[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48285-48286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15784]



[[Page 48285]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; 
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Information Collection 
Requirements in Connection With the Imposition of a Special Measure 
Against Bank of Dandong as a Financial Institution of Primary Money 
Laundering Concern

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, FinCEN invites comment on a renewal, without change, 
to an information collection requirement finalized on November 8, 2017, 
imposing a special measure against Bank of Dandong as a financial 
institution of primary money laundering concern. This request for 
comments is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments are welcome and must be received on or before 
September 25, 2023.

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-2023-0007 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control 
number 1506-0072.
     Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2023-0007 and OMB control number 1506-0072.
    Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will be 
reviewed consistent with the PRA and applicable OMB regulations and 
guidance. 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 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 Foreign 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 legislation, including 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, and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5336, and notes thereto, 
with implementing regulations at 31 CFR Chapter X.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The AML Act was enacted as Division F, sections 6001-6511, 
of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116-283, 134 Stat. 3388 (2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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, or regulatory matters, risk assessments or 
proceedings, 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Section 358 of the USA PATRIOT Act expanded the scope of the 
BSA by including a reference to reports and records ``that have a 
high degree of usefulness in intelligence or counterintelligence 
activities to protect against international terrorism.'' Section 
6101 of the AML Act further expanded the purpose of the BSA to cover 
such matters as preventing money laundering, tracking illicit funds, 
assessing risk, and establishing appropriate frameworks for 
information sharing.
    \3\ Treasury Order 180-01 (Jan. 14, 2020). Therefore, references 
to the authority of the Secretary under Section 311 of the USA 
PATRIOT Act apply equally to the Director of FinCEN.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (section 311), codified at 31 
U.S.C. 5318A, grants FinCEN the authority, upon finding that reasonable 
grounds exist for concluding that a foreign jurisdiction, financial 
institution, class of transactions, or type of account is of ``primary 
money laundering concern,'' to require domestic financial institutions 
and financial agencies to take one or more ``special measures.''
    Special measures one through four, codified at 31 U.S.C. 
5318A(b)(1)-(b)(4), impose additional recordkeeping, information 
collection, and reporting requirements on covered U.S. financial 
institutions. The fifth special measure, codified at 31 U.S.C. 
5318A(b)(5), allows FinCEN to impose prohibitions or conditions on the 
opening or maintenance of certain correspondent accounts. Special 
measures are safeguards that protect the U.S. financial system from 
money laundering and terrorist financing.
    FinCEN issued a final rule on November 8, 2017, imposing the fifth 
special measure to prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or 
maintaining a correspondent account for, or on behalf of, Bank of 
Dandong.\4\ The rule requires that covered U.S. financial institutions 
apply due diligence to correspondent accounts they maintain on behalf 
of foreign financial institutions that is reasonably designed to guard 
against the indirect use of those accounts by Bank of Dandong. See 31 
CFR 1010.660. Covered U.S. financial institutions are required under 31 
CFR 1010.660(b)(3)(i)(A) to notify holders of foreign correspondent 
accounts that they may not provide Bank of Dandong with access to such 
accounts. The requirement is intended to ensure cooperation from 
correspondent account holders in denying Bank of Dandong access to the 
U.S. financial system. Covered U.S. financial institutions are required 
under 31 CFR 1010.660(b)(4)(i) to document compliance with the 
notification requirement. The information is used by federal agencies 
and certain self-regulatory organizations to verify compliance with 31 
CFR 1010.660.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ FinCEN, Final Rule--Imposition of Special Measure Against 
Bank of Dandong as a Financial Institution of Primary Money 
Laundering Concern, 82 FR 51758 (Nov. 8, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Title: Information Collection Requirements in Connection with the 
Imposition of a Special Measure Against Bank of Dandong as a Financial 
Institution of Primary Money Laundering Concern.
    OMB Control Number: 1506-0072.
    Report Number: Not applicable.
    Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control 
number for the imposition of a special measure against Bank of Dandong 
as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern pursuant 
to the authority contained in 31 U.S.C. 5318A. See 31 CFR 1010.660.
    Type of Review: Renewal without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses and other for-profit institutions, and 
not-for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: One time notification and recordkeeping associated with 
the notification. See 31 CFR 1010.660(b)(3)(i)(A) and 
1010.660(b)(4)(i).

[[Page 48286]]

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 15,876.

              Respondent Financial Institutions by Category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Type of institution                         Count
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks, savings associations, thrifts, trust companies \6\..        5,068
Credit unions \7\..........................................        4,863
Brokers or dealers in securities \8\.......................        3,538
Mutual funds \9\...........................................        1,378
Futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in            1,029
 commodities \10\..........................................
                                                            ------------
  Total....................................................       15,876
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Time per Respondent: 1 hour.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ All counts are from the Q4 2022 Federal Financial 
Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Call Report data, available 
at https://cdr.ffiec.gov/public/pws/downloadbulkdata.aspx. Data for 
institutions that are not insured, are insured under non-FDIC 
deposit insurance regimes, or do not have a Federal functional 
regulator are from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's 
Research Information System, available at https://www.fdic.gov/foia/ris/index.html.
    \7\ Credit union data are from the National Credit Union 
Administration for Q4 2022, available at https://ncua.gov/analysis/credit-union-corporate-call-report-data.
    \8\ According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 
there are 3,538 brokers or dealers in securities as of the end of 
fiscal year 2022. See SEC, Fiscal Year 2024 Congressional Budget 
Justification, p. 32, https://www.sec.gov/files/fy-2024-congressional-budget-justification_final-3-10.pdf.
    \9\ According to information provided by the SEC as of December 
2022 (including filings made through January 20, 2023), there are 
1,378 open-end registered investment companies that report on Form 
N-CEN. FinCEN assesses that these companies are required to comply 
with 31 CFR 1010.660.
    \10\ As of March 31, 2023, there are 60 futures commission 
merchants. See Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), 
``Financial Data for FCMs'', available at https://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/financialfcmdata/index.htm. Additionally, as of April 
30, 2023, there are 969 introducing brokers in commodities according 
to the CFTC. These two counts total 1,029.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 15,876 hours (15,876 respondents x 1 
hour).
    When the final rule was published on November 8, 2017, FinCEN 
estimated that 5,787 U.S. financial institutions were affected by the 
rule. FinCEN has since revised its estimate upward to account for all 
domestic financial institutions that could potentially maintain 
correspondent accounts for foreign banks. There are approximately 
15,876 such financial institutions doing business in the United States.
    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

    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid 
OMB control number. 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, cost of operation and 
maintenance, and cost involved in purchasing services.

Himamauli Das,
Acting Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2023-15784 Filed 7-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P