Department of the Treasury July 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FinCEN is issuing this final rule to amend the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA'') regulations applicable to Money Services Businesses (``MSB'') with regard to stored value. More specifically, this final rule amends the regulations by: renaming ``stored value'' as ``prepaid access'' and defining that term; deleting the terms ``issuer'' and ``redeemer'' of stored value; imposing suspicious activity reporting, customer information and transaction information recordkeeping requirements on both providers and sellers of prepaid access, and, additionally, a registration requirement on providers only; and exempting certain categories of prepaid access products and services posing lower risks of money laundering and terrorist financing from certain requirements. These changes address regulatory gaps that have resulted from the proliferation of prepaid innovations over the last twelve years and their increasing use as an accepted payment method.

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

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, and the OTS (the ``agencies'') may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. On June 17, 2011, OMB approved the agencies' emergency clearance requests to implement assessment-related reporting revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for banks, the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) for savings associations, the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002), and the Report of Assets and Liabilities of a Non-U.S. Branch that is Managed or Controlled by a U.S. Branch or Agency of a Foreign (Non-U.S.) Bank (FFIEC 002S), all of which currently are approved collections of information, effective as of the June 30, 2011, report date. Because the assessment-related reporting revisions will need to remain in effect beyond the limited approval period associated with an emergency clearance request, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), are requesting public comment on a proposal to extend, with revision, the collections of information identified above. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final approval. The agencies will then submit the revisions to OMB for review and approval.

An open meeting of the Area 7 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 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 Area 3 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 Area 1 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.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Department of the Treasury gives notice of an amendment to update its Privacy Act regulations, and to add an exemption from certain provisions of the Privacy Act for a system of records related to the Office of Financial Stability (OFS).

This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the June 24, 2011 amendment to the interim final rules (76 FR 37208) entitled, ``Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers: Rules Relating to Internal Claims and Appeals and External Review Processes.''

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 Form 1125-A, Cost of Goods Sold.

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)). The IRS is soliciting comments concerning information collection requirements related to election to defer net experience loss in a multiemployer plan.

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)). The IRS is soliciting comments concerning information collection requirements related to residence rulings involving U.S. possessions.

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)). The IRS is soliciting comments concerning information collection requirements related to ten or more employer plans.

This document contains final and temporary regulations that address when a transfer or assignment of certain derivative contracts does not result in an exchange to the nonassigning counterparty for purposes of Sec. 1.1001-1(a). The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-109006-11) set forth in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is adopting amendments to its regulations governing organization and functions, availability and release of information, post-employment restrictions for senior examiners, and assessment of fees to incorporate the transfer of certain functions of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) to the OCC pursuant to Title III of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The OCC also is amending its rules pertaining to preemption and visitorial powers to implement various sections of the Act; change in control of credit card banks and trust banks to implement section 603 of the Act; and deposit- taking by uninsured Federal branches to implement section 335 of the Act.

The Department of the Treasury (``Treasury'' or ``We'') is granting by order temporary exemptions from certain Government Securities Act of 1986 provisions and regulations regarding transactions in credit default swaps that reference government securities. ICE Clear Credit LLC requested these temporary exemptions for itself, its Clearing Members, and certain brokers that are not registered as government securities brokers. Treasury will revisit these exemptions when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission issue final rules or guidance to implement Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The temporary exemptions could become unavailable if the facts and circumstances, as represented in the request, change. Treasury is also soliciting public comment on this order.

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 Revision of Income Tax Regulations under Sections 897, 1445, and 6109 to require use of Taxpayer Identifying Numbers on Submission under the Section 897 and 1445 regulations.

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 Guidance Regarding Qualified Intellectual Property Contributions.

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 Financial Asset Securitization Investment Trusts; Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits (TD 9004 (final)).

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 Determination of Substitute Agent for a Consolidated Group.