14148 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

1USA PATRIOT Act, Public Law 107–56. 

2The 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 (NDAA). 

3Section 358 of the USA PATRIOT Act expanded 

the purpose 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.’’ 

See 12 U.S.C. 1829b(a). 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. See 31 U.S.C. 5311. 

4Treasury Order 180–01 (Jan. 14, 2020). 

5Covered financial institutions include certain 

banks, brokers or dealers in securities, mutual 

funds, futures commission merchants, and 

introducing brokers in commodities. See 31 CFR 

1010.230(f), 1010.605(e)(1). 

this information collection, (88 FR 

86445). No comments were received. 

Comments continue to be invited on: 

(a) Whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

OCC, including whether the information 

has practical utility; 

(b) The accuracy of the OCC’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 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. 

Theodore J. Dowd, 

Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03816 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–33–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Renewal; 

Comment Request; Renewal Without 

Change of the Beneficial Ownership 

Requirements for Legal Entity 

Customers 

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, of existing 

information collection requirements 

related to beneficial ownership 

requirements for legal entity customers. 

Under Bank Secrecy Act regulations, 

covered financial institutions are 

required to collect, and to maintain 

records of, the information used to 

identify and verify the identity of each 

beneficial owner of their legal entity 

customers, subject to certain exclusions 

and exemptions. This request for 

comment is made pursuant to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA). 

DATES: Written comments are welcome 

and must be received on or before April 

26, 2024. 

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–2024– 

0008 and the specific Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) control 

number 1506–0070. 

• Mail: Policy Division, Financial 

Crimes Enforcement Network, P.O. Box 

39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket 

Number FINCEN–2024–0008 and OMB 

control number 1506–0070. 

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: 

FinCEN’s Regulatory Support Section at 

1–800–767–2825 or electronically at 

frc@fincen.gov. 

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) 1 and other 

legislation, including the Anti-Money 

Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).2

The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b 

and 1951–1960 and 31 U.S.C. 5311– 

5314 and 5316–5336, and notes thereto, 

with implementing regulations at 31 

CFR Chapter X. 

The BSA authorizes the Secretary of 

the Treasury (Secretary) to, inter alia, 

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 terrorism, 

and to implement anti-money 

laundering (AML) programs and 

compliance procedures.3 The authority 

of the Secretary to administer the BSA 

has been delegated to the Director of 

FinCEN.4

Subject to certain exclusions and 

exemptions, 31 CFR 1010.230 requires 

covered financial institutions 5 to 

establish and maintain written 

procedures that are reasonably designed 

to identify and verify beneficial owners 

of new accounts opened by legal entity 

customers and to include such 

procedures in their AML programs. 

Covered financial institutions may 

obtain the required identifying 

information by either obtaining a 

prescribed certification form from the 

individual opening the account on 

behalf of the legal entity customer, or by 

obtaining from the individual the 

information required by the form by 

another means, provided the individual 

certifies to the best of the individual’s 

knowledge the accuracy of the 

information. Covered financial 

institutions must verify the identity of 

each beneficial owner identified 

according to risk-based procedures and 

may rely on the information supplied by 

the legal entity customer regarding the 

identity of its beneficial owner or 

owners, provided that it has no 

knowledge of facts that would 

reasonably call into question the 

reliability of such information. 

Covered financial institutions must 

also maintain a record of the identifying 

information obtained, and a description 

of any document relied on for 

verification, including a description of 

any non-documentary methods and 

results of any measures undertaken, and 

the resolutions of substantive 

discrepancies. Covered financial 

institutions must retain records used to 

identify each beneficial owner for five 

years after the date the account is closed 

and must also retain records used to 

verify the identity of each beneficial 

owner for five years after the record is 

made. 

As required by section 6403(d) of the 

Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), 

which was enacted as part of the AML 

Act, FinCEN intends to revise the 

requirements of 31 CFR 1010.230 to 

bring them into conformance with the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14149 

6The CTA is Title LXIV of the NDAA. 

7Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 

104–13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). 

8FinCEN’s estimate accounts for all covered U.S. 

financial institutions. There are approximately 

15,221 covered financial institutions. 

9Bank data is as of December 14, 2023, from 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) 

BankFind. See FDIC, BankFind, available at https:// 

banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/bankfind. Credit 

union data is as of September 30, 2023, from the 

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) 

Quarterly Data Summary Reports. See NCUA, 

Quarterly Data Summary Reports, available at 

https://ncua.gov/analysis/credit-union-corporatecall-report-data/quarterly-data-summary-reports. 

10According to the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (SEC), there are 3,477 broker-dealers in 

securities as of December 2023. See SEC, Data, 

Company Information About Active Broker-Dealers, 

available at https://www.sec.gov/help/

foiadocsbdfoia. 

11According to the SEC, as of the third quarter 

of 2023, there are 1,495 open-end registered 

investment companies that report on Form N–CEN. 

SEC, Data, Form N–CEN Data Sets, available at 

https://www.sec.gov/dera/data/form-ncen-data-sets. 

12According to the Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (CFTC), there are 62 futures 

commission merchants as of October 31, 2023. See 

CFTC, Financial Data for FCMs, available at https:// 

www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/financialfcmdata/ 

index.htm. 

13According to National Futures Association, 

there are 937 introducing brokers in commodities 

as of November 30, 2023. 

14See FinCEN, Customer Due Diligence 

Requirements for Financial Institutions Final Rule, 

81 FR 29398 (May 11, 2016). The final rule 

recognized a burden of 56 hours to develop the 

initial procedures (40 hours for small entities). 

Once procedures are developed, an annual burden 

of 20 minutes is recognized for revisions to and 

maintenance of such procedures. Covered financial 

institutions were required to comply with this rule 

by May 11, 2018, so no burden hours are included 

in this analysis for the initial development of 

procedure. 

15See FinCEN, Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Renewal; Comment Request; 

Renewal Without Change of the Beneficial 

Ownership Requirements for Legal Entity 

Customers, 84 FR 72137 (Dec. 30, 2019). On 

December 30, 2019, FinCEN published a notice to 

renew the Beneficial Ownership Requirements for 

Legal Entity Customers (the 2019 Notice). In 

response to the 2019 Notice, a public policy, 

research and advocacy group, whose membership 

includes a broad range of U.S. and U.S.-based 

banks, provided a comment noting that the estimate 

for customer identification, verification, and review 

and recordkeeping of beneficial ownership 

information should be increased to a range of 40 to 

120 minutes. Because of its broad membership of 

banks impacted by the regulations, FinCEN chose 

to take the average of the range of 40 to 120 minutes 

to estimate a new burden of 80 minutes per new 

account opened by a legal entity customer. When 

the OMB control number was renewed in 2020, that 

80 minutes estimate was incorporated. For the 

rationale for the increase in the burden estimate to 

80 minutes per new account opened by a legal 

entity customer, see Office of Management and 

Budget, Supporting Statement for OMB Control 

Number 1506–0070, available at https://

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAView

Document?ref_nbr=202003-1506-001. 

16See FinCEN, Customer Due Diligence 

Requirements for Financial Institutions Final Rule, 

81 FR 29398 (May 11, 2016). Based on research 

conducted as part of the final rule, it was estimated 

that each covered financial institution will open, on 

average, 1.5 new legal entity accounts per business 

day. There are 250 business days per year. (15,221 

covered financial institutions × 1.5 accounts per 

day × 250 business days per year = 5,707,875 legal 

entity accounts opened per year). 5,723,096 

responses (5,707,875 accounts to verify plus 15,221 

covered financial institution’s programs to update). 

17 5,707,875 new legal entity accounts multiplied 

by 80 minutes per account established and divided 

by 60 minutes per hour equals 7,610,500 burden 

hours to identify and verify beneficial owners of 

new legal entity accounts per year. 20 minutes to 

update and maintain beneficial ownership 

identification and verification procedures within a 

covered financial institution’s AML program 

multiplied by 15,221 covered financial institutions 

and divided by 60 minutes equals 5,074 burden 

hours annually. The total annual burden hours 

estimate for this information collection is 

(7,610,500 + 5,074) 7,615,574 hours. 

18The average hourly wage rate is calculated from 

the May 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

median hourly wage for ‘‘13–1041 Compliance 

Officer’’ of $34.47. See BLS, Occupational 

Employment and Wages Statistics (May 2022), 

available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. 

The ratio between benefits and wages for private 

industry workers is $12.19 (hourly benefits)/$29.34 

(hourly wages) = 0.42, as of September 2023. The 

benefit factor is 1 plus the benefit/wages ratio, or 

1.42. See BLS, Employee Costs for Employee 

Compensation (Sept. 2023), available at https://

www.bls.gov/ecec/home.htm#:∼:text=Employer

%20costs%20for%20private%20industry,percent

%20of%20total%20compensation%20costs. The 

fully-loaded wage rate is $48.95 ($34.47 multiplied 

by 1.42). 

CTA and address other considerations 

that FinCEN is required to take into 

account.6 As part of the revisions to 31 

CFR 1010.230, FinCEN intends to 

further assess the PRA burden of these 

requirements. 

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 7

Title: Beneficial Ownership 

Requirements for Legal Entity 

Customers (31 CFR 1010.230). 

OMB Control Number: 1506–0070. 

Form Number: Appendix A to 

§ 1010.230—Certification Regarding 

Beneficial Owners of Legal Entity 

Customers. 

Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this 

notice to renew the OMB control 

number for the beneficial ownership 

requirements for legal entity customers 

regulations contained in 31 CFR 

1010.230. 

Affected Public: Business and other 

for-profit institutions and non-profit 

institutions. 

Type of Review: Renewal without 

change of a currently approved 

information collection. 

Frequency: As required. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

15,221 covered financial institutions.8

RESPONDENT COVERED FINANCIAL

INSTITUTIONS BY CATEGORY

Financial institution type Number of 

entities 

Banks .................................................... 9 9,250 

Brokers or dealers in securities ............ 10 3,477 

Mutual funds .......................................... 11 1,495 

Futures commission merchants ............ 12 62 

Introducing brokers in commodities ...... 13 937 

Total ............................................... 15,221 

Estimated Recordkeeping Burden per 

Response: 

a. Update and maintain beneficial 

ownership identification procedures: 20 

minutes.14

b. Customer identification, 

verification, and review and 

recordkeeping of the beneficial 

ownership information: 80 minutes. A 

range of 40 to 120 minutes per legal 

entity customer (an average of 80 

minutes per legal entity customer).15

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

5,723,096.16

Estimated Total Annual 

Recordkeeping Burden: 7,615,574 

hours.17

Estimated Total Annual Reporting 

and Recordkeeping Cost: 

$372,782,347.30 (7,615,574 hours 

multiplied by $48.95).18

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. Records required to be retained 

under the BSA must be retained for five 

years. 

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. 

Jimmy L. Kirby, Jr., 

Deputy Director, Financial Crimes 

Enforcement Network. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03965 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–02–P 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES