2020-23801. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Multiple Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Information Collection Requests

AGENCY:

Departmental Offices, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Department of the Treasury will submit the following information collection requests to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. The public is invited to submit comments on these requests.

DATES:

Comments should be received on or before November 27, 2020 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Copies of the submissions may be obtained from Molly Stasko by emailing [e-mail], calling [phone], or viewing the entire information collection request at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

1. Title: Anti-Money Laundering programs and compliance procedures.

OMB Control Number: 1506-0020, 1506-0030, and 1506-0035.

Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved collection.

Description: The legislative framework generally referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) consists of the Currency and Financial Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) (Pub. L. 107-56) and other legislation. The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-1959, 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5332, and notes thereto, with implementing regulations at 31 CFR Chapter X.

The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, inter alia, to require financial institutions to keep records and file reports that are determined to have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, and regulatory matters, or in the conduct of intelligence or counter-intelligence activities, to protect against international terrorism, and to implement anti-money laundering (AML) programs and compliance procedures. Regulations implementing Title II of the BSA appear at 31 CFR Chapter X.

Section 352 of the USA PATRIOT Act added subsection (h) to 31 U.S.C. 5318 of the BSA. Section 352 mandates that financial institutions establish AML programs in order to guard against money laundering. Such AML programs must include, at a minimum, the following: (a) The development of internal policies, procedures, and controls, (b) the designation of a compliance officer, (c) an ongoing employee training program, and (d) an independent audit function to test programs. Pursuant to section 352, FinCEN issued regulations requiring money services businesses (MSBs) (31 CFR 1022.210), mutual funds (31 CFR 1024.210), insurance companies (31 CFR 1025.210), dealers in precious metals, precious stones, or jewels (31 CFR 1027.210), operators of credit card systems (31 CFR 1028.210), and loan or finance companies (31 CR 1029.210) to develop and implement written AML programs. This notice renews the OMB control numbers associated with these specific AML program regulations.

Form: Not applicable.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit institutions; Not-for-profit institutions.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 305,897.

Frequency of Response: As required.

Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 305,897.

Estimated Time per Response: 2 to 60 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 215,976 hours.

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Dated: October 22, 2020.

Molly Stasko,

Treasury PRA Clearance Officer.