Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Real Estate Reports, 89700-89716 [2024-26262]
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Build America Bureau, shall issue guidance
on performance benchmarks, risk premiums,
and expected rates of return on private
financing for projects described in subsection
(b).
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United States Code, Title 23, Section 106(h)
(h) Major Projects.—
(1) In general.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, a recipient of
Federal financial assistance for a project
under this title with an estimated total cost
of $500,000,000 or more, and recipients for
such other projects as may be identified by
the Secretary, shall submit to the Secretary
for each project—
(A) a project management plan; and
(B) an annual financial plan, including a
phasing plan when applicable.
(2) Project management plan.—A project
management plan shall document—
(A) the procedures and processes that are
in effect to provide timely information to the
project decisionmakers to effectively manage
the scope, costs, schedules, and quality of,
and the Federal requirements applicable to,
the project; and
(B) the role of the agency leadership and
management team in the delivery of the
project.
(3) Financial plan.—A financial plan—
(A) shall be based on detailed estimates of
the cost to complete the project;
(B) shall provide for the annual submission
of updates to the Secretary that are based on
reasonable assumptions, as determined by
the Secretary, of future increases in the cost
to complete the project;
(C) may include a phasing plan that
identifies fundable incremental
improvements or phases that will address the
purpose and the need of the project in the
short term in the event there are insufficient
financial resources to complete the entire
project. If a phasing plan is adopted for a
project pursuant to this section, the project
shall be deemed to satisfy the fiscal
constraint requirements in the statewide and
metropolitan planning requirements in
sections 134 and 135;
(D) for a project in which the project
sponsor intends to carry out the project
through a public-private partnership
agreement, shall include a detailed value for
money analysis or similar comparative
analysis for the project; and
(E) shall assess the appropriateness of a
public-private partnership to deliver the
project.
United States Code, Title 49, Section 116(e)
(e) Innovative Financing Best Practices.—
(1) In general.—The Bureau shall work
with the modal administrations within the
Department, eligible entities, and other
public and private interests to develop and
promote best practices for innovative
financing and public-private partnerships.
(2) Activities.—The Bureau shall carry out
paragraph (1)—
(A) by making Federal credit assistance
programs more accessible to eligible
recipients;
(B) by providing advice and expertise to
eligible entities that seek to leverage public
and private funding;
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(C) by sharing innovative financing best
practices and case studies from eligible
entities with other eligible entities that are
interested in utilizing innovative financing
methods; and
(D) by developing and monitoring—
(i) best practices with respect to
standardized State public-private partnership
authorities and practices, including best
practices related to—
(I) accurate and reliable assumptions for
analyzing public-private partnership
procurements;
(II) procedures for the handling of
unsolicited bids;
(III) policies with respect to noncompete
clauses; and
(IV) other significant terms of publicprivate partnership procurements, as
determined appropriate by the Bureau;
(ii) standard contracts for the most
common types of public-private partnerships
for transportation facilities; and
(iii) analytical tools and other techniques
to aid eligible entities in determining the
appropriate project delivery model, including
a value for money analysis.
(3) Transparency.—The Bureau shall—
(A) ensure the transparency of a project
receiving credit assistance under a program
referred to in subsection (d)(1) and procured
as a public-private partnership by—
(i) requiring the sponsor of the project to
undergo a value for money analysis or a
comparable analysis prior to deciding to
advance the project as a public-private
partnership;
(ii) requiring the analysis required under
subparagraph (A), and other key terms of the
relevant public-private partnership
agreement, to be made publicly available by
the project sponsor at an appropriate time;
(iii) not later than 3 years after the date of
completion of the project, requiring the
sponsor of the project to conduct a review
regarding whether the private partner is
meeting the terms of the relevant publicprivate partnership agreement; and
(iv) providing a publicly available
summary of the total level of Federal
assistance in such project; and
(B) develop guidance to implement this
paragraph that takes into consideration
variations in State and local laws and
requirements related to public-private
partnerships.
(4) Support to project sponsors.—At the
request of an eligible entity, the Bureau shall
provide technical assistance to the eligible
entity regarding proposed public-private
partnership agreements for transportation
facilities, including assistance in performing
a value for money analysis or comparable
analysis.
Duane Callender,
Acting Executive Director, Build America
Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2024–26210 Filed 11–12–24; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
RIN 1506–AB54
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Real Estate
Reports
Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network (FinCEN), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
FinCEN invites all interested
parties to comment on the proposed
information collection associated with
the requirement to report information
about certain residential real estate
transfers, as required by the Anti-Money
Laundering Regulations for Residential
Real Estate Transfers final rule
published on August 29, 2024. The
details included in the information
collection are listed below. This request
for comment is made pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments are welcome
and must be received on or before
January 13, 2025.
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–2024–
0019 and the specific Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) control
number 1506–0080.
• Mail: Policy Division, Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, P.O. Box
39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket
Number FINCEN–2024–0019 and OMB
control number 1506–0080.
Please submit comments by one
method only. Comments will be
reviewed consistent with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and
applicable OMB regulations and
guidance. 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:
FinCEN’s Regulatory Support Section at
1–800–767–2825 or electronically at
frc@fincen.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions
The legislative framework generally
referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act
(BSA) consists of the Currency and
Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of
1970, as amended by the Uniting and
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Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001
(USA PATRIOT Act) 1 and other
legislation, including the Anti-Money
Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).2
The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b,
1951–1960 and 31 U.S.C. 5311–5314,
5316–5336, including notes thereto,
with implementing regulations at 31
CFR chapter X.
The BSA authorizes the Secretary of
the Treasury (Secretary) to, inter alia,
require financial institutions to keep
records and file reports that are
determined to have a high degree of
usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory
matters, risk assessments or
proceedings, or in the conduct of
intelligence or counter-intelligence
activities to protect against terrorism,
and to implement anti-money
laundering/countering the financing of
terrorism (AML/CFT) programs and
compliance procedures.3 The authority
of the Secretary to administer the BSA
has been delegated to the Director of
FinCEN.4
Among the financial institutions
subject to these requirements are
‘‘persons involved in real estate closings
and settlements.’’ 5 In particular, section
5318(g) of the BSA authorizes the
Secretary to require financial
institutions to report, via Suspicious
Activity Reports (SARs), any
‘‘suspicious transactions relevant to a
possible violation of law or
regulation.’’ 6 However, the BSA affords
the Secretary flexibility in
implementing that requirement, and
indeed directs the Secretary to consider
‘‘the means by or form in which the
Secretary shall receive such reporting,’’
including the relevant ‘‘burdens
imposed by such means or form of
reporting,’’ ‘‘the efficiency of the means
or form,’’ and the ‘‘benefits derived by
the means or form of reporting.’’ 7 A
provision added to the BSA by section
6202 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act
of 2020 (AML Act) further directs
FinCEN to ‘‘establish streamlined . . .
1 USA PATRIOT Act, Public Law 107–56, 115
Stat. 272 (2001).
2 The AML Act was enacted as Division F,
sections 6001–6511, of the William M. (Mac)
Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116–283, 134 Stat.
3388.
3 See 31 U.S.C. 5311.
4 Treasury Order 180–01 (Jan. 14, 2020); see also
31 U.S.C. 310(b)(2)(I) (providing that FinCEN
Director ‘‘[a]dminister the requirements of
subchapter II of chapter 53 of this title, chapter 2
of title I of Public Law 91–508, and section 21 of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, to the extent
delegated such authority by the Secretary.’’).
5 See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(U).
6 See 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(1)(A).
7 See 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(5)(B)(i)–(iii).
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processes to, as appropriate, permit the
filing of noncomplex categories of
reports of suspicious activity.’’ In
assessing whether streamlined filing is
appropriate, FinCEN must determine,
among other things, that such reports
would ‘‘reduce burdens imposed on
persons required to report[,]’’ while at
the same time ‘‘not diminish[ing] the
usefulness of the reporting to Federal
law enforcement agencies, national
security officials, and the intelligence
community in combating financial
crime, including the financing of
terrorism[.]’’ 8
On August 29, 2024, FinCEN issued a
final rule, ‘‘Anti-Money Laundering
Regulations for Residential Real Estate
Transfers,’’ hereafter referred to as the
Residential Real Estate Rule (RRE
Rule).9 The RRE Rule requires certain
persons involved in real estate closings
and settlements (reporting persons) to
submit reports to FinCEN and keep
records on certain non-financed
transfers of residential real property to
specified legal entities and trusts on a
nationwide basis. The reports are
expected to curtail the ability of illicit
actors to launder illicit proceeds
anonymously through transfers of
residential real property, which
threatens U.S. economic and national
security. More broadly, the reports are
expected to assist the U.S. Department
of the Treasury (Treasury), law
enforcement, and national security
agencies in addressing illicit finance
vulnerabilities in the U.S. residential
real estate sector. The rule describes the
circumstances in which a report must be
filed, who must file a report, what
information must be provided, and
when a report is due.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 10
FinCEN conducted certain
supplemental analyses, which are
discussed below, to estimate the
incremental Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA) burden 11 attributable to the
specifics of the proposed information
collection associated with the RRE Rule,
particularly those relating to the Real
Estate Report (RER), including both the
proposed data fields of the RER and the
mechanism by which a RER would be
submitted to FinCEN. Public comments
8 See AML Act, section 6202 (codified at 31
U.S.C. 5318(g)(D)(i)(1)).
9 FinCEN, Final Rule, ‘‘Anti-Money Laundering
Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers,’’
89 FR 70258 (Aug. 29, 2024).
10 Public Law 104–13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
11 This is intended to include the ‘‘time, effort, or
financial resources expended to generate, [. . .] or
disclose or provide information to’’ FinCEN as
required by the PRA. See Carey and Ortiz, ‘‘The
Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections
of Information: A Brief Overview’’ (Apr. 17, 2024).
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on this analysis, including relevant,
readily generalizable data that would
improve the accuracy of FinCEN’s
estimates, are invited.
Title: Real Estate Reports.
OMB Control Number: 1506–0080.
Type of Collection: Revision.
Description: The RRE Rule imposes a
new reporting and recordkeeping
requirement on certain persons involved
in real estate closings and settlements,
or reporting persons, when they perform
certain functions in relation to nonfinanced transfers of residential real
property to a specified legal entity or a
trust. The reports are to be filed
electronically through an online
interface using the same free system that
other financial institutions required to
file BSA reports use for purposes other
than in connection with real estate
transactions.12 For some reporting
persons, this system will already be
familiar and ready for use as it is also
the same filing system for submitting
reports under geographic targeting
orders relating to non-financed transfers
of residential real estate (Residential
Real Estate GTOs). Reporting persons
who do not already use FinCEN’s BSA
E-filing system will first need to enroll.
The enrollment process for FinCEN’s
BSA E-Filing System entails identifying
the reporting person and assigning a
designated Supervisory User.13 The
Supervisory User is an individual who
will facilitate the process of creating
general user accounts for the reporting
person’s other employees, if any, that
may file RERs; the Supervisory User has
access to system functionality not
available to regular users, such as ability
to update filing organization
information and track the status of
filings submitted by all users from
across the organization. To file RERs
through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System,
individual users will be required to
create a login.gov account (if they have
not already done so for other
purposes).14 Once the enrollment
process has been completed, the BSA EFiling System will provide three
different filing options for RERs. Filers
12 Other BSA reports include, for example,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Reports of
Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs). See
FinCEN, BSA E-Filing System, ‘‘Supported Forms’’,
available at https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/
SupportedForms.html.
13 If the enrolling party intends to be the sole user
of the access being set up, there is no distinction
between the person named as Supervisory User and
the general user, and there would be only one
account.
14 Login.gov is available at https://www.login.gov/
. To create a Login.gov account, users will be
required to provide an email address and a form of
identification. BSA E-filing is available at https://
bsaefiling.fincen.treas.
gov.
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will file individual reports either
through an online form or as a PDF
form, or filers may file multiple reports
through a user-developed automated
interface.
The proposed RER contains 111
distinct fields, of which, FinCEN
expects approximately 60 percent must
be completed to report a given transfer
per the requirements specified in the
RRE rule.15 The form may require as few
as approximately 40 fields to be
completed, and FinCEN anticipates that
significantly more fields may be
required for certain highly complex
reportable transfers, such as those with
multiple beneficial owners or multiple
sources of funds that would require the
same fields to be populated for each
owner or source of funds.
The effective date of the RRE Rule is
December 1, 2025. As set forth in the
rule, the RER must contain information
about the person filing the report (the
‘‘reporting person’’), the legal entity (the
‘‘transferee entity’’) or trust (the
‘‘transferee trust’’) receiving ownership
of the property, the beneficial owners of
the transferee entity or transferee trust,
certain individuals signing documents
on behalf of the transferee entity or
transferee trust, the transferor (e.g., the
seller), the property being transferred,
and any payments made.16 The
reporting person may reasonably rely on
information obtained from others,
absent knowledge of facts that would
reasonably call into question the
reliability of that information. For
purposes of reporting beneficial
ownership information in particular, a
reporting person may reasonably rely on
information obtained from a transferee
or the transferee’s representative if the
accuracy of the information is certified
in writing to the best of the information
provider’s own knowledge. The
collected information will be
maintained by FinCEN and made
accessible to authorized users.
Report: Real Estate Report.
Affected Public: Residential Real
Estate Settlement Agents, Title
Insurance Carriers, Escrow Service
Providers, Attorneys and Offices of
15 Because the requirement for certain fields to be
populated is unique to the facts and circumstances
of a given transfer, not all 111 original fields are
relevant to each potential reportable transfer.
However, due to the possibility that in some
transfers, a single individual may perform more
than one role, some fields might need to be
completed more than once for the same individual,
causing the number of fields completed in practice
to exceed the percent of fields required to be
completed for a given RER.
16 See FinCEN, Final Rule, ‘‘Anti-Money
Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate
Transfers,’’ 89 FR 70258 (Aug. 29, 2024). See also
Appendix.
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Attorneys, and Other Real Estate
Professionals.
A. Respondent-Based Incremental
Reporting Burdens
Estimated Number of Respondents:
One per reportable transaction.
As explained in the RRE Rule, the
reporting person for any transfer is one
of a number of persons who perform
specified roles in a given real estate
closing and settlement, with the specific
reporting person determined through a
cascading approach, unless superseded
by a designation agreement among
persons in the reporting cascade.17 The
reporting cascade is ordered by function
performed or service provided, rather
than by the defined primary
occupations (i.e., job titles such as real
estate agent) or categories of service
providers (e.g., real estate lawyers),
because the role of the reporting person
provides more clarity about their
placement in the reporting cascade
rather than a job title or occupational
category or similar attribute originally
intended for census purposes.
To estimate the total number of
respondents in the RRE Rule, FinCEN
grouped potential reporting persons by
features of their primary occupation and
treated them as functionally distinct
members of the cascade.18 In the final
rule, FinCEN estimated that there may
be up to approximately 172,753
reporting persons and 642,508
employees of those persons.19 While
FinCEN continues to treat these
estimates as an expected upper bound
on the number of persons who could
incur the reporting burden estimated in
17 The reporting cascade consists of a list of seven
different functions that a real estate professional
may perform in a transfer of residential real
property, with the reporting obligation for any such
transfer applying to the professional that performed
a function that appears highest on the list. For
example, the first function on the list is the
professional listed as the agent on the closing or
settlement statement. If no such professional is
involved in the transfer, then the reporting
obligation applies to any professional that
performed the second function on the list (i.e., the
professional that prepared the closing or settlement
statement), and so on down the list. See FinCEN,
Final Rule, ‘‘Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
for Residential Real Estate Transfers,’’ 89 FR 70258,
70290–70291 (Aug. 29, 2024).
18 Analysis of Residential Real Estate GTO filings
to date illustrates certain potential limitations of
this approach because it demonstrates that covered
businesses under the GTO requirements (which are
limited to title insurance agents), may function in
a role other than their self-identified primary
occupation. To illustrate, FinCEN notes that of the
approximately 2,400 identifiably unique filers who
submitted at least one Residential Real Estate GTO
report through August 2024, approximately 38.4
percent self-identified as either primarily employed
as an attorney or the employee of a law office.
19 See FinCEN, Final Rule, ‘‘Anti-Money
Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate
Transfers,’’ 89 FR 70258, 70283 (Aug. 29, 2024).
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this notice, it is likely that the number
of reporting persons and affected
employees that would in practice incur
the full incremental burden estimated in
this notice would be much lower. In its
experience with the more limited
Residential Real Estate GTOs, FinCEN
data suggests that most reporting has
been performed by a concentrated
subset of the total population of
potential reporting entities and that few
identifiably unique individual
employees per reporting person are
associated with the reports filed.20 For
example, from the date of the first
effective Residential Real Estate GTOs
in March 2016 through the end of
August 2024, FinCEN estimates that
approximately 64 percent of all reports
filed 21 were submitted by the five
largest title companies 22 and an
additional 8 percent, approximately,
were filed by the remaining 15 of the 20
largest title companies.23 The residual
share of total reports filed were
submitted by either smaller title
companies or law offices, with an
average filing volume of 16 GTO reports
filed per remaining filer and an average
of one identifiably distinct employee
filer per reporting year per reporting
entity. Consequently, a number of the
incremental burden estimates presented
below have been calculated over a
smaller subpopulation of the total
number of respondents as estimated in
the RRE Rule.
Estimated Burden per Respondent: 50
minutes. 24
20 See 31 U.S.C. 5326; 31 CFR 1010.370; Treasury
Order 180–01 (Jan. 14, 2020), available at https://
home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/
orders-and-directives/treasury-order-180-01. In
general, a GTO is an order administered by FinCEN
which, for a finite period of time, imposes
additional recordkeeping or reporting requirements
on domestic financial institutions or other
businesses in a given geographic area, based on a
finding that the additional requirements are
necessary to carry out the purposes of, or to prevent
evasion of, the BSA. The statutory maximum
duration of a GTO is 180 days unless further
renewed. Since 2016, the Residential Real Estate
GTOs have required certain title insurance
companies to file reports and maintain records
concerning non-financed purchases of residential
real estate above a specific price threshold by
certain legal entities in select metropolitan areas of
the United States.
21 This includes both reports filed on Form 8300,
which were originally required for reports filed by
the Residential Real Estate GTOss, and on a
Currency Transaction Report (CTR), which has been
the required form for the GTOs since April 13,
2018. FinCEN has included GTO reports incorrectly
filed using Form 8300 after April 13, 2018, in its
analysis because they conceptually represent
reporting activity undertaken regarding real estate
transfers of interest.
22 As measured by market share at the end of
calendar year 2022.
23 Id.
24 FinCEN bases this estimate on an expected
average training time cost of 30 minutes for one
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FinCEN continues to acknowledge
that some costs related to the proposed
information collection may be
independent of a potential respondent
ever submitting an RER. These may be
expected to include certain training and
reporting mechanism-specific
technology costs.
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Training Costs
As in the regulatory impact analyses
(RIAs) in both the February 2024 notice
of proposed rulemaking (RRE NPRM)
and the RRE Rule, FinCEN continues to
expect that all potential reporting
persons and at least some proportion of
their respective employees, as a proper
superset of all actual reporting persons,
are likely to engage in some measure of
preparatory training in advance of any
instance in which a non-designatable
reporting requirement is realized.25
Unlike the RRE NPRM and RRE Rule
however, FinCEN has considered it
appropriate to include an incremental
estimate of training costs as part of the
PRA burden in this 60-day Notice. This
is because training in how to complete
and submit the RER itself represents an
expenditure of resources without which
it would not be possible to ‘‘disclose or
provide information to’’ 26 FinCEN
because the RER filing will be the only
mechanism by which a reporting person
may inform FinCEN of a reportable
transfer.
The training burden contemplated in
this notice is therefore intended to
include an estimate of only the average
expected reporting person’s necessary
training specific to the completion of
the RER in the format proposed, using
the submission process anticipated to be
adopted by such persons and their
employees. It is intended to capture
aspects of training distinct from, and
complementary to, the broader training
necessary to ensure adequate familiarity
with the RRE Rule generally and a
reporting person’s compliance policies
and procedures specifically.27
natural person per year and a one-time technology
time cost of 1 hour, or 20 minutes per year for three
years. FinCEN intends to request comment on filers’
realized technology costs and is prepared to further
refine this estimate upon renewal of the OMB
control number.
25 See FinCEN, NPRM, ‘‘Anti-Money Laundering
Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers,’’
89 FR 12424 (Feb. 16, 2024), and FinCEN, Final
Rule, ‘‘Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for
Residential Real Estate Transfers,’’ 89 FR 70258
(Aug. 29, 2024).
26 See supra note 11.
27 As discussed in Section VI.A.4.a.i. of the RRE
Rule, where the training burden was intended to
capture ‘‘the costs of preparing informational
material and training personnel about the proposed
rule generally as well as certain firm-specific
policies and procedures related to reporting,
complying, and documenting compliance.’’
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In two rounds of FinCEN’s internal
tests of user experience with the RER,
participants with self-reported prior
familiarity with the RRE Rule ranging
from none to moderate were provided
with 10 to 20 minutes of training and
instruction on how to complete a RER
before being provided with sample
scenarios of varying complexity, which
were then used to populate a simulated
version of the report. Participants’
responses to a post-exercise survey
reported that, conditional on adequate
familiarity with the rule, 78.9 percent
found the training time they were
provided to be adequate, while 21.1
percent signaled that more training time
would be needed, expressing a belief
that a mean training time including 22
additional minutes would be necessary.
Participants who reported that more
training time than they received would
be helpful did not perform meaningfully
differently from participants who
reported a belief that the training time
they received was adequate. While
participants who recommended longer
training scored an average of 3.2
percentage points lower than other
participants, this difference could not be
determined to be statistically
significant.
FinCEN took into consideration the
results of its internal testing as well as
certain comments received in response
to the RRE NPRM that FinCEN’s
estimates of training time needs were
insufficient.28 FinCEN continues to
believe that these comments may have
intended to include both form-specific
and form-independent training and that
its expectation that an average of 30
minutes per trained employee is
necessary for report-specific training is
consistent with both the results of its
testing and public comments received.
Technology Costs
FinCEN recognizes that potential
reporting persons may need or opt to
incur certain technology related
expenditures to facilitate their filing
activity, and that these costs may vary
by the format and filing mechanism
choices of the individual business. As in
the RRE NPRM and the RRE Rule,
FinCEN continues to anticipate that
most reporting persons will make use of
the online form and PDF form options.
FinCEN is continuing to not assign an
incremental cost for use of technology
that is already incorporated into the
ordinary business operations of
potential respondents. However,
28 One commenter suggested FinCEN estimates
should be increased by 45 minutes, another by 75
minutes, and a third suggested the training burden
should be estimated at one hour per report filed (or
850,000 hours annually).
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FinCEN is assigning a non-recurring
time cost of one hour per respondent
associated with setting up access and
accounts in the BSA E-Filing System.29
FinCEN is not including additional
cost estimates at this time associated
with adopting new technologies that
would facilitate batch-filing because
while Residential Real Estate GTO filers
have had the option to file reports in
batch format since 2018,30 FinCEN has
not yet received any reportable real
estate transaction filings in batch
format.31 FinCEN acknowledges that
this may underestimate costs which,
because of the difference in scale and
scope of the reporting requirements
under the RRE Rule from those under
the Residential Real Estate GTOs,
certain reporting persons may now find
it more cost effective to invest in
technological updates that would
facilitate batch filing. To the extent that
this may be the case, FinCEN is
soliciting public comment, including
information on the expected per
business costs and the anticipated
benefits of these technological
investments.
B. Response-Based Incremental
Reporting Burdens
Estimated Number of Responses:
850,000 per year.32
As described in the RRE Rule, because
the specific conditions under which a
person in the reporting cascade becomes
the reporting person for a reportable
transfer and would consequently file the
RER may depend on factors unique to
the specific reportable transaction,
FinCEN considers it more appropriate to
assign the remainder of the estimated
incremental burden associated with the
proposed information collection on a
29 For entities that have already set up access in
the course of Residential Real Estate GTO reporting
compliance, this burden can be alternatively
interpreted as a 20 minute per year burden, over
three years, associated with maintaining accounts.
In FinCEN’s review of Residential Real Estate GTO
filings, it appears that while certain filers have
submitted reports in each of the past nine years, the
individual user(s) submitting the filing does not
remain the same for more than one or two years at
a time.
30 While it has been possible to batch file CTRs
since May 18, 2017 (see FinCEN Currency
Transaction Report (CTR) Electronic Filing
Requirements (treas.gov)), Residential Real Estate
GTOs originally required reports to be submitted
using Form 8300 (see note 20), which did not have
a batch-filing option until March 2019 (see
XMLUserGuide_FinCEN8300.pdf (treas.gov)). This
analysis therefore treats 2018 as the earliest year in
which Residential Real Estate GTO filers would
have been able to submit batch filings.
31 Data analyzed covers the period January 1,
2016, through August 31, 2024, and includes both
Form 8300 and CTR GTO filings.
32 See FinCEN, Final Rule, ‘‘Anti-Money
Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate
Transfers,’’ 89 FR 70258, 70277 (Aug. 29, 2024).
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
per response basis rather than on a per
respondent basis.
Frequency of Response: Once per
reportable transfer.33
Estimated Incremental Time per
Response: 15 minutes, or 0.25 hours.
In the RRE NPRM and the RRE Rule,
FinCEN estimated that the reporting
person would need an average of 2
hours per reportable transfer to collect
and review transferee and transferspecific reportable information and
related documents, and an average of 30
minutes in additional time to complete
and submit a RER. In providing this
notice in connection with the proposed
RER, FinCEN considered whether any
elements of the specific format of the
proposed RER and the proposed
available variations in format and filing
mechanisms might reasonably be
expected to increase the previously
estimated reporting burden. Similarly,
FinCEN conducted internal testing that
simulated the use of the proposed report
to assess whether time in excess of the
originally budgeted 30 minutes to file a
report might be systematically necessary
to represent the expected average
completion and review needed to
submit a RER.
Based on its two rounds of internal
testing, FinCEN observed that the
originally budgeted 30 minutes was
generally sufficient insofar as the
participants’ self-reported time used to
complete a RER for a transfer of lowcomplexity 34 was approximately 27
minutes on average. However, the
average error rate in low-complexity
responses was approximately 10
percent. Additionally, the average selfreported time needed to complete a
high-complexity RER was 9 minutes
longer than for a low-complexity RER
and the average error rate was
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33 While FinCEN anticipates that some reported
transfers may subsequently require amendment or
revision, it is not inclined to speculate at this time
on the potential future rate of refiling. Additionally,
because FinCEN is revising its estimated time
burden associated with RER completion in this
notice to account for time reporting persons may
need to review and revise reports before
submission, this should correspond to a reduced
need for additional filings per reportable transfer.
FinCEN intends to review the inflow of filings to
assess the realized volume of amendment filings
and is prepared to further refine this estimate upon
renewal of the OMB control-number.
34 In FinCEN’s internal testing, complexity
represents the number of informational units that
the study-participant would be required to report in
the fields of the simulated RER.
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approximately 6 percentage points
higher. While there are certain
limitations to the generalizability of
FinCEN’s internal testing, the results
suggest that to incorporate sufficient
time for reporting persons to review
completed RERs for accuracy before
submission and to account for the
additional fields that must be completed
and reviewed for transfers of higher
complexity, the originally budgeted 30
minutes may be insufficient. FinCEN is
revising its estimated time upward by
15 minutes, on average, per response to
account for the time needed for
variation in transfer complexity and the
review of completed RERs.
C. Total Incremental Reporting Burden
Estimates
Estimated Total Incremental
Reporting Burden Hours: 356,461
hours.35
Estimated Reporting Burden Hours in
the RRE Rule: In the RRE Rule, FinCEN
estimated that up to a maximum
number of four non-reporting persons
could be expected to incur a 15-minute
reporting burden and that the reporting
person who files a Real Estate Report
that is also a party to a designation
agreement would incur a three-hour
reporting burden. In total, FinCEN
estimated a PRA reporting and
recordkeeping burden of 4,604,167
hours annually.
Revised Estimate of Total Burden
Hours: The supplemental burden hour
estimated in this notice is 50 minutes
per potential respondent and 15
minutes per response per year, or
approximately 356,461 hours in total,
which would increase the total PRA
burden associated with Anti-Money
Laundering Regulations for Residential
Real Estate Transfers under OMB
control number 1506–0080 by
approximately 7.7 percent from
4,604,167 to 4,960,628 hours.
Estimated Total Incremental
Reporting Cost: $45,324,233.33.36
35 This estimate includes an expected respondentbased incremental burden of 0.83 hours per
potential reporting person (172,753) and a responsebased incremental burden of 0.25 hours per
response (850,000). The total is rounded to the
nearest whole hour.
36 This estimate includes an expected respondentbased incremental burden of $12,709,733.33 and a
response-based incremental burden of
$32,614,500.00 (using the same conservative
assumptions as in the RRE Rule PRA).
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Estimated Reporting Cost in the RRE
Rule: Based on the range of expected
reportable transfers and the wages
associated with different persons in the
potential reporting cascade in the RRE
Rule, FinCEN anticipated that the rule’s
reporting costs may be between
approximately $174.6 million and
$466.5 million. In total, FinCEN
estimated a PRA reporting and
recordkeeping burden of up to
approximately $630,976,662.47.
Revised Estimate of Total Burden
Cost: The supplemental reporting cost
estimated in this notice is
$45,324,233.33, which would increase
the total PRA burden associated with
Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for
Residential Real Estate Transfers under
OMB control number 1506–0080 by
approximately 7.2 percent from
$630,976,662.47 to $676,300,895.80.
Request for Comments
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a valid OMB control
number. Comments submitted in
response to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record.
Comments are invited on: (a) whether
the collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
collection of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; (d)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of technology; and (e) estimates of
capital or start-up costs and costs of
operation, maintenance, and purchase
of services required to provide
information.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
Andrea M. Gacki,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network.
Appendix—Real Estate Report
Summary of Data Fields
BILLING CODE 4810–02–P
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89705
NOTE:
Fields with an asterisk(*) symbol are required by default (i.e., in the report's initial state, fields with an
asterisk symbol must contain an entry); however, field requirements may change based on certain data
entry conditions (as noted in italic text throughout this document). Data entry conditions may also result
in fields becoming non-required or disabled/not applicable. That fields are not labeled with an asterisk
does not imply that they are optional; rather, all fields must contain a valid entity if the data is available
(unless otherwise directed by FinCEN).
Filing Information
1. *Type of filing (select one)
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a. Initial report
b. Correct/Amend prior report
i. BSA Identifier (BSA ID) of/associated with the prior report
(If Correct/Amend prior report is selected, the BSA ID assigned to the previously
filed report must be entered; otherwise, must be blank.)
c. FinCEN directed back-filing
(Select only ifFinCEN directs the reporting person to file the report for a reportable
transfer that was not previously reported.)
2. *Date prepared
(This is the date on which the report preparation is complete and it is ready for submission to
FinCEN)
3. Note to FinCEN
(Must be blank unless otherwise directed by FinCEN)
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
Part I. Reporting Person Information
The report must include information about the reporting person as determined according to 31 CFR
1031.320(c). Only one reporting person may be recorded.
4. *Reporting Person category (select one)
a. Person listed as closing or settlement agent on the closing or settlement statement for the
transfer
b. Person that prepares the closing or settlement statement for the transfer
c. Person that files with the recordation office the deed or other instrument that transfers
ownership of the residential real property
d. Person that underwrites an owner's title insurance policy for the transferee with respect to
the transferred residential real property
e. Person that disburses in any form the greatest amount of funds in connection with the
residential real property transfer
f. Person that provides an evaluation of the status of the title
g. Person that prepares the deed or any other legal instrument that transfers ownership of the
residential real property
5. *Reporting person's last name if an individual or legal name if an entity
6. Entity (checkbox indicator)
(Select if the reporting person is an entity; as a result, first/middle/suffix name must be blank.)
7. *First name
8. Middle name
9.
Suffix
10. *Street address - number, street, and apt. or suite no.
(Enter the reporting persons principal place ofbusiness in the United States.)
11. *City
12. *U.S. or U.S. Territory
13. *State or U.S. Territory
(If a US. Territory is selected in prior field, the same US. Territory will auto-populate in this
field.)
14. *ZIP code
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15. *Date of closing
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89707
Part II. Property Information
The report must include information about the property involved in the reportable transfer. Multiple
properties may be recorded, in which case Part IT of the report will repeat for each property.
16. *Street address - number, street, and apt. or suite no.
a.
No street address (checkbox indicator)
(Select if there is no street address for this property; as a result, only this field will be
blank for the property address.)
17. *City
18. *U.S. or U.S. Territory
19. *State or U.S. Territory
(If a U.S. Territory is selected in prior field, the same U.S. Territory will auto-populate in this
field.)
20. *ZIP code
21. *Legal description type (select one)
a. Lot and block
b. Subdivision
c. Government rectangular survey system
d. Metes and bounds
e. Other I Description
(If "Other" is selected, the type must be described.)
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22. *Legal description
(Enter the legal description of the property verbatim from the relevant deed.)
89708
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
Part III. Transferee Information
The report must include information about the transferee entity and/or trust involved. Multiple transferees
may be recorded, in which case Part Ill of the report will repeat for each transferee entity or trust.
23. *Transferee type (select one)
a. Transferee Entity
b. Transferee Trust
24. *Legal name
(Enter the full legal name ofthe transferee entity or full legal name of the transferee trust, such as
the full title of the agreement establishing the trust.)
25. Alternate name (if any.)
(Enter the trade name or "doing business as name. " This field applies to a transferee entity only.)
26. *Total consideration paid or to be paid, by or on behalf of this transferee (in U.S. dollars.)
a. No consideration paid (checkbox indicator)
(Select if there was no consideration paid by or on behalf ofthis transferee entity or trust;
as a result, total consideration paid above must be blank.)
27. Foreign principal place of business with no U.S. location (checkbox indicator)
(This field may be selected for a transferee entity only. Select if the entity's principal place of
business is not in the United States and there is no U.S. location where business is conducted; as
a result, only the entity's foreign principal place of business address is recorded below.)
28. Address type (select one; this may contain an entry for a transferee entity only)
a.
Principal place of business (U.S.)
(Select if the entity's principal place of business is in the United States and record the
address as the only address for the entity.)
b. Foreign principal place of business (non-U.S.)
(Select if the entity's principal place ofbusiness is not in the United States and record the
non-U.S. address below. If the entity has a primary location in the United States where it
conducts business, a second set of address fields must be recorded by selecting the
address type: -c- Primary U.S. location where entity conducts business.)
c. Primary U.S. location where entity conducts business
(Select if the entity has a primary location in the United States where it conducts business
in addition to the recorded foreign principal place ofhusiness. This selection can only he
made when the principal place ofbusiness is not in the United States.)
29. 1'Street address - number, street, and apt. or suite no.
(This field, along with the address fields below, may contain an entry for a transferee entity only.
Enter the principal place ofhusiness and, if applicable, the primary U.S. location. Ifsuch
principal place of business is not in the United States, record the foreign address of the principal
place of business and then add a second set ofaddress fields to record the primary location in the
United States where the transferee entity conducts business, ifany.)
30. *City
32. *State or U.S. Territory
(If a U.S. Territory is selected in prior field, the same U.S. Territory will auto-populate in this
field.)
33. *ZIP/Foreign postal code
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31. *Country/Jurisdiction
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
89709
34. *Type of unique identifying number (select one)
a EIN
b. SSN-ITIN
c. Foreign tax identification number
d. Foreign entity registration number
(!'his type of unique identifying number may be selected for a transferee entity only.)
e. No identification
(Select if the transferee entity/trust does not have any ofthe above types ofunique
identifying numbers; as a result, unique identifying number and issuing jurisdiction must
be blank.)
35. *Unique identifying number
36. Issuingjurisdiction (if foreign)
(If a foreign tax identification number or foreign entity registration number is selected above, the
foreign issuing jurisdiction must be entered; otherwise, this field must be blank.)
3 7. *Date trust instrument was executed
(This field is applicable only for a transferee trust.)
38. Revocable trust (checkbox indicator)
(!'his field is applicable only for a transferee trust. Select if the trust is revocable or leave blank if
it is not.)
Person(s) associated with this Transferee
The report must include information about the person(s) associated with each recorded transferee.
Multiple persons may be recorded per transferee. The same person may be reportable in more than one
category of associated person, as both a beneficial owner and a signing individual.
The following guidelines apply when recording the person(s) associated with the transferee:
❖
For each recorded transferee entity:
■
■
❖
One or more beneficial owners, or parent/guardian of a beneficial owner minor child,
must be recorded.
One or more signing individuals must be recorded (if any) must be recorded.
For each recorded transferee trust:
■
■
■
One or more beneficial owners (if any), or parent/guardian of a beneficial owner minor
child where the child is a beneficial owner of the trust indirectly through a legal entity,
must be recorded.
One or more signing individuals (if any) must be recorded.
One or more trustees, limited to trustees that are legal entities (if any), must be recorded
- NOTE: A trustee that is an individual is considered to be a beneficial owner of the
transferee trust for the purposes of this report; therefore, they should be recorded as a
beneficial owner. If a trustee is a legal entity (reported here as a trustee that is a legal
entity) or a trust, a beneficial owner of that legal entity or trust is considered to be a
beneficial owner of the transferee trust.
a. Beneficial Owner
b. Signing Individual
c. Trustee that is a Legal Entity
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39. *Person type (select one)
89710
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40. Parent/guardian information instead of minor child (checkbox indicator)
(Seleci if the person type is beneficial owner and the parent/guardian ofthe beneficial owner
minor child is being recorded instead ofthe minor child; otherwise, this field must be blank)
41. *Last name or entity legal name of person associated with this transferee
(Enter the last name of the beneficial owner I signing individua{, or the full legal name of the
trustee that is a legal entity)
42. Alternate name (if any)
(This field applies to a trustee that is a legal entity only.)
43. *First name
(This field applies to a beneficial owner I signing individual only.)
44. Middle name
(This field applies to a beneficial owner I signing individual only.)
45. Suffix
(This field applies to a beneficial owner I signing individual only.)
46. *Date of birth
(This field applies to a heneficial owner I signing individual only.)
47. Foreign principal place of business with no U.S. location (checkbox indicator)
(This field may be selected for a trustee that is a legal entity only. Select if the entity~- principal
place of business is not in the United States and there is no US. location where business is
conducted; as a result, on(v the entity sforeign principal place of business address iii recorded
below.)
48. Address type (select one; this.field applies to a trustee that is a legal entity and must contain an
entry)
a.
Principal place of business (U.S.)
(Select if the entity s principal place qfbusiness is in the United States and record the
address as the only address for the entity.)
b. Foreign principal place of business (non-U.S.)
(Select if the entity sprincipal place of business is not in the United States and record the
non-US. address below. {fthe entity has a prima,y location in the United States where it
conducts business, a second set of address fields must be recorded by selecting the
address type: -c- Primary US. location where entity conducts business.)
c. Primary U.S. location where entity conducts business
(Select (f the entity has a primary location in the United States where it conducts business
in addition to the recorded foreign principal place of business. This selection can only be
made when the principal place qfbusiness is not in the United States.)
49. 1'Street address - number, street, and apt. or suite no.
(Jfthe person recorded is a beneficial owner or signing individual, enter current residential
address. Ifthe person recorded is a trustee that is a legal entity, enter the principal place of
business and, i(applicable, the primary US. location. If such principal place of business is not in
the United States, record the foreign address here and then add a second set ofaddress fields to
record the primary location in the United States where the transferee entity conducts business, if
any.)
50. *City
51. *Country/Jurisdiction
53. *ZIP/Foreign postal code
54.
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52. *State or U.S. Territory
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a.
b.
c.
d.
89711
EIN
SSN-TTIN
Foreign tax identification number
Foreign passport
(I'his type ofunique identifying number may be selected for a beneficial owner I signing
individual only.)
c. Foreign entity registration number
(I'his type ofunique identifying number may be selected for a trustee that is a legal entity
only.)
f. No identification
(Select if the trustee that is a legal entity does not have any of the above types of unique
identffying numbers; as a result, unique identffying number and issuingjurisdiction must
be blank.)
55. * Unique identifying number
56. Issuing jurisdiction (if foreign)
(If a foreign tax identification number, foreign passport, or foreign entity registration number is
selected above, the foreign issuing jurisdiction must be entered; otherwise, this field must be
blank.)
57. Beneficial Owner category
(J'his .field applies to a bene_ficial owner associated with a transferee trust only. Select all that
apply.)
a. An individual who is a trustee of the transferee trust
b. An individual other than a trustee with the authority to dispose of transferee trust assets
c. A beneficiary who is the sole permissible recipient of income and principal from the
transferee trust or who has the right to demand a distribution of, or withdraw,
substantially all of the assets from the transferee trust
d. A grantor or settlor who has the right to revoke the transferee trust or otherwise withdraw
the assets of the transferee trust
e. A beneficial owner ofa legal entity or trust that is a trustee orthe transferee trust
f. A beneficial owner of a legal entity or trust with authority to dispose of transferee trust
assets in a manner other than as a trustee of a transferee trust
g. A beneficial owner of a legal entity or trust that is the sole permissible recipient of
income and principal from the transferee trust or who has the right to demand a
distribution of, or withdraw, substantially all of the assets from the transferee trust
h. A beneficial owner of legal entity or trust that is a grantor or settlor with the right to
revoke the transferee trust or otherwise withdraw the assets of the transferee trust
58. Country/Jurisdiction of citizenship
(Select all that apply for the beneficial owner.)
60. Name of employer, principal, partnership, etc.
(Enter for signing individual unless authorization capacity above is "Other" in which case this
field may be blank.)
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59. Authorization capacity description (select one for the signing individual).
a. Employee
b. Agent
c. Partner
d. Officer
e. Counsel
f. Trustee
g. Other I Description
(If "Other" is selected, a description must be entered.)
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Part IV. Transferor Information
The report must include information about the transferor individual, entity, and/or trust involved in the
reportable transfer. Multiple transferors may be recorded, in which case Part N of the report will repeat
for each transferor.
61. If transferor is not an individual, select the appropriate option
(By default, the transferor is considered an individual; othenvise, one of the below values must be
selected.)
a. Transferor Entity
b. Transferor Trust
62. *Transferor's last name if an individual or legal name if an entity
(Enter the transferor's last name if an individual, full legal name if a legal entity, or full legal
name, such as the full title ~/'the agreement establishing the trust, ff'a trust.)
63. Alternate name (if any)
(This field applies to a transferor entity only.)
64. *First name
(This field applies to a transferor individual only.)
65. Middle name
(This field applies to a transferor individual only.)
66. Suffix
(This field applies to a tramferor individual only.)
67. *Date of birth
(This field applies to a transferor individual only.)
68. Foreign principal place of business with no U.S. location (checkbox indicator)
(This field may be selected for a transferor entity only. Select if the entity's principal place of
business is not in the United States and there is no US. location where business is conducted; as
a result, only the entity's foreign principal place ofbusiness address is recorded below.)
69. Address type (select one; thisfield applies to a transferor entity and must contain an entry)
Principal place of business (U.S.)
(Select ifthe entity's principal place ofbusiness is in the United States and record the
address as the only address for the entity.)
b. Foreign principal place of business (non-U.S.)
(.~elect ifthe entity:~ principal place ofhusiness is not in the United States and record the
non-US. address helow. lfthe entity has a primary location in the United States where it
conducts business, a second set of address fields must be recorded where the address type
selected is -c- Primary US. location where business is conducted.)
c. Primary U.S. location where business is conducted
(Select ifthe entity has a primary location in the United States where it conducts business
in addition to the recorded foreign principal place of business. This selection can only be
made when the principal place ofbusiness is not in the United States.)
70. *Street address - number, street, and apt. or suite no.
(If the transferor is an individual. enter current residential address. If the transferor is an entitv.
enter the principal place of business and, ifapplicable, the primary US. location. If such
principal place of business is not in the United States, record the foreign address here and then
add a second set ofaddress fields to record the primary location in the United States where the
transferee entity conducts business, if any.)
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a.
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
89713
*City
*Country/Jurisdiction
*State or U.S. Territory
*ZlP/.Foreign postal code
* Type of unique identifying number (\·elect one)
a. EIN
b. SSN-ITTN
c. Foreign lax identification number
d. Foreign passport
(This type of unique identifying number may be selected for a transferor individual only.)
e. Foreign entity registration number
(This type of unique identifying number may be selected for a transferor entity only.)
f. No identification
(Select if the transferor entity or trust does not have any ofthe above types of unique
identifying numbers; as a result, unique identifying number and issuing jurisdiction must
be blank.)
76. *Unique identifying number
77. Issuing jurisdiction (if foreign)
(If a foreign tax identification number, foreign passport, or foreign entity registration number is
selected above, the foreign issuing jurisdiction must be entered; otherwise, this field must he
blank.)
78. *Date trust instrument was executed
(Thisfield applies to a tran.\feror trust only.)
If the Transferor is a trust, then record the Trustee( s)
The rep011 must include information about the trustee(s) of each recorded transferor trust. Multiple
trustees may be recorded per transferor trust.
79. *Trustee's last name, ifan individual or legal name if an entity
80. Entity (checkbox indicator)
(.Select if the trustee is an entity; as a result, first/middle/suffix name and date ofbirth must be
blank.)
81. Alternate name (if any)
(This field applies to a trustee entity only.)
82. *First name
(This field applies to a trustee individual only.)
83. Middle name
(This.field applies to a trustee individual only.)
85. Foreign principal place of business with no U.S. location (checkbox indicator)
(This field may be selected for a trustee entity only. Select ifthe entity sprincipal place of
business is not in the United States and there is no US. location where business is conducted; as
a result, only the entity sforeign principal place ofbusiness address is recorded below.)
86. Address type (.~elect one; this field applies to a trustee entity and must contain an entry)
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84. Suffix
(This field applies to a trustee individual only.)
89714
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
a. Principal place of business (U.S.)
(Select if the entity sprincipal place ofbusiness is in the United States and record the
address as the only address for the entity)
b. Foreign principal place of business (non-U.S.)
(Select if the entity sprincipal place of business is not in the United States and record the
non-U.S. address below. If the entity has a primary location in the United States where it
conducts business, a second set of address fields must be recorded where the address type
selected is -c- Primary U.S. location where business is conducted.)
c. Primary U.S. location where business is conducted
(Select if the entity has a primary location in the United States where it conducts business
in addition to the recorded foreign principal place of business. This selection can only be
made when the principal place of business is not in the United States.)
87. *Street address - number, street, and apt. or suite no.
(lfthe trustee is an individual, enter current residential address. If the trustee is an entity. enter
the principal place of business and, ifapplicable, the primary U.S. location. If such principal
place of business is not in the United States, record the foreign address here and then add a
second set of address fields to record the primary location in the United States where the
transferee entity conducts business, if any.)
88. *City
89. *Country/Jurisdiction
90. *State or U.S. Territory
91. *ZIP/Foreign postal code
92. * Type of unique identifying number (select one)
a.
b.
c.
d.
EIN
SSN-ITIN
Foreign tax identification number
Foreign passport
(This type of unique identifying number may be selected for a trustee individual only)
e. Foreign entity registration number
(This type of unique identifying number may be selected for a trustee entity only)
f. No identification
(Select if the trustee entity does not have any of the above types of unique identifying
numbers; as a result, unique identifying number and issuing jurisdiction must be blank.)
93. *Unique identifying number
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94. Issuingjurisdiction (if foreign)
(If a foreign tax identification number, foreign passport, or foreign entity registration number is
selected above, the foreign issuing jurisdiction must be entered; otherwise, this field must be
blank.)
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 13, 2024 / Notices
89715
Part V. Payment Information
The report must include information about the total consideration paid for the reportable transfer as well
as each payment made by or on behalf of each recorded transferee entity /trust.
95. *Total consideration paid or to be paid for the transfer by all transferees, including transferees not
reportable in Part Ill (in U.S. dollars).
a.
No consideration paid (checkbox indicator)
(Select if there is no paid consideration associated with the transfer, such as in the case of
a non-sale transfer; as a result, the above total consideration paid field along with all
remaining fields in the section must be blank.)
96. Hard money, private, or other similar loans involved in reportable transfer
(Select if the buyer is using credit extended by a person that is not a financial institution with an
obligation to maintain an anti-money laundering program and an obligation to report suspicious
transactions under Chapter X of Subtitle B of Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations; as a
result, the type of credit must be entered below)
97. Type of hard money, private, and other similar loans (select one)
a. Hard money
b. Private money
c. Seller financed
d. Other I Description
(If "Other" is selected, a description must be entered.)
Payment made by or on behalf of the Transferee entity/trust
The report must include information about each payment made by or on behalf of each recorded
transferee entity/trust; however, this section must be blank when "No consideration paid" is indicated
above for the transfer. Multiple payments may be recorded.
98. 1'Payment amount (in U.S. dollars.)
99. *.Payment method
Wire
Cashier's check
Personal/Business check
Money order
U.S. currency
Foreign currency
Digital assets
Stocks/Bonds
Other I Description
(If "Other" is selected, a description must be entered.)
I 00. If foreign payment method, select currency code
(Select the currency code from the ISO-4217 currency code list when foreign currency payment
method is selected above. If the appropriate foreign currency code is not found in this list, enter
a description, such as the currency name and issuing country/jurisdiction name, below.)
a. If the foreign currency code is not listed above, enter description
IO 1. Payment not from financial institution account
(Select ff the recorded payment did not originate ji-om an account held at a.financial institution;
us a result, uccuunl number and financial inslituliun legal name must be blank.)
I 02.
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a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
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103. *Financial institution legal name
104. Payment associated with all recorded transferees
(Select if the recorded payment is associated with all recorded transferee entities and trusts; as
a result, the "Associated Transferee legal name " must be blank.)
105. *Associated transferee legal name
(Enter the full legal name of the recorded transferee entity or trust that is associated with this
payment. If more than one recorded transferee is associated with this payment, add multiples of
this field to record each associated transferee legal name. If this payment is associated with all
recorded transferees, leave this field blank and select "Payment associated with all recorded
Transferees" above.)
106. All payors are recorded transferees (checkbox indicator)
(Select if this payment only involved payors that are the above recorded transferee entities or
trusts. If not selected, the name ofthe payor(s) must be entered in the fields below.)
107. *Payor 's last name if an individual or legal name if an entity
(Enter the last name of the payor ifan individual or the legal name of the payor ifan entity.
Record multiple payors by adding additional sets ofpayor name fields.)
108. Entity (checkbox indicator)
(Select if the payor is an entity; as a result, first/middle/suffix name must be blank)
109. *First name
110. Middle name
[FR Doc. 2024–26262 Filed 11–12–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–02–C
UNITED STATES SENTENCING
COMMISSION
Requests for Applications;
Practitioners Advisory Group
United States Sentencing
Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The United States Sentencing
Commission is issuing this notice to
advise the public that the application
period for membership for the First
Circuit in the Practitioners Advisory
Group has been extended to December
2, 2024. The deadline was originally
October 14, 2024. An applicant for
voting membership for the First Circuit
of the Practitioners Advisory Group
should apply by sending a letter of
interest and resume to the Commission
as indicated in the ADDRESSES section
below.
DATES: Application materials for voting
membership of the Practitioners
Advisory Group should be received not
later than December 2, 2024.
ADDRESSES: An applicant for voting
membership of the Practitioners
Advisory Group should apply by
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SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:40 Nov 12, 2024
Jkt 265001
sending a letter of interest and resume
to the Commission by electronic mail or
regular mail. The email address is
pubaffairs@ussc.gov. The regular mail
address is United States Sentencing
Commission, One Columbus Circle NE,
Suite 2–500, South Lobby, Washington,
DC 20002–8002, Attention: Public
Affairs—PAG Membership.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennifer Dukes, Senior Public Affairs
Specialist, (202) 502–4597. More
information about the Practitioners
Advisory Group is available on the
Commission’s website at www.ussc.gov/
advisory-groups.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
United States Sentencing Commission is
an independent agency in the judicial
branch of the United States
Government. The Commission
promulgates sentencing guidelines and
policy statements for federal courts
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(a). The
Commission also periodically reviews
and revises previously promulgated
guidelines pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(o)
and submits guideline amendments to
the Congress not later than the first day
of May each year pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
994(p).
The Practitioners Advisory Group is a
standing advisory group of the United
States Sentencing Commission
PO 00000
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established pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 995
and Rule 5.4 of the Commission’s Rules
of Practice and Procedure. Under the
charter for the advisory group, the
purpose of the advisory group is (1) to
assist the Commission in carrying out its
statutory responsibilities under 28
U.S.C. 994(o); (2) to provide to the
Commission its views on the
Commission’s activities and work,
including proposed priorities and
amendments; (3) to disseminate to
defense attorneys, and to other
professionals in the defense community,
information regarding federal
sentencing issues; and (4) to perform
other related functions as the
Commission requests. The advisory
group consists of not more than 17
voting members, each of whom may
serve not more than two consecutive
three-year terms. Of those 17 voting
members, one shall be Chair, one shall
be Vice Chair, 12 shall be circuit
members (one for each federal judicial
circuit other than the Federal Circuit),
and three shall be at-large members.
To be eligible to serve as a voting
member, an individual must be an
attorney who (1) devotes a substantial
portion of his or her professional work
to advocating the interests of privatelyrepresented individuals, or of
individuals represented by private
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89700-89716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26262]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
RIN 1506-AB54
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Real Estate Reports
AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: FinCEN invites all interested parties to comment on the
proposed information collection associated with the requirement to
report information about certain residential real estate transfers, as
required by the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real
Estate Transfers final rule published on August 29, 2024. The details
included in the information collection are listed below. This request
for comment is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments are welcome and must be received on or before
January 13, 2025.
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-2024-0019 and the specific Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
control number 1506-0080.
Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2024-0019 and OMB control number 1506-0080.
Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will be
reviewed consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and
applicable OMB regulations and guidance. 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: FinCEN's 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 Foreign Transactions Reporting
Act of 1970, as amended by the Uniting and
[[Page 89701]]
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) \1\ and
other legislation, including the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML
Act).\2\ The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 1951-1960 and 31
U.S.C. 5311-5314, 5316-5336, including notes thereto, with implementing
regulations at 31 CFR chapter X.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ USA PATRIOT Act, Public Law 107-56, 115 Stat. 272 (2001).
\2\ The AML Act was enacted as Division F, sections 6001-6511,
of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116-283, 134 Stat. 3388.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to,
inter alia, require financial institutions to keep records and file
reports that are determined to have a high degree of usefulness in
criminal, tax, or regulatory matters, risk assessments or proceedings,
or in the conduct of intelligence or counter-intelligence activities to
protect against terrorism, and to implement anti-money laundering/
countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs and compliance
procedures.\3\ The authority of the Secretary to administer the BSA has
been delegated to the Director of FinCEN.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See 31 U.S.C. 5311.
\4\ Treasury Order 180-01 (Jan. 14, 2020); see also 31 U.S.C.
310(b)(2)(I) (providing that FinCEN Director ``[a]dminister the
requirements of subchapter II of chapter 53 of this title, chapter 2
of title I of Public Law 91-508, and section 21 of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Act, to the extent delegated such authority by the
Secretary.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Among the financial institutions subject to these requirements are
``persons involved in real estate closings and settlements.'' \5\ In
particular, section 5318(g) of the BSA authorizes the Secretary to
require financial institutions to report, via Suspicious Activity
Reports (SARs), any ``suspicious transactions relevant to a possible
violation of law or regulation.'' \6\ However, the BSA affords the
Secretary flexibility in implementing that requirement, and indeed
directs the Secretary to consider ``the means by or form in which the
Secretary shall receive such reporting,'' including the relevant
``burdens imposed by such means or form of reporting,'' ``the
efficiency of the means or form,'' and the ``benefits derived by the
means or form of reporting.'' \7\ A provision added to the BSA by
section 6202 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act) further
directs FinCEN to ``establish streamlined . . . processes to, as
appropriate, permit the filing of noncomplex categories of reports of
suspicious activity.'' In assessing whether streamlined filing is
appropriate, FinCEN must determine, among other things, that such
reports would ``reduce burdens imposed on persons required to
report[,]'' while at the same time ``not diminish[ing] the usefulness
of the reporting to Federal law enforcement agencies, national security
officials, and the intelligence community in combating financial crime,
including the financing of terrorism[.]'' \8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(U).
\6\ See 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(1)(A).
\7\ See 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(5)(B)(i)-(iii).
\8\ See AML Act, section 6202 (codified at 31 U.S.C.
5318(g)(D)(i)(1)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 29, 2024, FinCEN issued a final rule, ``Anti-Money
Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers,''
hereafter referred to as the Residential Real Estate Rule (RRE
Rule).\9\ The RRE Rule requires certain persons involved in real estate
closings and settlements (reporting persons) to submit reports to
FinCEN and keep records on certain non-financed transfers of
residential real property to specified legal entities and trusts on a
nationwide basis. The reports are expected to curtail the ability of
illicit actors to launder illicit proceeds anonymously through
transfers of residential real property, which threatens U.S. economic
and national security. More broadly, the reports are expected to assist
the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), law enforcement, and
national security agencies in addressing illicit finance
vulnerabilities in the U.S. residential real estate sector. The rule
describes the circumstances in which a report must be filed, who must
file a report, what information must be provided, and when a report is
due.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ FinCEN, Final Rule, ``Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for
Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 70258 (Aug. 29, 2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FinCEN conducted certain supplemental analyses, which are discussed
below, to estimate the incremental Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) burden
\11\ attributable to the specifics of the proposed information
collection associated with the RRE Rule, particularly those relating to
the Real Estate Report (RER), including both the proposed data fields
of the RER and the mechanism by which a RER would be submitted to
FinCEN. Public comments on this analysis, including relevant, readily
generalizable data that would improve the accuracy of FinCEN's
estimates, are invited.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ This is intended to include the ``time, effort, or
financial resources expended to generate, [. . .] or disclose or
provide information to'' FinCEN as required by the PRA. See Carey
and Ortiz, ``The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of
Information: A Brief Overview'' (Apr. 17, 2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Real Estate Reports.
OMB Control Number: 1506-0080.
Type of Collection: Revision.
Description: The RRE Rule imposes a new reporting and recordkeeping
requirement on certain persons involved in real estate closings and
settlements, or reporting persons, when they perform certain functions
in relation to non-financed transfers of residential real property to a
specified legal entity or a trust. The reports are to be filed
electronically through an online interface using the same free system
that other financial institutions required to file BSA reports use for
purposes other than in connection with real estate transactions.\12\
For some reporting persons, this system will already be familiar and
ready for use as it is also the same filing system for submitting
reports under geographic targeting orders relating to non-financed
transfers of residential real estate (Residential Real Estate GTOs).
Reporting persons who do not already use FinCEN's BSA E-filing system
will first need to enroll. The enrollment process for FinCEN's BSA E-
Filing System entails identifying the reporting person and assigning a
designated Supervisory User.\13\ The Supervisory User is an individual
who will facilitate the process of creating general user accounts for
the reporting person's other employees, if any, that may file RERs; the
Supervisory User has access to system functionality not available to
regular users, such as ability to update filing organization
information and track the status of filings submitted by all users from
across the organization. To file RERs through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing
System, individual users will be required to create a login.gov account
(if they have not already done so for other purposes).\14\ Once the
enrollment process has been completed, the BSA E-Filing System will
provide three different filing options for RERs. Filers
[[Page 89702]]
will file individual reports either through an online form or as a PDF
form, or filers may file multiple reports through a user-developed
automated interface.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ Other BSA reports include, for example, Suspicious Activity
Reports (SARs) and Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
(FBARs). See FinCEN, BSA E-Filing System, ``Supported Forms'',
available at https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/SupportedForms.html.
\13\ If the enrolling party intends to be the sole user of the
access being set up, there is no distinction between the person
named as Supervisory User and the general user, and there would be
only one account.
\14\ Login.gov is available at https://www.login.gov/. To create
a Login.gov account, users will be required to provide an email
address and a form of identification. BSA E-filing is available at
https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov gov.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The proposed RER contains 111 distinct fields, of which, FinCEN
expects approximately 60 percent must be completed to report a given
transfer per the requirements specified in the RRE rule.\15\ The form
may require as few as approximately 40 fields to be completed, and
FinCEN anticipates that significantly more fields may be required for
certain highly complex reportable transfers, such as those with
multiple beneficial owners or multiple sources of funds that would
require the same fields to be populated for each owner or source of
funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ Because the requirement for certain fields to be populated
is unique to the facts and circumstances of a given transfer, not
all 111 original fields are relevant to each potential reportable
transfer. However, due to the possibility that in some transfers, a
single individual may perform more than one role, some fields might
need to be completed more than once for the same individual, causing
the number of fields completed in practice to exceed the percent of
fields required to be completed for a given RER.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The effective date of the RRE Rule is December 1, 2025. As set
forth in the rule, the RER must contain information about the person
filing the report (the ``reporting person''), the legal entity (the
``transferee entity'') or trust (the ``transferee trust'') receiving
ownership of the property, the beneficial owners of the transferee
entity or transferee trust, certain individuals signing documents on
behalf of the transferee entity or transferee trust, the transferor
(e.g., the seller), the property being transferred, and any payments
made.\16\ The reporting person may reasonably rely on information
obtained from others, absent knowledge of facts that would reasonably
call into question the reliability of that information. For purposes of
reporting beneficial ownership information in particular, a reporting
person may reasonably rely on information obtained from a transferee or
the transferee's representative if the accuracy of the information is
certified in writing to the best of the information provider's own
knowledge. The collected information will be maintained by FinCEN and
made accessible to authorized users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ See FinCEN, Final Rule, ``Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
for Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 70258 (Aug. 29,
2024). See also Appendix.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report: Real Estate Report.
Affected Public: Residential Real Estate Settlement Agents, Title
Insurance Carriers, Escrow Service Providers, Attorneys and Offices of
Attorneys, and Other Real Estate Professionals.
A. Respondent-Based Incremental Reporting Burdens
Estimated Number of Respondents: One per reportable transaction.
As explained in the RRE Rule, the reporting person for any transfer
is one of a number of persons who perform specified roles in a given
real estate closing and settlement, with the specific reporting person
determined through a cascading approach, unless superseded by a
designation agreement among persons in the reporting cascade.\17\ The
reporting cascade is ordered by function performed or service provided,
rather than by the defined primary occupations (i.e., job titles such
as real estate agent) or categories of service providers (e.g., real
estate lawyers), because the role of the reporting person provides more
clarity about their placement in the reporting cascade rather than a
job title or occupational category or similar attribute originally
intended for census purposes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ The reporting cascade consists of a list of seven different
functions that a real estate professional may perform in a transfer
of residential real property, with the reporting obligation for any
such transfer applying to the professional that performed a function
that appears highest on the list. For example, the first function on
the list is the professional listed as the agent on the closing or
settlement statement. If no such professional is involved in the
transfer, then the reporting obligation applies to any professional
that performed the second function on the list (i.e., the
professional that prepared the closing or settlement statement), and
so on down the list. See FinCEN, Final Rule, ``Anti-Money Laundering
Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 70258,
70290-70291 (Aug. 29, 2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To estimate the total number of respondents in the RRE Rule, FinCEN
grouped potential reporting persons by features of their primary
occupation and treated them as functionally distinct members of the
cascade.\18\ In the final rule, FinCEN estimated that there may be up
to approximately 172,753 reporting persons and 642,508 employees of
those persons.\19\ While FinCEN continues to treat these estimates as
an expected upper bound on the number of persons who could incur the
reporting burden estimated in this notice, it is likely that the number
of reporting persons and affected employees that would in practice
incur the full incremental burden estimated in this notice would be
much lower. In its experience with the more limited Residential Real
Estate GTOs, FinCEN data suggests that most reporting has been
performed by a concentrated subset of the total population of potential
reporting entities and that few identifiably unique individual
employees per reporting person are associated with the reports
filed.\20\ For example, from the date of the first effective
Residential Real Estate GTOs in March 2016 through the end of August
2024, FinCEN estimates that approximately 64 percent of all reports
filed \21\ were submitted by the five largest title companies \22\ and
an additional 8 percent, approximately, were filed by the remaining 15
of the 20 largest title companies.\23\ The residual share of total
reports filed were submitted by either smaller title companies or law
offices, with an average filing volume of 16 GTO reports filed per
remaining filer and an average of one identifiably distinct employee
filer per reporting year per reporting entity. Consequently, a number
of the incremental burden estimates presented below have been
calculated over a smaller subpopulation of the total number of
respondents as estimated in the RRE Rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ Analysis of Residential Real Estate GTO filings to date
illustrates certain potential limitations of this approach because
it demonstrates that covered businesses under the GTO requirements
(which are limited to title insurance agents), may function in a
role other than their self-identified primary occupation. To
illustrate, FinCEN notes that of the approximately 2,400
identifiably unique filers who submitted at least one Residential
Real Estate GTO report through August 2024, approximately 38.4
percent self-identified as either primarily employed as an attorney
or the employee of a law office.
\19\ See FinCEN, Final Rule, ``Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
for Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 70258, 70283 (Aug.
29, 2024).
\20\ See 31 U.S.C. 5326; 31 CFR 1010.370; Treasury Order 180-01
(Jan. 14, 2020), available at https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/orders-and-directives/treasury-order-180-01. In
general, a GTO is an order administered by FinCEN which, for a
finite period of time, imposes additional recordkeeping or reporting
requirements on domestic financial institutions or other businesses
in a given geographic area, based on a finding that the additional
requirements are necessary to carry out the purposes of, or to
prevent evasion of, the BSA. The statutory maximum duration of a GTO
is 180 days unless further renewed. Since 2016, the Residential Real
Estate GTOs have required certain title insurance companies to file
reports and maintain records concerning non-financed purchases of
residential real estate above a specific price threshold by certain
legal entities in select metropolitan areas of the United States.
\21\ This includes both reports filed on Form 8300, which were
originally required for reports filed by the Residential Real Estate
GTOss, and on a Currency Transaction Report (CTR), which has been
the required form for the GTOs since April 13, 2018. FinCEN has
included GTO reports incorrectly filed using Form 8300 after April
13, 2018, in its analysis because they conceptually represent
reporting activity undertaken regarding real estate transfers of
interest.
\22\ As measured by market share at the end of calendar year
2022.
\23\ Id.
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Estimated Burden per Respondent: 50 minutes.\24\
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\24\ FinCEN bases this estimate on an expected average training
time cost of 30 minutes for one natural person per year and a one-
time technology time cost of 1 hour, or 20 minutes per year for
three years. FinCEN intends to request comment on filers' realized
technology costs and is prepared to further refine this estimate
upon renewal of the OMB control number.
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FinCEN continues to acknowledge that some costs related to the
proposed information collection may be independent of a potential
respondent ever submitting an RER. These may be expected to include
certain training and reporting mechanism-specific technology costs.
Training Costs
As in the regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) in both the February
2024 notice of proposed rulemaking (RRE NPRM) and the RRE Rule, FinCEN
continues to expect that all potential reporting persons and at least
some proportion of their respective employees, as a proper superset of
all actual reporting persons, are likely to engage in some measure of
preparatory training in advance of any instance in which a non-
designatable reporting requirement is realized.\25\ Unlike the RRE NPRM
and RRE Rule however, FinCEN has considered it appropriate to include
an incremental estimate of training costs as part of the PRA burden in
this 60-day Notice. This is because training in how to complete and
submit the RER itself represents an expenditure of resources without
which it would not be possible to ``disclose or provide information
to'' \26\ FinCEN because the RER filing will be the only mechanism by
which a reporting person may inform FinCEN of a reportable transfer.
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\25\ See FinCEN, NPRM, ``Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for
Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 12424 (Feb. 16, 2024),
and FinCEN, Final Rule, ``Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for
Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 70258 (Aug. 29, 2024).
\26\ See supra note 11.
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The training burden contemplated in this notice is therefore
intended to include an estimate of only the average expected reporting
person's necessary training specific to the completion of the RER in
the format proposed, using the submission process anticipated to be
adopted by such persons and their employees. It is intended to capture
aspects of training distinct from, and complementary to, the broader
training necessary to ensure adequate familiarity with the RRE Rule
generally and a reporting person's compliance policies and procedures
specifically.\27\
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\27\ As discussed in Section VI.A.4.a.i. of the RRE Rule, where
the training burden was intended to capture ``the costs of preparing
informational material and training personnel about the proposed
rule generally as well as certain firm-specific policies and
procedures related to reporting, complying, and documenting
compliance.''
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In two rounds of FinCEN's internal tests of user experience with
the RER, participants with self-reported prior familiarity with the RRE
Rule ranging from none to moderate were provided with 10 to 20 minutes
of training and instruction on how to complete a RER before being
provided with sample scenarios of varying complexity, which were then
used to populate a simulated version of the report. Participants'
responses to a post-exercise survey reported that, conditional on
adequate familiarity with the rule, 78.9 percent found the training
time they were provided to be adequate, while 21.1 percent signaled
that more training time would be needed, expressing a belief that a
mean training time including 22 additional minutes would be necessary.
Participants who reported that more training time than they received
would be helpful did not perform meaningfully differently from
participants who reported a belief that the training time they received
was adequate. While participants who recommended longer training scored
an average of 3.2 percentage points lower than other participants, this
difference could not be determined to be statistically significant.
FinCEN took into consideration the results of its internal testing
as well as certain comments received in response to the RRE NPRM that
FinCEN's estimates of training time needs were insufficient.\28\ FinCEN
continues to believe that these comments may have intended to include
both form-specific and form-independent training and that its
expectation that an average of 30 minutes per trained employee is
necessary for report-specific training is consistent with both the
results of its testing and public comments received.
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\28\ One commenter suggested FinCEN estimates should be
increased by 45 minutes, another by 75 minutes, and a third
suggested the training burden should be estimated at one hour per
report filed (or 850,000 hours annually).
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Technology Costs
FinCEN recognizes that potential reporting persons may need or opt
to incur certain technology related expenditures to facilitate their
filing activity, and that these costs may vary by the format and filing
mechanism choices of the individual business. As in the RRE NPRM and
the RRE Rule, FinCEN continues to anticipate that most reporting
persons will make use of the online form and PDF form options. FinCEN
is continuing to not assign an incremental cost for use of technology
that is already incorporated into the ordinary business operations of
potential respondents. However, FinCEN is assigning a non-recurring
time cost of one hour per respondent associated with setting up access
and accounts in the BSA E-Filing System.\29\
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\29\ For entities that have already set up access in the course
of Residential Real Estate GTO reporting compliance, this burden can
be alternatively interpreted as a 20 minute per year burden, over
three years, associated with maintaining accounts. In FinCEN's
review of Residential Real Estate GTO filings, it appears that while
certain filers have submitted reports in each of the past nine
years, the individual user(s) submitting the filing does not remain
the same for more than one or two years at a time.
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FinCEN is not including additional cost estimates at this time
associated with adopting new technologies that would facilitate batch-
filing because while Residential Real Estate GTO filers have had the
option to file reports in batch format since 2018,\30\ FinCEN has not
yet received any reportable real estate transaction filings in batch
format.\31\ FinCEN acknowledges that this may underestimate costs
which, because of the difference in scale and scope of the reporting
requirements under the RRE Rule from those under the Residential Real
Estate GTOs, certain reporting persons may now find it more cost
effective to invest in technological updates that would facilitate
batch filing. To the extent that this may be the case, FinCEN is
soliciting public comment, including information on the expected per
business costs and the anticipated benefits of these technological
investments.
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\30\ While it has been possible to batch file CTRs since May 18,
2017 (see FinCEN Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Electronic Filing
Requirements (treas.gov)), Residential Real Estate GTOs originally
required reports to be submitted using Form 8300 (see note 20),
which did not have a batch-filing option until March 2019 (see
XMLUserGuide_FinCEN8300.pdf (treas.gov)). This analysis therefore
treats 2018 as the earliest year in which Residential Real Estate
GTO filers would have been able to submit batch filings.
\31\ Data analyzed covers the period January 1, 2016, through
August 31, 2024, and includes both Form 8300 and CTR GTO filings.
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B. Response-Based Incremental Reporting Burdens
Estimated Number of Responses: 850,000 per year.\32\
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\32\ See FinCEN, Final Rule, ``Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
for Residential Real Estate Transfers,'' 89 FR 70258, 70277 (Aug.
29, 2024).
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As described in the RRE Rule, because the specific conditions under
which a person in the reporting cascade becomes the reporting person
for a reportable transfer and would consequently file the RER may
depend on factors unique to the specific reportable transaction, FinCEN
considers it more appropriate to assign the remainder of the estimated
incremental burden associated with the proposed information collection
on a
[[Page 89704]]
per response basis rather than on a per respondent basis.
Frequency of Response: Once per reportable transfer.\33\
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\33\ While FinCEN anticipates that some reported transfers may
subsequently require amendment or revision, it is not inclined to
speculate at this time on the potential future rate of refiling.
Additionally, because FinCEN is revising its estimated time burden
associated with RER completion in this notice to account for time
reporting persons may need to review and revise reports before
submission, this should correspond to a reduced need for additional
filings per reportable transfer. FinCEN intends to review the inflow
of filings to assess the realized volume of amendment filings and is
prepared to further refine this estimate upon renewal of the OMB
control-number.
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Estimated Incremental Time per Response: 15 minutes, or 0.25 hours.
In the RRE NPRM and the RRE Rule, FinCEN estimated that the
reporting person would need an average of 2 hours per reportable
transfer to collect and review transferee and transfer-specific
reportable information and related documents, and an average of 30
minutes in additional time to complete and submit a RER. In providing
this notice in connection with the proposed RER, FinCEN considered
whether any elements of the specific format of the proposed RER and the
proposed available variations in format and filing mechanisms might
reasonably be expected to increase the previously estimated reporting
burden. Similarly, FinCEN conducted internal testing that simulated the
use of the proposed report to assess whether time in excess of the
originally budgeted 30 minutes to file a report might be systematically
necessary to represent the expected average completion and review
needed to submit a RER.
Based on its two rounds of internal testing, FinCEN observed that
the originally budgeted 30 minutes was generally sufficient insofar as
the participants' self-reported time used to complete a RER for a
transfer of low-complexity \34\ was approximately 27 minutes on
average. However, the average error rate in low-complexity responses
was approximately 10 percent. Additionally, the average self-reported
time needed to complete a high-complexity RER was 9 minutes longer than
for a low-complexity RER and the average error rate was approximately 6
percentage points higher. While there are certain limitations to the
generalizability of FinCEN's internal testing, the results suggest that
to incorporate sufficient time for reporting persons to review
completed RERs for accuracy before submission and to account for the
additional fields that must be completed and reviewed for transfers of
higher complexity, the originally budgeted 30 minutes may be
insufficient. FinCEN is revising its estimated time upward by 15
minutes, on average, per response to account for the time needed for
variation in transfer complexity and the review of completed RERs.
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\34\ In FinCEN's internal testing, complexity represents the
number of informational units that the study-participant would be
required to report in the fields of the simulated RER.
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C. Total Incremental Reporting Burden Estimates
Estimated Total Incremental Reporting Burden Hours: 356,461
hours.\35\
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\35\ This estimate includes an expected respondent-based
incremental burden of 0.83 hours per potential reporting person
(172,753) and a response-based incremental burden of 0.25 hours per
response (850,000). The total is rounded to the nearest whole hour.
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Estimated Reporting Burden Hours in the RRE Rule: In the RRE Rule,
FinCEN estimated that up to a maximum number of four non-reporting
persons could be expected to incur a 15-minute reporting burden and
that the reporting person who files a Real Estate Report that is also a
party to a designation agreement would incur a three-hour reporting
burden. In total, FinCEN estimated a PRA reporting and recordkeeping
burden of 4,604,167 hours annually.
Revised Estimate of Total Burden Hours: The supplemental burden
hour estimated in this notice is 50 minutes per potential respondent
and 15 minutes per response per year, or approximately 356,461 hours in
total, which would increase the total PRA burden associated with Anti-
Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers
under OMB control number 1506-0080 by approximately 7.7 percent from
4,604,167 to 4,960,628 hours.
Estimated Total Incremental Reporting Cost: $45,324,233.33.\36\
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\36\ This estimate includes an expected respondent-based
incremental burden of $12,709,733.33 and a response-based
incremental burden of $32,614,500.00 (using the same conservative
assumptions as in the RRE Rule PRA).
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Estimated Reporting Cost in the RRE Rule: Based on the range of
expected reportable transfers and the wages associated with different
persons in the potential reporting cascade in the RRE Rule, FinCEN
anticipated that the rule's reporting costs may be between
approximately $174.6 million and $466.5 million. In total, FinCEN
estimated a PRA reporting and recordkeeping burden of up to
approximately $630,976,662.47.
Revised Estimate of Total Burden Cost: The supplemental reporting
cost estimated in this notice is $45,324,233.33, which would increase
the total PRA burden associated with Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
for Residential Real Estate Transfers under OMB control number 1506-
0080 by approximately 7.2 percent from $630,976,662.47 to
$676,300,895.80.
Request for Comments
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid
OMB control number. Comments submitted in response to this notice will
be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All
comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited
on: (a) whether the collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including through the use of technology;
and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation,
maintenance, and purchase of services required to provide information.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
Andrea M. Gacki,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Appendix--Real Estate Report Summary of Data Fields
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[FR Doc. 2024-26262 Filed 11-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-C
