The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – Treasury’s financial crimes unit – is planning to renew three Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) information collections that support efforts to prevent covered entities from being used to facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. Each is proposed for renewal with no change, and comments will be accepted until Oct. 22.
Anti-Money Laundering Programs for MSBs (Money Services Businesses), Mutual Funds, and Operators of Credit Card Systems: MSBs, mutual funds, and operators of credit card systems are required to develop and implement written anti-money laundering (AML) programs. FinCEN recognizes a three-hour burden for the initial development of an AML program; an annual burden of one hour for maintenance of the program (i.e., review and update as necessary); and, for providers and sellers of prepaid access, an additional annual maintenance burden of two minutes for each prepaid card issued. (A copy of the written AML program must be maintained for five years.) FinCEN estimates a total of 327,106 respondents for this collection, with an estimated 2,910,406 annual responses and 413,216 total burden hours.
Correspondent Accounts for Foreign Shell Banks; Recordkeeping and Termination of Correspondent Accounts for Foreign Banks: Covered financial institutions are prohibited from maintaining correspondent accounts for foreign shell banks; those which maintain correspondent accounts for foreign banks must maintain records of owner(s) of the foreign bank and the name and address of a person residing in the United States who is authorized to accept service of legal process for the foreign bank. Covered financial institutions may satisfy these requirements by using the sample certification and sample re-certification on the FinCEN website. Records of documents relied upon for this reporting must be maintained for at least five years after the date that the financial institution no longer maintains a correspondent account for such foreign bank. FinCEN estimates that 2,000 covered financial institutions maintain correspondent accounts with 9,000 foreign banks. The estimated average annual reporting burden associated with certification is 180,000 hours; for recertification, 45,000 hours; and for recordkeeping, 81,000 hours.
Link: Renewal without Change of Recordkeeping and Termination of Correspondent Accounts for Foreign Banks
Suspicious Activity Reporting by Brokers or Dealers in Securities and Futures Commission Merchants and Introducing Brokers in Commodities: Covered entities use FinCEN Form 111 (BSAR) for this reporting. FinCEN estimates 5,428 respondents and one report each annually. The annual reporting and recordkeeping burden is estimated at one hour.
In each notice, published in the Federal Register Tuesday, comments are invited on the following:
(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 automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and
(e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance and purchase of services to provide information.
FinCEN notes that all comments will become a matter of public record.