Department of the Treasury March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The OCC is proposing to amend its regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) governing the confidentiality of a suspicious activity report (SAR) to: Clarify the scope of the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by a financial institution of a report of a suspicious transaction, as it applies to national banks; address the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by the government of a SAR, as that prohibition applies to the OCC's standards governing the disclosure of SARs; clarify the exclusive standard applicable to the disclosure of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, by the OCC is ``to fulfill official duties consistent with the purposes of the BSA;'' and modify the safe harbor provision in its rules to include changes made by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act. These amendments are based upon a similar proposal being contemporaneously issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is proposing to revise its regulations governing the release of non-public OCC information. The primary change being proposed would clarify that the OCC's decision to release a suspicious activity report (SAR) will be governed by the standards set forth in proposed amendments to the OCC's SAR regulation that are part of a separate, but simultaneous, rulemaking.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN''), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury (``Treasury''), is proposing to revise the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA'') regarding the confidentiality of a report of suspicious activity (``SAR'') to: Clarify the scope of the statutory prohibition against the disclosure by a financial institution of a SAR; address the statutory prohibition against the disclosure by the government of a SAR; clarify that the exclusive standard applicable to the disclosure of a SAR by the government is to fulfill official duties consistent with the purposes of the BSA; modify the safe harbor provision to include changes made by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing the Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (``USA PATRIOT Act''); and make minor technical revisions for consistency and harmonization among the different rules. These amendments are consistent with similar proposals to be issued by some of the Federal bank regulatory agencies.\1\

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN'') of the Department of the Treasury, after consulting with the staffs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``FRB''), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC''), the National Credit Union Administration (``NCUA''), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (``OCC''), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (``OTS'') (hereinafter, the ``Federal Banking Agencies''), is issuing for comment this proposed interpretive guidance. Published elsewhere in this part of the Federal Register are proposed rules clarifying the scope of the statutory prohibition on the disclosure by a financial institution of a report of a suspicious transaction set forth in the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA''). The proposed rules include a provision which states that the prohibition does not apply when a bank shares a suspicious activity report (``SAR''), or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, within its corporate organizational structure for purposes consistent with Title II of the BSA, as determined by regulation or guidance. The proposed guidance interprets this provision to permit a bank to share a SAR with its affiliates that also are subject to SAR rules.

This notice invites comments from the public on issues regarding how the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund should design, implement, and administer the Capital Magnet Fund, as set forth in Section 1339 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (the Act), which was added through Section 1131(b) of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. All materials submitted will be available for public inspection and copying.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning a final Regulation 125071-06 (TD 9308), Reporting Requirements for Widely Held Fixed Investment Trusts (Sec. 1.671-5).

This document contains corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking by cross-reference to temporary regulations (REG-144615-02) that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, January 5, 2009 providing further guidance and clarification regarding methods under section 482 to determine taxable income in connection with a cost sharing arrangement in order to address issues that have arisen in administering the current regulations. These temporary regulations potentially affect controlled taxpayers within the meaning of section 482 that enter into cost sharing arrangements as defined therein.

An open meeting of the Area 4 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Multi-Lingual Initiatives Issue Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Issue Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Area 5 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Tax Forms and Publications Issue Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Volunteer Income Tax Issue Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

This document contains a correction to a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-143686-07) that was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 (74 FR 3509) providing guidance regarding the recovery of stock basis in distributions under section 301 and transactions that are treated as dividends to which section 301 applies, as well as guidance regarding the determination of gain and the basis of stock or securities received in exchange for, or with respect to, stock or securities in certain transactions. The proposed regulations affect shareholders and security holders of corporations. These proposed regulations are necessary to provide such shareholders and security holders with guidance regarding the allocation and recovery of basis on distributions of property.

The Financial Management Service, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection. By this notice, the Financial Management Service solicits comments concerning ``Claims Against the United States for Amounts Due in the Case of a Deceased Creditor''.

The Financial Management Service, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection. By this notice, the Financial Management Service solicits comments concerning the form ``States Where Licensed for Surety.''

As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite comment on a proposed renewal, without change, to information collections found in existing regulations requiring money services businesses, mutual funds, operators of credit card systems, dealers in precious metals, stones, or jewels, and certain insurance companies to develop and implement written anti-money laundering programs reasonably designed to prevent those financial institutions from being used to facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. This request for comments is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104- 13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).