Financial Crimes Enforcement Network – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FinCEN is issuing an order, pursuant to the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, to prohibit certain transmittals of funds (as defined in this order) by any covered financial institution involving Bitzlato Limited (Bitzlato), a financial institution operating outside of the United States determined to be of a primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance.

FinCEN invites all interested parties to comment on the application that will be used to collect information from individuals who seek to obtain a FinCEN identifier, consistent with the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements final rule that was published on September 30, 2022. Obtaining a FinCEN identifier is voluntary; however, individuals who seek to obtain a FinCEN identifier must submit an application and update the information provided on the application as necessary. The details included in the information collection are listed below. This request for comment is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FinCEN is promulgating proposed regulations regarding access by authorized recipients to beneficial ownership information (BOI) that will be reported to FinCEN pursuant to Section 6403 of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), enacted into law as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act), which is itself part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA). The proposed regulations would implement the strict protocols on security and confidentiality required by the CTA to protect sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) reported to FinCEN. The NPRM explains the circumstances in which specified recipients would have access to BOI and outlines data protection protocols and oversight mechanisms applicable to each recipient category. The disclosure of BOI to authorized recipients in accordance with appropriate protocols and oversight will help law enforcement and national security agencies prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, tax fraud, and other illicit activity, as well as protect national security. FinCEN is also proposing regulations to specify when and how reporting companies can use FinCEN identifiers to report the BOI of entities.

FinCEN is issuing a final rule requiring certain entities to file with FinCEN reports that identify two categories of individuals: the beneficial owners of the entity, and individuals who have filed an application with specified governmental authorities to create the entity or register it to do business. These regulations implement Section 6403 of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), enacted into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), and describe who must file a report, what information must be provided, and when a report is due. These requirements are intended to help prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, tax fraud, and other illicit activity, while minimizing the burden on entities doing business in the United States.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of a currently approved information collection found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, the regulations prohibit covered financial institutions from maintaining correspondent accounts for or on behalf of a foreign shell bank. The regulations require that a covered financial institution take reasonable steps to ensure that any correspondent account that it maintains in the United States for a foreign bank is not used by the foreign bank to indirectly provide banking services to a foreign shell bank. The regulations also mandate that a covered financial institution maintaining correspondent accounts in the United States for foreign banks retain records in the United States identifying: The owners of each such foreign bank whose shares are not publicly traded, unless the foreign bank files a Form FR-Y with the Federal Reserve Board identifying the current owners of the foreign bank; and the name and address of a person who resides in the United States who is authorized to serve as each such foreign bank's agent for service of legal process for records regarding each such correspondent account. Although no changes are proposed to the information collection, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost estimate associated with these regulations. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FinCEN is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking to seek public comment on the proposed establishment of a limited-duration pilot program, subject to conditions set by FinCEN, to permit a financial institution with a suspicious activity report (SAR) reporting obligation to share SARs and information related to SARs with the institution's foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates for the purpose of combating illicit finance risk, in accordance with Section 6212(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of a currently approved information collection found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, the regulations authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, as appropriate, to promulgate regulations requiring specified financial institutions to file reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of certain transactions with designated foreign financial agencies. Although no changes are proposed to the information collection itself, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost estimate associated with these regulations. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FinCEN is inviting the public to nominate financial institutions, trade groups, and non-federal regulators or law enforcement agencies for membership on the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group. New members will be selected for three-year membership terms.

FinCEN is issuing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on potential requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for certain persons involved in real estate transactions to collect, report, and retain information. The systemic money laundering vulnerabilities presented by the U.S. real estate sector, and consequently, the ability of illicit actors to launder criminal proceeds through the purchase of real estate, threatens U.S. national security and the integrity of the U.S. financial system. Accordingly, FinCEN intends to begin the rulemaking process to address such vulnerabilities. As a first step in this rulemaking process, FinCEN is issuing this ANPRM to seek initial public comment on questions that will assist FinCEN in the consideration and preparation of a proposed rule.

FinCEN is issuing this final rule to update its regulation to reflect amendments to the underlying statute concerning the authority of FinCEN to issue orders imposing additional reporting and recordkeeping requirements on financial institutions and nonfinancial trades or businesses in a geographic area.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, NCUA, and FinCEN (collectively, the agencies), seek information and comment from interested parties on the extent to which the principles discussed in the interagency Supervisory Guidance on Model Risk Management (referred to as the ``model risk management guidance,'' or MRMG) support compliance by banks with Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) requirements. The agencies seek this information to enhance their understanding of bank practices in these areas and determine whether additional explanation or clarification may increase transparency, effectiveness, or efficiency. The OCC, Board, and FDIC, in consultation with NCUA and FinCEN, are concurrently issuing a statement to clarify that the risk management principles discussed in the MRMG are appropriate considerations in the context of the BSA/AML statutory and regulatory requirements.

FinCEN publishes this final rule to reflect inflation adjustments to its civil monetary penalties (``CMPs'') as mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended. This rule adjusts certain CMPs within the jurisdiction of FinCEN to the maximum amount required by that act.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of a currently approved information collection found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, the regulations permit banks to file a FinCEN Report 110, Designation of Exempt Person (``DOEP Report''), to designate eligible customers as exempt persons, such that a bank is not required to file a report with respect to any transaction in currency over $10,000 with such customers. Under the regulations, a bank, to exempt a person, must also take steps to ensure that a person meets the requirements for an exemption, document the basis for the bank's initial conclusion that a person is exempt, annually review the eligibility of certain exempt persons, document compliance with the DOEP Report requirements, and maintain a monitoring system that is reasonably designed to detect, for each account of a non-listed business or payroll customer, transactions in currency requiring a bank to file a suspicious transaction report. Although no changes are proposed to the information collection itself, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost estimate associated with these regulations. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FinCEN is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking to seek public comments on a proposal to require banks and money service businesses (``MSBs'') to submit reports, keep records, and verify the identity of customers in relation to transactions involving convertible virtual currency (``CVC'') or digital assets with legal tender status (``legal tender digital assets'' or ``LTDA'') held in unhosted wallets (as defined below), or held in wallets hosted in a jurisdiction identified by FinCEN. FinCEN is proposing to adopt these requirements pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA''). To effectuate certain of these proposed requirements, FinCEN proposes to prescribe by regulation that CVC and LTDA are ``monetary instruments'' for purposes of the BSA. However, FinCEN is not proposing to modify the regulatory definition of ``monetary instruments'' or otherwise alter existing BSA regulatory requirements applicable to ``monetary instruments'' in FinCEN's regulations, including the existing currency transaction reporting (``CTR'') requirement and the existing transportation of currency or monetary instruments reporting requirement.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of currently approved information collections found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, the regulations covered by this notice and request for comments require certain financial institutions to make and retain records associated with certain types of transactions, including funds transfers, transmittals of funds, and prepaid access transactions, among other types of transactions. Although no changes are proposed to the information collections themselves, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost estimates associated with these regulations. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of a currently approved information collection found in existing Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulations. Specifically, the regulations provide procedures for requestors to seek, and for FinCEN to issue, administrative rulings. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of a currently approved information collection found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, FinCEN invites comment on a renewal, without change, of existing information collection requirements concerning reports of foreign financial accounts and FinCEN Report 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of a currently approved information collection found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, the regulations require banks, brokers or dealers in securities, futures commission merchants, introducing brokers in commodities, and mutual funds to establish due diligence programs that include risk-based, and, where necessary, enhanced, policies, procedures, and controls reasonably designed to detect and report money laundering conducted through or involving, any correspondent accounts established or maintained for foreign financial institutions. The regulations also require that these same financial institutions establish due diligence programs that include policies, procedures, and controls reasonably designed to detect and report money laundering conducted through or involving any private banking accounts established by the financial institutions. The due diligence programs are required to be part of the financial institutions' anti-money laundering programs. Although no changes are proposed to the information collection itself, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost estimate associated with these regulations. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of currently approved information collections found in existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations requiring money services businesses, mutual funds, insurance companies, dealers in precious metals, precious stones, or jewels, operators of credit card systems, and loan or finance 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. Although no changes are proposed to the information collections themselves, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual burden and cost estimates associated with these regulations. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comment on a renewal, without change, to information collection requirements finalized on November 8, 2017, imposing a special measure with respect to Bank of Dandong as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern. This request for comments is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This rule repeals regulations concerning Special measures against Banco Delta Asia, which were issued pursuant to Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Section 311). Subsequent to the issuance of this rule, FinCEN will reassess whether BDA is presently a financial institution of primary money laundering concern and additional rulemaking is warranted. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FinCEN is publishing a withdrawal of the finding regarding BDA, issued September 20, 2005.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of currently approved information collections relating to reports of suspicious transactions. Under the Bank Secrecy Act regulations, financial institutions are required to report suspicious transactions using FinCEN Report 111 (the suspicious activity report, or SAR). Although no changes are proposed to the information collections themselves, this request for comments covers a proposed updated burden estimate for the information collections. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FinCEN publishes this final rule to reflect inflation adjustments to its civil monetary penalties (``CMPs'') as mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (collectively referred to herein as the ``2015 Act''). This rule adjusts certain CMPs within the jurisdiction of FinCEN to the maximum amount required by the 2015 Act.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comment on the proposed renewal, without change, to a currently approved information collection relating to beneficial ownership requirements for legal entity customers of covered financial institutions. Under Bank Secrecy Act regulations, covered financial institutions are required to collect, and to maintain records of, the information used to identify and verify the identity of the names of the beneficial owners of their legal entity customers, subject to certain exclusions and exemptions. This request for comment is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.