[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16548-16551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06157]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; 
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of the Report of International 
Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments; FinCEN Report 105

AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, 
without change, of a currently approved information collection found in 
existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, FinCEN invites 
comments on a renewal, without change, of existing information 
collection requirements for the Report of International Transportation 
of Currency or Monetary Instruments (CMIR). Although no changes are 
proposed to the information collection itself, this request for 
comments covers a proposed updated burden estimate for the information 
collection. This request for comments is made pursuant to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

DATES: Written comments are welcome, and must be received on or before 
May 23, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Federal E-rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Refer to Docket Number 
FINCEN-2022-0006 and the specific Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
control numbers 1506-0014.
     Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2022-0006 and OMB control number 1506-0014.
    Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will be 
reviewed consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
applicable OMB regulations and guidance. 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 Regulatory Support Section 
at 1-800-767-2825 or electronically at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions

    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), Public Law 107-56 (October 26, 
2001), and other

[[Page 16549]]

legislation, including most recently the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 
2020 (AML Act).\1\ The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 
1951-1960, 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5336, and notes thereto, with 
implementing regulations at 31 CFR chapter X.
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    \1\ The AML Act was enacted as Division F, Sec. Sec.  6001-6511, 
of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116-283, 134 Stat 3388 (2021).
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    The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury (the 
``Secretary''), 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 AML programs and compliance 
procedures.\2\ Regulations implementing the BSA appear at 31 CFR 
chapter X. The authority of the Secretary to administer the BSA has 
been delegated to the Director of FinCEN.\3\
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    \2\ Section 358 of the USA PATRIOT Act added language expanding 
the scope of the BSA to intelligence or counter-intelligence 
activities to protect against international terrorism. Section 6101 
of the AML Act added language further expanding the scope of the BSA 
but did not amend these longstanding purposes.
    \3\ Treasury Order 180-01.
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    31 U.S.C. 5316 requires, with limited exceptions, that a person, or 
an agent or bailee of the person, file a report when the person, agent, 
or bailee knowingly: (i) Transports, is about to transport, or has 
transported monetary instruments \4\ of more than $10,000 at one time 
from a place in the United States to or through a place outside the 
United States, or to a place in the United States from or through a 
place outside the United States; or (ii) receives monetary instruments 
of more than $10,000 at one time transported into the United States 
from or through a place outside the United States. The regulations 
implementing this statutory requirement are found at 31 CFR 1010.340.
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    \4\ For purposes of 31 U.S.C. 5316, monetary instruments is 
defined in 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(3) as amended by section 6102(d)(1)(C) 
of the AML Act.
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    31 CFR 1010.340(a) requires each person \5\ who physically 
transports, mails, or ships, or causes to be physically transported, 
mailed or shipped, or attempts to cause to be physically transported, 
mailed or shipped, currency \6\ or other monetary instruments \7\ in an 
aggregate amount exceeding $10,000 at one time from the United States 
to any place outside the United States, or into the United States from 
any place outside the United States, to file a CMIR.\8\
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    \5\ FinCEN regulations define a ``person'' as an individual, a 
corporation, partnership, a trust or estate, a joint stock company, 
an association, a syndicate, joint venture or other unincorporated 
organization or group, an Indian Tribe (as that term is defined in 
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act), and all entities cognizable as 
legal personalities. 31 CFR 1010.100(mm).
    \6\ FinCEN regulations define currency in 31 CFR 1010.100(m).
    \7\ FinCEN regulations define monetary instruments in 31 CFR 
1010.100(dd).
    \8\ A person is deemed to have caused such transportation, 
mailing or shipping when he or she aids, abets, counsels, commands, 
procures, or requests it to be done by a financial institution or 
any other person. 31 CFR 1010.340(a).
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    31 CFR 1010.340(b) requires each person in the United States who 
receives at any one time currency or other monetary instruments 
exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate, which have been transported, 
mailed, or shipped to such person from any place outside the United 
States, to file a CMIR if the CMIR has not already been filed pursuant 
to 31 CFR 1010.340(a). The CMIR must include the amount, the date of 
receipt, the form of monetary instruments, and the person from whom the 
funds were received.
    31 CFR 1010.340(c) includes a list of persons that are not required 
to file a CMIR, even if they satisfy the conditions of 31 CFR 
1010.340(a) or (b). 31 CFR 1010.340(d) clarifies that a transfer of 
funds through normal banking procedures, which does not involve the 
physical transportation of currency or monetary instruments, is not 
required to be reported on the CMIR.
    According to the CMIR instructions, each person who receives 
currency or other monetary instruments in the United States must file a 
CMIR within 15 days after receipt of the currency or monetary 
instruments with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
officer in charge at any port of entry or departure, or by mail.\9\ 
Travelers carrying currency or other monetary instruments with them 
must file the CMIR at the time they enter the United States or at the 
time they depart the United States with the CBP officer in charge at 
any port of entry or departure.\10\
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    \9\ See FinCEN Report 105--CMIR, General Instructions at https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/fin105_cmir.pdf.
    \10\ In early 2020, CBP implemented a web-based platform for the 
electronic completion of CMIRs by travelers transporting their own 
currency or monetary instruments. Travelers using this platform must 
still present the evidence of the electronic completion of the 
report to the CBP officer in charge at any port of entry or 
departure. See https://fincen105.cbp.dhs.gov/#/.
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    A transportation, mailing, or shipping of currency or monetary 
instruments does not need to be reported if any other participants in 
that cross-border transportation, mailing, or shipping previously filed 
a complete and accurate CMIR. If, however, a complete and accurate CMIR 
has not been filed with respect to a given transaction, no person 
required to file the CMIR will be excused for failure to do so.
    A person transporting their own currency or monetary instruments (a 
``traveler'') in excess of $10,000, or shipping, mailing, or receiving 
such value on their own behalf, must provide their own information when 
completing the CMIR. In completing a CMIR, a person acting for anyone 
else when transporting, shipping, mailing, or receiving currency or 
monetary instruments (a ``currency transporter'') in excess of $10,000 
must provide (a) the person's own information, and (b) information 
about (i) the person on whose behalf the transaction was conducted, 
(ii) the person from whom the currency or monetary instruments were 
received, and/or (iii) the person to whom the currency or monetary 
instruments were shipped.\11\
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    \11\ See supra note 9. See also, FIN-2014-G002, CMIR guidance 
for common carriers of currency, including armored car services, 
Aug.1, 2014. See https://www.fincen.gov/resources/statutes-regulations/guidance/cmir-guidance-common-carriers-currency-including-armored.
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II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 12
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    \12\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
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    Title: Reports of transportation of currency or monetary 
instruments (31 CFR 1010.340).
    OMB Control Numbers: 1506-0014.
    Report Number: FinCEN Report 105--Report of International 
Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments (CMIR).\13\
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    \13\ A copy of the CMIR can be found on FinCEN's website at 
https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/fin105_cmir.pdf. A 
copy of the CMIR can also be found on the CBP website at https://fincen105.cbp.dhs.gov/#/.
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    Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control 
number for the CMIR regulations and report.
    Affected Public: Individuals and entities.
    Type of Review:
     Renewal without change of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Frequency: As required.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 184,709 reports (average number of 
CMIRs filed annually over the period 2017-2019).\14\
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    \14\ See Tables 1 and 2 below.
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    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden: FinCEN estimates that 
the total annual burden and cost to comply with the CMIR

[[Page 16550]]

regulations, in hours and dollars, is the sum of the following 
estimates:
    (a) The total number of CMIRs filed annually;
    (b) The time and cost for travelers to report transporting, 
mailing, shipping, or receiving their own currency or monetary 
instruments;
    (c) The time and cost for currency transporters to report 
transporting, mailing, shipping, or receiving currency or monetary 
instruments on behalf of others;
    (d) The cost to CBP to receive, review, and process CMIRs; and
    (e) The cost to FinCEN to upload and store CMIRs.

1. Estimate of Number of CMIRs Filed Annually

    Using CBP data, FinCEN identified the number of CMIRs filed over 
the past five years, broken down by the dollar amount reported on 
individual CMIRs.

                                            Table 1--CMIRs Filed Between 2017-2021, by CMIR Reporting Amount
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                                                                                               Year
                  CMIR reporting amount                  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Grand total
                                                               2017            2018            2019            2020           2021(*)
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$10 million and above...................................           1,761           2,140           2,101             899             306           7,207
$1 million and above....................................           5,960           6,678           6,932           3,086           2,910          25,566
$500,000 and above......................................           2,653           2,893           2,915           1,637           1,817          11,915
$250,000 and above......................................           2,953           3,123           2,780           1,635           1,556          12,047
$100,000 and above......................................           4,684           4,784           4,270           2,201           2,847          18,786
$50,000 and above.......................................          10,674           9,997           9,452           4,921           5,834          40,878
$10,000 and above.......................................         169,474         152,318         145,586          59,520          79,428         606,326
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total CMIRs per Year................................         198,159         181,933         174,036          73,899          94,698         722,725
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(*) Up to and including November 2021.

    Because the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted cross-border travel 
during 2020 and, to a lesser degree, 2021, FinCEN restricted its 
average annual CMIR reporting estimate to the average number of CMIRs 
filed between 2017-2019.

                                   Table 2--Average Number of CMIRs Filed Between 2017-2019, by CMIR Reporting Amount
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                                                               Year
          CMIR reporting amount          ------------------------------------------------   Grand total       Average          Tiers          Percent
                                               2017            2018            2019
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$10 million and above...................           1,761           2,140           2,101           6,002           2,001          14,296            7.74
$1 million and above....................           5,960           6,678           6,932          19,570           6,523
$500,000 and above......................           2,653           2,893           2,915           8,461           2,820
$250,000 and above......................           2,953           3,123           2,780           8,856           2,952
$100,000 and above......................           4,684           4,784           4,270          13,738           4,579         170,413           92.26
$50,000 and above.......................          10,674           9,997           9,452          30,123          10,041
$10,000 and above.......................         169,474         152,318         145,586         467,378         155,793
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    Total CMIRs per Year................         198,159         181,933         174,036         554,128         184,709         184,709          100.00
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    FinCEN estimates that approximately 184,709 CMIRs are filed 
annually.\15\ To calculate the different compliance burdens for 
travelers filing CMIRs on their own behalf, and currency transporters 
reporting transactions on behalf of other persons, FinCEN separated the 
annual estimate into two tiers:
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    \15\ See Table 2.
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    (a) 14,296 CMIRs (or 7.74% of the total estimate) have reporting 
amounts of $250,000 and above. FinCEN assesses that CMIRs reporting 
$250,000 or more are likely CMIRs filed by currency transporters.
    b) 170,413 CMIRs (or 92.26% of the total estimate) have reporting 
amounts of less than $250,000. FinCEN assesses that CMIRs reporting 
less than $250,000 are likely CMIRs filed by travelers on behalf of 
themselves.
    The information required to be reported on the CMIR is basic 
identifying and transaction information which would be readily 
accessible to a traveler or currency transporter. For instance, a 
traveler only has to report identifying information on themselves. A 
currency transporter has to report identifying information on itself, 
as well as on the person or business on whose behalf the currency is 
being transported. Both travelers and currency transporters are 
required to report on the type and amount of the currency being 
transported. For these reasons, FinCEN estimates that the completion of 
a CMIR filed by travelers reporting transactions involving their own 
currency or monetary instruments (including both the completion of the 
report and the storing of a copy) will require 15 minutes, while the 
completion of a CMIR filed by currency transporters will require 30 
minutes.

2. Estimated Cost for Travelers Reporting Transactions Involving Their 
Own Currency or Monetary Instruments

    To estimate the cost of compliance with CMIR reporting requirements 
for travelers, FinCEN used an average fully loaded wage rate of $38.44 
per hour (composed of $27.07 per hour, the mean hourly wage for all 
employees from the May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates report,\16\ multiplied by a private

[[Page 16551]]

industry benefits factor of 1.42).\17\ FinCEN estimates the annual 
compliance cost of CMIRs filed by travelers reporting transactions 
involving their own currency or monetary instruments at $1,637,669 
(170,413 reports multiplied by the average fully loaded wage rate of 
$38.44 per hour, multiplied by the ratio of 15 minutes/60 minutes, 
rounded up to the nearest hour and dollar).
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    \16\ See U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Occupational 
Employment and Wage Estimates, (May 2020), available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.
    \17\ The ratio between benefits and wages for private industry 
workers is $10.83 (hourly benefits)/$25.80 (hourly wages) = 0.42. 
The benefit factor is 1 plus the benefit/wages ratio, or 1.42. See 
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 4. Employer Costs for 
Employee Compensation for private industry workers by occupational 
and industry group, (March 2021), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t04.htm.
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3. Estimated Cost for Currency Transporters Reporting Transactions 
Involving Currency or Monetary Instruments Belonging to Others

    To estimate the cost of compliance with CMIR reporting requirements 
for currency transporters, FinCEN calculated an average weighted fully 
loaded wage rate representing the participation of two different 
employee levels in the preparation of the report: An operational level 
that fills in the report, and a direct supervision level that controls 
it.

          Table 3--Fully-Loaded Hourly Wage Per Role and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Position
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                                                                   Median hourly                   Fully-loaded
             Role                  BLS-code         BLS-name           wage       Benefit factor    hourly wage
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Direct Supervision............         13-1041  Compliance                $34.18            1.42          $48.54
                                                 Officer.
Operations....................         43-3071  Teller..........           15.68            1.42           22.27
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    Based on an allocation of twenty minutes (approximately 67% of the 
total estimated time to complete and file a CMIR) for the operational 
level to complete and store a copy of the report, and ten minutes 
(approximately 33% of the total estimated time to complete and file a 
CMIR) for the direct supervision level to compare the completed report 
against transportation documents, the weighted fully loaded wage would 
be:

                                Table 4--Weighted Fully Loaded Proportional Cost
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                                                Direct supervision              Operations            Weighted
                 Component                 --------------------------------------------------------    average
                                            Percent time   Hourly cost  Percent time   Hourly cost   hourly cost
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Recordkeeping and reporting...............          33%        $48.54           67%        $22.27        $31.03
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    FinCEN estimates the annual compliance cost of CMIRs filed by 
currency transporters reporting transactions conducted on behalf of 
others, at $221,802 (14,296 reports multiplied by the weighted fully 
loaded wage rate of $31.03, multiplied by the ratio of 30 minutes/60 
minutes, rounded up to the nearest hour and dollar).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 184,709 (average number of CMIRs 
filed over the period 2017-2019).
    Estimated Burden per Respondent: 15 minutes per report filed by 
travelers reporting transactions involving their own currency or 
monetary instruments, and 30 minutes per report filed by currency 
transporters reporting transactions on behalf of others.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 49,751 hours.\18\
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    \18\ The sum of 170,413 reports * 15 minutes/60 minutes per 
hour, and 14,296 reports * 30 minutes/60 minutes per hour, rounded 
up to the nearest hour.
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    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Public: $1,859,471 ($1,637,669 
for travelers and $221,802 for currency transporters).
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Government: $1,434,835.29, 
resulting from:
    (a) CBP's processing cost: $1,416,364.39.\19\
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    \19\ According to CBP, between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021, 
processing paper CMIRs cost $1,116,364.39. According to CBP, the 
annual cost to process electronic CMIRs is $300,000. ($1,116,364.39 
+ $300,000 = $1,416,364.39).
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    (b) FinCEN's upload and storing cost: $18,470.90 (the estimated 
annual cost to FinCEN is $0.10 per report, times the estimated number 
of annual reports (184,709 reports)).\20\
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    \20\ The estimated cost to FinCEN per BSA report submitted to 
FinCEN is $0.10.
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    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.
    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: (i) 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; (ii) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the collection of information; (iii) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (iv) 
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 (v) estimates 
of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and 
purchase of services to provide information.

Himamauli Das,
Acting Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2022-06157 Filed 3-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P