[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 240 (Thursday, December 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74277-74278]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30121]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of 
the Requirement for Information Sharing Between Government Agencies and 
Financial Institutions

AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN''), 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 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, FinCEN is soliciting comments concerning the 
renewal without change of the ``Information sharing between government 
agencies and financial institutions'' under 31 CFR 1010.520, generally 
referred to as the 314(a) program.

DATES: Written comments are welcome and must be received on or before 
February 11, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the Regulatory Policy and 
Programs Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of 
the Treasury, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, Virginia 22183. Attention: PRA 
Comments--314(a) program. Comments also may be submitted by electronic 
mail to the following Internet address: [email protected] with the 
caption in the body of the text, ``Attention: PRA Comments-- 314(a) 
program.''
    Inspection of comments. Comments may be inspected between 10 a.m. 
and 4 p.m. in the FinCEN reading room in Vienna, VA. Persons wishing to 
inspect the comments submitted must request an appointment with the 
Disclosure Officer by telephoning (703) 905-5034 (not a toll free 
call).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FinCEN regulatory helpline at 
(800) 949-2732 and select Option 3.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Statutory Provisions

    On October 26, 2001, the President signed into law the Uniting and 
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to 
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (``USA PATRIOT ACT'' or 
``Act''), Public Law 107-56. Title III of the Act amends the anti-money 
laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA''), codified at 12 
U.S.C. 1829b and 1951-1959 and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5332, to 
promote the prevention, detection, and prosecution of international 
money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Regulations 
implementing the BSA appear at 31 CFR Chapter X. The authority of the 
Secretary of the Treasury to administer the BSA has been delegated to 
the Director of FinCEN.
    Of the Act's many goals, the facilitation of information sharing 
among governmental entities and financial institutions for the purpose 
of combating terrorism and money laundering is of paramount importance.
    As with many other provisions of the Act, Congress has charged the 
U.S. Department of the Treasury with developing regulations to 
implement these information-sharing provisions.
    Subsection 314(a) of the Act states in part that:

[t]he Secretary shall * * * adopt regulations to encourage further 
cooperation among financial institutions, their regulatory 
authorities, and law enforcement authorities, with the specific 
purpose of encouraging regulatory authorities and law enforcement 
authorities to share with financial institutions information 
regarding individuals, entities, and organizations engaged in, or 
reasonably suspected based on credible evidence of engaging in, 
terrorist acts or money laundering activities.\1\
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    \1\ Pub. L. 107-56, Title III, Sec.  314, Oct. 26, 2001, 115 
Stat. 307, as amended by Public Law 108-458, Title VI, Sec.  
6202(f), Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat 3745.
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B. Overview of the Current Regulatory Provisions Regarding the 314(a) 
Program

    On September 26, 2002, FinCEN published a final rule implementing 
the authority contained in section 314(a) of the Act.\2\ That rule 
(``the 314(a) rule'') required U.S. financial institutions, upon 
FinCEN's request, to search their records to determine whether they 
have maintained an account or conducted a transaction with a person 
that a Federal law enforcement agency has certified is suspected, based 
on credible evidence, of engaging in terrorist activity or money 
laundering.\3\ The rule was expanded on February 10, 2010 to enable 
certain entities other than Federal law enforcement agencies to benefit 
from 314(a) requests to industry. As amended, the rule now also enables 
certain foreign law enforcement agencies, state and local law 
enforcement agencies, as well as FinCEN, on its own behalf and on 
behalf of appropriate components of the Department of the Treasury, to 
initiate 314(a) queries.\4\ Before processing a request, FinCEN 
requires the requesting agency to certify that, in the case of

[[Page 74278]]

money laundering, the matter is significant, and that the requesting 
agency has been unable to locate the information sought through 
traditional methods of investigation and analysis before attempting to 
use the 314(a) program.
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    \2\ Special Information Sharing Procedures to Deter Money 
Laundering and Terrorist Activity, 67 FR 60,579 (Sept. 26, 2002).
    \3\ 31 CFR 1010.520.
    \4\ Expansion of Special Information Sharing Procedures To Deter 
Money Laundering and Terrorist Activity, 75 FR 6560 (Feb. 10, 2010).
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    Since its inception, the 314(a) program has yielded significant 
investigative benefits for law enforcement users in terrorist financing 
and/or significant money laundering cases. Feedback from the requesters 
and illustrations from sample case studies consistently demonstrate how 
useful the program is in enhancing the scope and expanding the universe 
of investigations. In view of the proven success of the 314(a) program, 
FinCEN seeks to renew without change the 314(a) program.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''): \5\
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    \5\ The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply to the 
requirement in section 1010.520(b)(2) concerning reports by 
financial institutions in response to a request from FinCEN on 
behalf of a Federal law enforcement agency. See 5 CFR Sec.  
1320.4(a)(2). Therefore, this renewal applies only to the use of the 
314(a) program with respect to queries initiated by non-federal law 
enforcement entities.
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    Title: Information sharing between government agencies and 
financial institutions.
    OMB Number: 1506-0049.
    Form Number: Not Applicable. Abstract: 31 CFR Chapter X, 
Information sharing between government agencies and financial 
institutions (31 CFR 1010.520) details the requirements of section 
314(a) of the USA PATRIOT Act. Each financial institution (as defined 
in 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2) or (c)(1)) should refer to its Chapter X part 
for any additional special information sharing procedures.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit and non-profit 
organizations, and the Federal, state, and local governments.
    Frequency: As required.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 20,134.\6\
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    \6\ On an annual basis, there are approximately 20,134 covered 
financial institutions, consisting of commercial banks, savings 
associations, credit unions, securities broker-dealers, future 
commission merchants, and certain trust companies, life insurance 
companies, mutual funds and money services businesses.
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    Estimated Time per Respondent: 54 hours annually.\7\
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    \7\ Estimated cases/subjects per annum subject to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act include: 10 from FinCEN, 50 from state/local law 
enforcement, and 30 from European Union countries approved by 
treaty, for a total of 90 request per annum, and each request 
generally contains 9 subjects (including aliases). Each subject 
requires 4 minutes to research, resulting in (90 x 9 x 4 / 60) = 54 
hours per year.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,087,236.\8\
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    \8\ Burden computation is as follows: 54 hours per year per 
respondent times 20,134 respondents (54 x 20,134) = 1,087,236 hours.
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    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. In accordance with 31 CFR Sec.  1010.330(e)(3), a 
person required to make a report under this section must keep a copy of 
each report filed for five years from the date of filing.
    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 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.

    Dated: December 5, 2012.
Jennifer Shasky Calvery,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2012-30121 Filed 12-12-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P