[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 244 (Thursday, December 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65394-65395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27513]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal;
Comment Request; Reports of Foreign Financial Accounts Regulations and
FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (``FinCEN''), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: FinCEN invites comment on a renewal, without change, of
existing information collection requirements concerning reports of
foreign financial accounts and FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank
and Financial Accounts (``FBAR''). This request for comments is being
made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') of 1995.
DATES: Written comments are welcome and must be received on or before
February 19, 2019 to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Federal E-rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Refer to Docket Number
FINCEN-2018-0018 and the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'')
control number 1506-0009.
Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2018-0018 and OMB control number 1506-0009.
Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will also be
incorporated to FinCEN's retrospective regulatory review process, as
mandated by E.O. 12866 and 13563. All comments submitted in response to
this notice will become a matter of public record. Therefore, you
should submit only information that you wish to make publicly
available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FinCEN Resource Center at 800-767-
2825 or electronically at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA''), Titles I and
II of Public Law 91-508, as amended, codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829(b), 12
U.S.C. 1951-1959, and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5332, authorizes the
Secretary of the Treasury, among other things, 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
counter-money laundering programs and compliance procedures.\1\ Title
III of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, Pub. L. 107-56, included certain
amendments to the anti-money laundering provisions of Title II of the
BSA, 31 U.S.C. 5311 et seq., which are intended to aid in the
prevention, detection, and prosecution of international money
laundering and terrorist financing.
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\1\ Language expanding the scope of the BSA to intelligence or
counter-intelligence activities to protect against international
terrorism was added by Section 358 of the Uniting and Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, P.L. 107-56 (``USA PATRIOT Act'').
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Regulations implementing Title II of the BSA appear at 31 CFR
Chapter X. The authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to administer
Title II of the BSA has been delegated to the Director of FinCEN. The
information collected and retained under the regulation addressed in
this notice assist Federal, state, and local law enforcement as well as
regulatory authorities in the identification, investigation, and
prosecution of money laundering and other matters.
Under 31 U.S.C. 5314, the Secretary is authorized to require any
``resident or citizen of the United States or a person in, and doing
business in, the United States, to . . . keep records and file reports,
when the resident, citizen, or person makes a transaction or maintains
a relation for any person with a foreign financial agency.'' The term
``foreign financial agency'' encompasses the activities found in the
statutory definition of ``financial agency,'' \2\ which means, in
pertinent part, ``a person acting for a person as a financial
institution, bailee, depository trustee, or agent, or acting in a
similar way related to money, credit, securities, gold, or a
transaction in money, credit, securities, or gold.'' \3\ The Secretary
is also authorized to prescribe exemptions to the reporting requirement
and to prescribe other matters the Secretary considers necessary to
carry out section 5314.
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\2\ 31 U.S.C. 5312(b)(2).
\3\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(1), which exempts from the definition
of financial agency a person acting for a country, a monetary or
financial authority acting as a monetary or financial authority or
an international financial institution of which the United States
government is a member.
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Pursuant to the authority in section 5314, 31 CFR 1010.350
generally requires each U.S. person having a financial interest in, or
signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other
financial account in a foreign country to report such relationship to
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for each year in which such
relationship exists, and to provide and report such information
specified in a reporting form prescribed under 31 U.S.C. 5314. Section
1010.350 provides certain exceptions from reporting. FinCEN Form 114
(the FBAR) is the form used to file the required information. The
recordkeeping requirements associated with foreign financial accounts
required to be reported under section 1010.350 are set forth in 31 CFR
1010.420. Specifically, filers must retain records of such accounts for
a period of 5 years and make the records available for inspection as
authorized by law.\4\
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\4\ The penalties provided in the BSA apply to both the FBAR
reporting and recordkeeping requirement.
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In accordance with the requirements of the PRA and its implementing
regulations, the following information is presented concerning the
information collection below.
Title: Reports of foreign financial accounts and records to be made
and retained by persons having financial
[[Page 65395]]
interests in foreign financial accounts (31 CFR 1010.350, 1010.420) and
FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.
OMB Control Number: 1506-0009.
Form Number: FinCEN Form 114.
Abstract: Each U.S. person having a financial interest in, or
signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other
financial account in a foreign country shall report such relationship
to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for each year in which such
relationship exists and shall provide such information as shall be
specified in a reporting form prescribed under 31 U.S.C. 5314 to be
filed by such persons. This information will be provided on the FinCEN
Form 114. Records of accounts required by Sec. 1010.350 to be reported
shall be retained by each person having a financial interest in or
signature or other authority over any such account. Such records shall
be retained for a period of 5 years and shall be kept at all times
available for inspection as authorized by law.
Type of Review: Renewal without change to a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals, businesses or other for-profit
institutions, and non-profit institutions.
Burden:
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,090,774.\5\
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\5\ The total number of FBARs reported for foreign financial
accounts reported for calendar year 2016 is 1,090,774.
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Estimated Number of Responses: 1,090,774.
Estimated Average Annual Burden Per Response: The
estimated average burden associated with the recordkeeping requirements
in the rules will vary depending on the number of reportable accounts.
We estimate that the recordkeeping burden will range from five minutes
to sixty minutes, and that the average burden will be 30 minutes. The
estimated average burden associated with the reporting requirement
(i.e., FBAR form completion) will also vary depending on the number of
reportable accounts and whether the filer will be able to take
advantage of the exceptions provided in the rule. We estimate that the
average reporting burden will range from approximately 15 minutes to 50
minutes and that the average reporting burden will be approximately 30
minutes. The estimated total annual recordkeeping and reporting burden
per response will be 1 hour.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden: 1,090,774 hours
(one hour per report).
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 OMB control number. Records required to be
retained under the BSA must be retained for five years. Generally,
information collected pursuant to the BSA is confidential but may be
shared as provided by law with regulatory and law enforcement
authorities.
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 11, 2018.
Jamal El-Hindi,
Deputy Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2018-27513 Filed 12-19-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P