calculated the fully-loaded
hourly wage for each of these three roles
by using the median wage estimated by
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
12 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, 29 international
banking entities, and 52 international financial
entities, all of which are required to implement
written AML programs 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.
13 Based on 2019 filings, FinCEN received 18,141
DOEP Reports.
14 The burden associated with the CTR
obligations is calculated under OMB control
number 1506–0064. The burden associated with the
SAR obligations is calculated under OMB Control
Number 1506–0065.
15 See supra note 10.
16 In the past PRA burden analysis, FinCEN
estimated that the traditional burden to complete
and file the DOEP Report for banks was 1 hour (45
minutes for completion of the form and 15 minutes
for recordkeeping). (18,141 × .75 minutes =
13,605.75 burden hours for completion of the
report) + (18,141 × .25 minutes = 4,535.25 burden
hours for maintenance). The total hourly burden is
18,141 hours (13,605.75 + 4,535.25). Going forward
this estimate will be different because it will
account for the initial eligibility determination,
filling out and filing the report, annual review,
maintenance of records, maintenance of the
monitoring system, and monitoring accounts to
report suspicious transactions.
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(BLS),17 and computing an additional
benefits cost as follows:
TABLE 2—FULLY-LOADED HOURLY WAGE BY ROLE AND BLS JOB POSITION FOR ALL BANKS COVERED BY THIS NOTICE
Role
BLS-code
General supervision ...................................................
Direct supervision .......................................................
Clerical work (research, review, and recordkeeping)
FinCEN estimates that, in general and
on average,18 each role would spend
different amounts of time on each
11–3031
13–1041
43–3099
Median hourly
wage
BLS-name
Financial Manager ...........
Compliance Officer ..........
Financial Clerk ................
portion of the traditional annual PRA
burden, as follows:
For initial filing, the cost of each hour
of burden would be one burden hour at
Benefit factor
$62.45
33.20
20.40
1.50
1.50
1.50
Fully-loaded
hourly wage
$93.68
49.80
30.60
$48.00 representing the actual
completion and filing of the report
broken down by each role as shown in
Table 3 below:
TABLE 3—WEIGHTED AVERAGE HOURLY COST OF COMPLETION OF THE DOEP REPORT
General supervision
Direct supervision
Clerical work
% Time
Hourly cost
% Time
Hourly cost
% Time
Hourly cost
Weighted
average
hourly cost
10
$9.37
30
$14.94
60
$18.36
$43.00
$42.67 rounded to $43.00.
The total estimated cost of the
traditional annual PRA burden is
$780,063, as reflected in Table 4 below:
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TABLE 4—TOTAL COST OF TRADITIONAL ANNUAL PRA BURDEN
Steps
Hourly Burden
Hourly Cost
Report completion (divided between the
roles listed in Table 3).
Maintenance/recordkeeping ....................
Total cost ..........................................
13,605.75 19 .............................................
$43.00 20
$585,047.25
4,535.25 ...................................................
..................................................................
$43.00
........................
$195,015.75
$780,063
Part 3—Supplemental Annual PRA
Burden
accounts of non-listed business and
payroll customers.
In the future, FinCEN intends to add
a supplemental annual PRA burden
calculation that will include the
estimated hourly burden and cost to: (1)
Determine the initial eligibility of
exempt persons, document the basis for
the consideration, and document
compliance with the DOEP reporting
requirements; (2) conduct an annual
review to determine whether certain
exempt persons remain eligible for the
CTR exemption, and, consistent with
that review, to maintain a monitoring
system to identify suspicious
transactions associated with the
accounts of non-listed business and
payroll customers; and (3) identify
suspicious transactions associated with
(a) Amended and Revoked Filings
17 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.
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FinCEN assesses that the information
required to be included on the DOEP
Report is basic information banks need
to maintain to conduct business. In
addition, FinCEN’s electronic filing (efiling) system allows banks to open a
filed electronic DOEP Report that is prepopulated with the information from the
prior filing. Banks can amend the status
of an exempt person (including de facto
revoking that status) by selecting Item
1.b (Amend) of the DOEP Report, and
submitting the revised report
electronically. The e-filing system
prompts banks to save the report after
submission.
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Total Cost
(b) Annual Review
As noted in Section I above, for all
identified and reported designation of
exempt persons, banks are required to
establish and maintain a monitoring
system designed to annually review the
eligibility of a listed entity, a subsidiary
of a listed entity, a non-listed business
customer, or a payroll customer to
determine whether they remain eligible
for the exemption from the banks’
requirement to report transactions in
currency of over $10,000. As part of the
annual review, banks must also review
the application of the monitoring
system, required to be maintained under
31 CFR 1020.315(h)(2), to each existing
account of a non-listed business or
payroll customer.
18 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.
19 Table 1.
20 Table 3.
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FinCEN does not have the necessary
information to provide an estimate in
this notice of the supplemental PRA
hourly burden and cost associated with
the annual review of eligibility of
exempt persons, the operating rules set
out in 31 CFR 1020.315(e), and the
monitoring system required under 31
CFR 1020.315(h)(2). In addition,
FinCEN does not have all the necessary
information to more accurately estimate
the traditional annual PRA burden. 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.
FinCEN intends to conduct more
granular studies of the actions included
in the proposed scope of the
supplemental annual PRA burden in the
near future, to arrive at more accurate
estimates of net BSA hourly burden and
cost.21 The data obtained in these
studies also may result in a significant
variation of the estimated traditional
annual PRA burden.
Estimated Recordkeeping Burden: The
average estimated annual PRA burden,
measured in hours per respondent, is 1
hour (45 minutes to annually fill out
and file the report, and fifteen minutes
to maintain a record of the report).
Estimated Number of Respondents:
11,161,22 as set out above.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
18,141, as set out above.
Estimated Total Annual
Recordkeeping Burden: The estimated
total annual PRA burden is 18,141
hours, as set out in Table 1.
Estimated Total Annual
Recordkeeping Cost: The estimated total
annual PRA cost is $780,063, as set out
in Table 4.
An Agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
21 Net hourly burden and cost are the burden and
cost a person (in the case of the DOEP Report, a
bank) 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 person. 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 activities a business (or
other person) ordinarily undertakes if the
government agency calculating the burden
demonstrates that the reporting activities needed to
comply are usual and customary. 5 CFR
1320.3(b)(2).
22 Although 11,109 banks were eligible to file
DOEP Reports, only 2,133 banks filed DOEP Reports
in 2019 and FinCEN received a total of 18,141
DOEP Reports. Of the 18,141 DOEP Reports
received in 2019, FinCEN received 9,464 initial
reports, 4,444 amended reports, 4,223 DOEP
revoked reports, and 10 reports not classified as
initial, amended, or revoked.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:31 Jan 22, 2021
Jkt 253001
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: (1)
FinCEN’s assumptions underlying its
burden estimate; (2) the estimated
number of hours required by each
portion of the burden; and (3) the
organizational roles of the bank 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 Supplemental Annual
PRA Hourly Burden and Cost Estimate
FinCEN invites comments on any
aspect of the criteria for a future
estimate of the supplemental 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 Accurately
Estimate the Supplemental Annual PRA
Hourly Burden and Cost
FinCEN invites comments on the most
appropriate and comprehensive means
to question banks about the annual
hourly burden and cost attributable
solely to comply with the DOEP
reporting requirements (i.e., the hourly
burden and cost of complying with the
requirements imposed exclusively by
the BSA, which are not used to satisfy
other regulatory requirements or
business purposes of a bank).
The supplemental annual PRA hourly
burden and cost estimate of the
recordkeeping and reporting necessary
to comply with the transactions of
exempt persons regulations
(determination of eligibility,
maintenance of records, annual review,
maintenance of monitoring system, and
reporting of suspicious transactions)
must take into consideration only the
effort involved in obtaining those data
elements that are used exclusively for
complying with requirements under 31
PO 00000
Frm 00107
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
CFR 1020.315. Given the complexity in
determining that effort and how to
incorporate it into the estimate, 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. While
FinCEN has information on the number
and type of DOEP Reports, FinCEN is
unable to more accurately allocate the
estimates among the number of banks.
FinCEN welcomes any suggestions as to
how to derive these estimates by using
publicly available financial information.
(d) Specific Questions for Comment
Associated With the Transactions of
Exempt Persons Regulations and the
DOEP Report:
(1) Determination of Exempt Person
• On average, how many accounts
does your bank maintain for which the
account holder meets the definition of
exempt person?
• On average, how many accounts
does your bank maintain that require a
determination as to whether the
accountholder meets the definition of
exempt person?
• On average, how many accounts
does your bank maintain for which the
account holder meets the definition of a
listed business or is a subsidiary of a
listed business?
• On average, how many accounts
does your bank maintain for which the
account holders are non-listed
businesses or payroll customers?
• On average, how long does the
review process take to determine if an
accountholder is eligible for a
designation of exempt person status?
• On average, how long does the
completion and filing of a DOEP Report
take?
• On average, how many employees,
officers, or managers are responsible for
determining the eligibility of exempt
persons?
• Which roles are typically more
involved and how long does each role
spend on determining the eligibility of
exempt persons?
• How many approvals are necessary
to determine the eligibility of exempt
persons? To finalize and submit the
DOEP Report?
(2) Initial and Amended DOEP Reports
• On average, how many initial DOEP
Reports does your bank file on an
annual basis?
• On average, how long does it take
your bank to complete an initial filing?
• On average, how frequently does
your bank amend a report?
• On average, how long does it take
your bank to amend a report, including
E:\FR\FM\25JAN1.SGM
25JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 14 / Monday, January 25, 2021 / Notices
as a de facto method of revoking an
exemption?
• On average, how many employees
are involved and how many approvals
are necessary to complete an initial or
amended filing?
• Does your bank have a review and
approval process involving senior
management to evaluate the conclusions
reached in the determination for
eligibility of an exempt person?
• Does your bank have a review and
approval process involving senior
management for amending or revoking
the eligibility of an exempt person? On
average, how long does the review
process take and how many approvals
are necessary?
(3) Annual Review
• On average, how often does your
bank review the eligibility of an exempt
person?
• On average, how many accounts
where the accountholder is an exempt
person does your bank review at least
annually?
• Does your bank maintain a
monitoring system to comply with the
DOEP reporting requirements?
• Does your bank review the
monitoring system at least once a year?
• On average, how long does it take
to review the monitoring system and
how many approvals are necessary?
• Does your bank maintain records of
the annual review?
• On average, how long does it take
to prepare and maintain records of the
review?
• Does your bank have a review and
approval process involving senior
management to evaluate the conclusions
reached in the annual review of
eligibility?
• On average, how long does the
annual review process take and how
many approvals are necessary?
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
(4) Monitoring System
• Does your bank maintain a separate
monitoring system to track designation
of exempt persons for reasons other than
to comply with the reporting
requirements under 31 CFR 1020.315?
• Does your bank maintain a separate
monitoring system to identify
suspicious activity associated with the
accounts of designated exempt persons?
• Does your bank have a review and
approval process involving senior
management to evaluate the conclusions
reached in the determination of whether
a SAR must be filed for an exempt
account? On average, how long does the
review process take and how many
approvals are necessary?
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:31 Jan 22, 2021
Jkt 253001
(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: (1) 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;
(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the collection of
information; (3) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; (4) 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 5) 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. 2021–01451 Filed 1–22–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Foreign Assets Control
Notice of OFAC Sanctions Action
Office of Foreign Assets
Control, Treasury.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice.
The Department of the
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) is publishing the names
of one or more persons 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 persons are blocked, and U.S.
persons are generally prohibited from
engaging in transactions with them.
SUMMARY:
See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section for effective date(s).
DATES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
OFAC: 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:
PO 00000
Frm 00108
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
6969
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 Action(s)
On January 15, 2021, OFAC
determined that the property and
interests in property subject to U.S.
jurisdiction of the following persons are
blocked under the relevant sanctions
authority listed below.
Individual
1. ALVAREZ CASAS, Lazaro Alberto,
Cuba; DOB 1963; Gender Male (individual)
[GLOMAG].
Designated pursuant to section
1(a)(ii)(C)(1) of Executive Order 13818 of
December 20, 2017, ‘‘Blocking the Property of
Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights
Abuse or Corruption,’’ 82 FR 60839, 3 CFR,
2018 Comp., p. 399, (E.O. 13818) for being a
foreign person who is or has been a leader
or official of an entity, including any
government entity, that has engaged in, or
whose members have engaged in, serious
human rights abuse relating to the leader’s or
official’s tenure.
Entity
1. MINISTRY OF INTERIOR (a.k.a.
MINISTERIO DEL INTERIOR; a.k.a.
‘‘MININT’’), Aranguren and Carlos Manuel
de Cespedes, Havana, Cuba; Organization
Established Date Jun 1961 [GLOMAG].
Designated pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(A)
of E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who
is responsible for or complicit in, or has
directly or indirectly engaged in, serious
human rights abuse.
Dated: January 15, 2021.
Andrea M. Gacki,
Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control,
U.S. Department of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 2021–01521 Filed 1–22–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AL–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request for Limitations on Credit or
Refund
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The Internal Revenue Service,
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 continuing
information collections, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\25JAN1.SGM
25JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 14 (Monday, January 25, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6964-6969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01451]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal;
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Transactions of Exempt
Persons Regulations, and FinCEN Report 110, Designation of Exempt
Person Report
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
permit banks to file a FinCEN Report 110, Designation of Exempt Person
(``DOEP Report''), to designate eligible customers as exempt persons,
such that a bank is not required to file a report with respect to any
transaction in currency over $10,000 with such customers. Under the
regulations, a bank, to exempt a person, must also take steps to ensure
that a person meets the requirements for an exemption, document the
basis for the bank's initial conclusion that a person is exempt,
annually review the eligibility of certain exempt persons, document
compliance with the DOEP Report requirements, and maintain a monitoring
system that is reasonably designed to detect, for each account of a
non-listed business or payroll customer, transactions in currency
requiring a bank to file a suspicious transaction report. 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.
DATES: Written comments are welcome, and must be received on or before
March 26, 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-2020-0018 and the specific Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
control number 1506-0012.
Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2020-0018 and OMB control number 1506-0012.
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) (Pub. L. 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\
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\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 added language further
expanding the scope of the BSA but did not disturb these
longstanding purposes.
\2\ Treasury Order 180-01 (re-affirmed Jan. 14, 2020).
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The requirement for financial institutions to report certain
transactions in currency has been an important component of the BSA
from its inception.\3\ Regulations
[[Page 6965]]
implementing this requirement have long established a one-person, one-
day, one-institution aggregate currency transaction threshold of
$10,000, above which every financial institution must file a Currency
Transaction Report (CTR).\4\ The Money Laundering Suppression Act of
1994 amended the BSA to create certain mandatory exemptions applicable
to banks from the requirement for financial institutions to file CTRs,
and to give the Secretary authority to create additional such
exemptions.\5\ Regulations implementing this exemption authority,
including by requiring the collection of information on the DOEP
Report, are found at 31 CFR 1020.315.
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\3\ Public Law 91-508 (Oct. 26, 1970), 84 Stat. 1122.
\4\ 31 CFR 1010.311.
\5\ Public Law 103-325, Title IV, Section 402 (Sep. 23, 1994),
108 Stat. 2243. These authorities are codified at 31 U.S.C. 5313(d)
(mandatory exemptions) and (e) (discretionary exemptions).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under 31 CFR 1020.315(a), a bank is not required to file a CTR with
respect to any transaction in currency between exempt persons and the
bank, or between an exempt person and other banks that are affiliated
with the bank.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ 31 CFR 1010.315(a). The exemption does not apply when the
exempt person is acting as agent for another person who is the
beneficial owner of the funds that are the subject of the
transaction. 31 CFR 1010.315(f).
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31 CFR 1020.315(b) sets out that an exempt person is: (1) A bank,
to the extent of such bank's domestic operations; (2) a department or
agency of the United States, of any State, or of any political
subdivision of any State; (3) any entity established under the laws of
the United States, any State, or any political subdivision of any
State, or under an interstate compact, that exercises governmental
authority on behalf of the United States, any such State, or any such
political subdivision; (4) any entity, other than a bank, whose common
stock or analogous equity interests are listed on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Exchange, or the NASDAQ Stock Market (a ``listed
entity''), provided that, if the listed entity is a financial
institution other than a bank, it is an exempt person only to the
extent of its domestic operations; (5) any subsidiary, other than a
bank, of a listed entity mentioned in the previous item (4) that is
organized under the laws of the United Sates or of any State, provided
that the listed entity owns at least 51 percent of the equity interest
of the subsidiary, and subject to the qualification that if the
subsidiary is a financial institution other than a bank, it is an
exempt person only to the extent of its domestic operations; (6) any
other commercial enterprise, with certain exceptions, that maintains a
transaction account at the bank for at least two months, frequently
engages in transactions with the bank in currency in excess of $10,000,
and is incorporated or organized under the laws of, or is registered as
and eligible to do business within, the United States or a State (a
``non-listed business''), but only to the extent of the non-listed
business customers' domestic operations and only with respect to
transactions conducted through the non-listed business customer's
exemptible accounts; or (7) any other person, with certain exceptions,
that maintains a transaction account at the bank for at least two
months, operates a firm that frequently withdraws more than $10,000 in
order to pay its U.S. employees in currency, and is incorporated or
organized under the laws of, or is registered as and eligible to do
business within, the United States or a State (a ``payroll customer''),
but solely with respect to withdrawals for payroll purposes from
existing exemptible accounts.\7\
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\7\ In certain circumstances, a limited exemption from the two
month transaction account holding requirement may apply to non-
listed business and payroll customers pursuant to the special rule
at 31 CFR 1010.315(c)(2)(ii).
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31 CFR 1020.315(c)(1) requires a bank to designate an exempt person
by filing the DOEP Report \8\ within 30 calendar days after the day of
the first reportable transaction in currency with that person that the
bank seeks to exempt from reporting. A bank holding company or one of
its bank subsidiaries may make such a designation on behalf of any or
all of the bank holding company's bank subsidiaries by listing those
bank subsidiaries in the DOEP Report that it files.\9\ However, a bank
is not required to file a DOEP Report for transfer of currency to or
from (1) any of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, (2) a bank, to the extent
of such bank's domestic operations, (3) a department or agency of the
United States, of any State, or of any political subdivision of any
State, or (4) any entity established under the laws of the United
States, any State, or any political subdivision of any State, or under
an interstate compact between two or more States, that exercises
governmental authority on behalf of the United States or any such State
or political subdivision.\10\
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\8\ This is referred to in the regulations as ``FinCEN Form
110.'' FinCEN has referred to its forms as ``reports'' since moving
to electronic filing.
\9\ 31 CFR 1020.315(c)(1) and (e)(6).
\10\ 31 CFR 1020.315(c)(2)(A) and (B).
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31 CFR 1020.315(d) requires a bank to review at least once annually
the continued eligibility of an exempt person that is a (1) listed
entity, (2) subsidiary of a listed entity, (3) non-listed business
customer, or (4) payroll customer. As part of the annual review, a bank
must also review the application to each existing account of a non-
listed business or payroll customer of the monitoring system that 31
CFR 1020.315(h)(2) requires the bank to maintain (related to suspicious
activity monitoring).
Under 31 CFR 1020.315(e), a bank must take steps to assure itself
that an exempt person meets the definition of that term (see 31 CFR
1020.315(b), summarized above), document the basis for its conclusion,
and document its compliance with the terms of the exemption, including
the operating rules in 31 CFR 1020.315(e)(2)-(9). A bank must also take
steps to document compliance with its suspicious activity monitoring
obligations under 31 CFR 1020.315(h)(2). The steps that the bank takes
under 31 CFR 1020.315(e) must be those that a reasonable and prudent
bank would take and document to protect itself from fraud or loss based
on misidentification of a person's status and, in the case of the
suspicious activity monitoring obligations, to identify suspicious
transactions.
31 CFR 1020.315(h)(1) states that the CTR exemption rules do not
relieve a bank of its obligation to report any suspicious transactions
pursuant to 31 CFR 1020.320, including any suspicious transactions or
attempted transactions in currency associated with the accounts of an
exempt person, or relieve a bank of any other reporting or
recordkeeping obligation imposed under the authority of the BSA.
Under 31 CFR 1020.315(h)(2), a bank must establish and maintain a
monitoring system that is reasonably designed to detect, for each
account of a non-listed business or payroll customer, transactions in
currency that would require a bank to file a suspicious activity report
(SAR).
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) \11\
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\11\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
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Title: Transactions of Exempt Person (31 CFR 1020.315), and FinCEN
Report 110--DOEP Report.
OMB Control Number: 1506-0012.
Report Number: FinCEN Report 110--DOEP Report.
Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control
number for the transactions of exempt person regulations and the DOEP
Report.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit institutions, and
non-profit institutions.
[[Page 6966]]
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 ``supplemental annual PRA burden'').
Frequency: As required.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,161 banks.\12\
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\12\ 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, 29 international
banking entities, and 52 international financial entities, all of
which are required to implement written AML programs 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.
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Estimated Number of Responses: 18,141.\13\
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\13\ Based on 2019 filings, FinCEN received 18,141 DOEP Reports.
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Estimated Recordkeeping Burden:
In Part 1 of this notice, FinCEN describes the breakdown of the
estimated number of financial institutions, by type. In Part 2, FinCEN
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 that used in the past, with the incorporation of
a more robust cost estimate. The scope and methodology used in the past
was limited to filling out, filing, and maintaining a copy of the DOEP
Report filed. In Part 3, FinCEN proposes for review and comment a
methodology to estimate a future estimate of a supplemental annual PRA
burden that includes the burden and cost to a bank related to the
regulatory requirements to: (1) Determine the initial eligibility of
exempt persons, document the bank's basis for its conclusion, and
document compliance with, inter alia, the operating rules set out in
1020.315(e); (2) conduct an annual review to determine whether certain
exempt persons remain eligible for the CTR exemption, and consistent
with that review, to maintain a monitoring system to identify
suspicious transactions associated with the accounts of non-listed
business and payroll customers; and (3) establish and maintain a
monitoring system reasonably designed to monitor currency transactions
and report suspicious transactions pursuant to the bank's general
obligation to report any suspicious transactions.\14\ Finally, in Part
4, FinCEN solicits input from the public about: (1) The accuracy of the
estimate of the traditional annual PRA burden; (2) the method proposed
for the calculation of the future supplemental annual PRA burden; (3)
the criteria, metrics, and most appropriate questions FinCEN should
consider when researching the information to estimate the future
traditional and supplemental annual PRA burden, according to the
methodology proposed; and (4) any other comments about the regulations
and the current and proposed future hourly burden and cost estimates of
these requirements.
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\14\ The burden associated with the CTR obligations is
calculated under OMB control number 1506-0064. The burden associated
with the SAR obligations is calculated under OMB Control Number
1506-0065.
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Part 1--Breakdown of the Financial Institutions Covered by This Notice
Banks are the only financial institutions covered by this notice.
FinCEN estimates there are 11,161 banks.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ See supra note 10.
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Part 2--Traditional Annual PRA Burden And Cost
The scope of the traditional annual PRA burden was limited to the
annual burden of filling out, filing, and maintaining a record of the
initial filed DOEP Report.
FinCEN continues to estimate the annual hourly burden of the
designation of exempt persons as one hour per form. This estimate
covers the burden of: (1) 45 minutes to fill out and file the report;
and (2) 15 minutes to save the report electronically and print out a
copy to keep in hard-copy files. FinCEN believes that the information
required to be included on the DOEP Report is basic information that
banks need to maintain to conduct business. The e-filing system prompts
banks to save the report after submission.
FinCEN's estimate of the traditional annual PRA burden, therefore,
is 18,141 hours, as detailed in Table 1 below:
Table 1--Burden Associated With Completion and Maintenance of the Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time per form Total burden hours per step
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of DOEP Completion Grand total
Type of financial institution reports filed (filling out Maintenance Completion burden hours
in 2019 and filing) (minutes) (filling out Maintenance
(minutes) and filing)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks 18,141 45 15 13,605.75 4,535.25 18,141 \16\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To calculate the hourly costs of the burden estimate, FinCEN
identified three roles and corresponding staff positions involved in
filling out, reviewing, filing, and maintaining a copy of the report:
(1) General supervision (providing process oversight); (2) direct
supervision (reviewing operational-level work, and cross-checking all
or a sample of the work product against supporting documentation); and
(3) clerical work (engaging in research and administrative review,
completing the DOEP Report, and recordkeeping).
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\16\ In the past PRA burden analysis, FinCEN estimated that the
traditional burden to complete and file the DOEP Report for banks
was 1 hour (45 minutes for completion of the form and 15 minutes for
recordkeeping). (18,141 x .75 minutes = 13,605.75 burden hours for
completion of the report) + (18,141 x .25 minutes = 4,535.25 burden
hours for maintenance). The total hourly burden is 18,141 hours
(13,605.75 + 4,535.25). Going forward this estimate will be
different because it will account for the initial eligibility
determination, filling out and filing the report, annual review,
maintenance of records, maintenance of the monitoring system, and
monitoring accounts to report suspicious transactions.
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FinCEN calculated the fully-loaded hourly wage for each of these
three roles by using the median wage estimated by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics
[[Page 6967]]
(BLS),\17\ and computing an additional benefits cost as follows:
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\17\ 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 2--Fully-Loaded Hourly Wage by Role and BLS Job Position for All Banks Covered by This Notice
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Median hourly Fully-loaded
Role BLS-code BLS-name wage Benefit factor hourly wage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General supervision............. 11-3031 Financial Manager.. $62.45 1.50 $93.68
Direct supervision.............. 13-1041 Compliance Officer. 33.20 1.50 49.80
Clerical work (research, review, 43-3099 Financial Clerk.... 20.40 1.50 30.60
and recordkeeping).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FinCEN estimates that, in general and on average,\18\ each role
would spend different amounts of time on each portion of the
traditional annual PRA burden, as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For initial filing, the cost of each hour of burden would be one
burden hour at $48.00 representing the actual completion and filing of
the report broken down by each role as shown in Table 3 below:
Table 3--Weighted Average Hourly Cost of Completion of the DOEP Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General supervision Direct supervision Clerical work
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average
% Time Hourly cost % Time Hourly cost % Time Hourly cost hourly cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 $9.37 30 $14.94 60 $18.36 $43.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$42.67 rounded to $43.00.
The total estimated cost of the traditional annual PRA burden is
$780,063, as reflected in Table 4 below:
Table 4--Total Cost of Traditional Annual PRA Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steps Hourly Burden Hourly Cost Total Cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report completion (divided between the 13,605.75 \19\............ $43.00 \20\ $585,047.25
roles listed in Table 3).
Maintenance/recordkeeping............... 4,535.25.................. $43.00 $195,015.75
Total cost.......................... .......................... .............. $780,063
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 3--Supplemental Annual PRA Burden
In the future, FinCEN intends to add a supplemental annual PRA
burden calculation that will include the estimated hourly burden and
cost to: (1) Determine the initial eligibility of exempt persons,
document the basis for the consideration, and document compliance with
the DOEP reporting requirements; (2) conduct an annual review to
determine whether certain exempt persons remain eligible for the CTR
exemption, and, consistent with that review, to maintain a monitoring
system to identify suspicious transactions associated with the accounts
of non-listed business and payroll customers; and (3) identify
suspicious transactions associated with accounts of non-listed business
and payroll customers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ Table 1.
\20\ Table 3.
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(a) Amended and Revoked Filings
FinCEN assesses that the information required to be included on the
DOEP Report is basic information banks need to maintain to conduct
business. In addition, FinCEN's electronic filing (e-filing) system
allows banks to open a filed electronic DOEP Report that is pre-
populated with the information from the prior filing. Banks can amend
the status of an exempt person (including de facto revoking that
status) by selecting Item 1.b (Amend) of the DOEP Report, and
submitting the revised report electronically. The e-filing system
prompts banks to save the report after submission.
(b) Annual Review
As noted in Section I above, for all identified and reported
designation of exempt persons, banks are required to establish and
maintain a monitoring system designed to annually review the
eligibility of a listed entity, a subsidiary of a listed entity, a non-
listed business customer, or a payroll customer to determine whether
they remain eligible for the exemption from the banks' requirement to
report transactions in currency of over $10,000. As part of the annual
review, banks must also review the application of the monitoring
system, required to be maintained under 31 CFR 1020.315(h)(2), to each
existing account of a non-listed business or payroll customer.
[[Page 6968]]
FinCEN does not have the necessary information to provide an
estimate in this notice of the supplemental PRA hourly burden and cost
associated with the annual review of eligibility of exempt persons, the
operating rules set out in 31 CFR 1020.315(e), and the monitoring
system required under 31 CFR 1020.315(h)(2). In addition, FinCEN does
not have all the necessary information to more accurately estimate the
traditional annual PRA burden. 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. FinCEN
intends to conduct more granular studies of the actions included in the
proposed scope of the supplemental annual PRA burden in the near
future, to arrive at more accurate estimates of net BSA hourly burden
and cost.\21\ The data obtained in these studies also may result in a
significant variation of the estimated traditional annual PRA burden.
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\21\ Net hourly burden and cost are the burden and cost a person
(in the case of the DOEP Report, a bank) 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 person.
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 activities a business (or other
person) ordinarily undertakes if the government agency calculating
the burden 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 1 hour (45 minutes to
annually fill out and file the report, and fifteen minutes to maintain
a record of the report).
Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,161,\22\ as set out above.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ Although 11,109 banks were eligible to file DOEP Reports,
only 2,133 banks filed DOEP Reports in 2019 and FinCEN received a
total of 18,141 DOEP Reports. Of the 18,141 DOEP Reports received in
2019, FinCEN received 9,464 initial reports, 4,444 amended reports,
4,223 DOEP revoked reports, and 10 reports not classified as
initial, amended, or revoked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 18,141, as set out above.
Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Burden: The estimated total
annual PRA burden is 18,141 hours, as set out in Table 1.
Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Cost: The estimated total
annual PRA cost is $780,063, as set out in Table 4.
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: (1) FinCEN's assumptions underlying
its burden estimate; (2) the estimated number of hours required by each
portion of the burden; and (3) the organizational roles of the bank
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 Supplemental Annual PRA Hourly Burden and
Cost Estimate
FinCEN invites comments on any aspect of the criteria for a future
estimate of the supplemental 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
Accurately Estimate the Supplemental Annual PRA Hourly Burden and Cost
FinCEN invites comments on the most appropriate and comprehensive
means to question banks about the annual hourly burden and cost
attributable solely to comply with the DOEP reporting requirements
(i.e., the hourly burden and cost of complying with the requirements
imposed exclusively by the BSA, which are not used to satisfy other
regulatory requirements or business purposes of a bank).
The supplemental annual PRA hourly burden and cost estimate of the
recordkeeping and reporting necessary to comply with the transactions
of exempt persons regulations (determination of eligibility,
maintenance of records, annual review, maintenance of monitoring
system, and reporting of suspicious transactions) must take into
consideration only the effort involved in obtaining those data elements
that are used exclusively for complying with requirements under 31 CFR
1020.315. Given the complexity in determining that effort and how to
incorporate it into the estimate, 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.
While FinCEN has information on the number and type of DOEP Reports,
FinCEN is unable to more accurately allocate the estimates among the
number of banks. FinCEN welcomes any suggestions as to how to derive
these estimates by using publicly available financial information.
(d) Specific Questions for Comment Associated With the Transactions of
Exempt Persons Regulations and the DOEP Report:
(1) Determination of Exempt Person
On average, how many accounts does your bank maintain for
which the account holder meets the definition of exempt person?
On average, how many accounts does your bank maintain that
require a determination as to whether the accountholder meets the
definition of exempt person?
On average, how many accounts does your bank maintain for
which the account holder meets the definition of a listed business or
is a subsidiary of a listed business?
On average, how many accounts does your bank maintain for
which the account holders are non-listed businesses or payroll
customers?
On average, how long does the review process take to
determine if an accountholder is eligible for a designation of exempt
person status?
On average, how long does the completion and filing of a
DOEP Report take?
On average, how many employees, officers, or managers are
responsible for determining the eligibility of exempt persons?
Which roles are typically more involved and how long does
each role spend on determining the eligibility of exempt persons?
How many approvals are necessary to determine the
eligibility of exempt persons? To finalize and submit the DOEP Report?
(2) Initial and Amended DOEP Reports
On average, how many initial DOEP Reports does your bank
file on an annual basis?
On average, how long does it take your bank to complete an
initial filing?
On average, how frequently does your bank amend a report?
On average, how long does it take your bank to amend a
report, including
[[Page 6969]]
as a de facto method of revoking an exemption?
On average, how many employees are involved and how many
approvals are necessary to complete an initial or amended filing?
Does your bank have a review and approval process
involving senior management to evaluate the conclusions reached in the
determination for eligibility of an exempt person?
Does your bank have a review and approval process
involving senior management for amending or revoking the eligibility of
an exempt person? On average, how long does the review process take and
how many approvals are necessary?
(3) Annual Review
On average, how often does your bank review the
eligibility of an exempt person?
On average, how many accounts where the accountholder is
an exempt person does your bank review at least annually?
Does your bank maintain a monitoring system to comply with
the DOEP reporting requirements?
Does your bank review the monitoring system at least once
a year?
On average, how long does it take to review the monitoring
system and how many approvals are necessary?
Does your bank maintain records of the annual review?
On average, how long does it take to prepare and maintain
records of the review?
Does your bank have a review and approval process
involving senior management to evaluate the conclusions reached in the
annual review of eligibility?
On average, how long does the annual review process take
and how many approvals are necessary?
(4) Monitoring System
Does your bank maintain a separate monitoring system to
track designation of exempt persons for reasons other than to comply
with the reporting requirements under 31 CFR 1020.315?
Does your bank maintain a separate monitoring system to
identify suspicious activity associated with the accounts of designated
exempt persons?
Does your bank have a review and approval process
involving senior management to evaluate the conclusions reached in the
determination of whether a SAR must be filed for an exempt account? On
average, how long does the review process take and how many approvals
are necessary?
(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: (1) 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; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (4)
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 5) 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. 2021-01451 Filed 1-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P
