[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38141-38142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15495]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Foreign Assets Control


Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Iranian Financial 
Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions 
of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: 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 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 Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') within the 
Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's 
Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. 
Financial

[[Page 38142]]

Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 27, 2012 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov.
    Follow the instructions on the Web site for submitting comments.
    Fax: Attn: Request for Comments (Iranian Financial Sanctions 
Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of 
Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts) (202) 622-1657.
    Mail: Attn: Request for Comments (Iranian Financial Sanctions 
Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of 
Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts), Office of Foreign 
Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20220.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and the Federal Register Doc. number that appears at the end of this 
document. Comments received will be made available to the public via 
regulations.gov or upon request, without change and including any 
personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Assistant Director for Sanctions 
Compliance & Evaluation, tel.: 202/622-2490, Assistant Director for 
Licensing, tel.: 202/622-2480, Assistant Director for Policy, tel.: 
202/622-4855, Office of Foreign Assets Control, or Chief Counsel 
(Foreign Assets Control), tel.: 202/622-2410, Office of the General 
Counsel, Department of the Treasury (not toll free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by 
U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-
Through Accounts.
    OMB Control Number: 1505-0243.
    Abstract: Section 561.504(b) of the Iranian Financial Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR Part 561 (the ``IFSR''), specifies that a U.S. 
financial institution that maintained a correspondent account or 
payable-through account for a foreign financial institution whose name 
is added to the Part 561 List on OFAC's Web site (www.treasury.gov/ofac) as subject to a prohibition on the maintaining of such accounts 
must file a report with OFAC that provides full details on the closing 
of each such account within 30 days of the closure of the account. This 
collection of information assists in verifying that U.S. financial 
institutions are complying with prohibitions on maintaining 
correspondent accounts or payable-through accounts for foreign 
financial institutions listed on the Part 561 List. The reports will be 
reviewed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and may be used for 
compliance and enforcement purposes by the agency.
    Current Actions: There are no changes being made to the collection 
at this time.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: U.S. financial institutions operating 
correspondent or payable-through accounts for foreign financial 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Because this collection of 
information is a report that must be filed when OFAC adds the name of a 
foreign financial institution to the Part 561 List, OFAC cannot predict 
the number of respondents for the section 561.504(b) reporting 
requirement at this time. From the date this reporting requirement was 
added to the IFSR (February 27, 2012) through June 14, 2012, OFAC did 
not add the name of a foreign financial institution to the Part 561 
List, and the number of respondents to this collection was therefore 
zero. For future submissions, OFAC will continue to report 
retrospectively on the number of respondents during the previous 
reporting period.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 hours per response.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Because the section 561.504(b) 
reporting requirement applies to those U.S. financial institutions that 
operate correspondent or payable-through accounts for a foreign 
financial institution whose name is added to the Part 561 List, OFAC 
cannot predict the response rate for the section 561.504(b) reporting 
requirement at this time. For future submissions, OFAC will report 
retrospectively on the response rate during the previous reporting 
period.
    The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of 
information covered by this notice:
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') 
control number.

Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will 
become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 
the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance 
of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (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.

    Dated: June 20, 2012.
Dawn D. Wolfgang,
Treasury PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-15495 Filed 6-25-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4811-25-P