[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8930-8935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03266]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; 
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Reporting Obligations on 
Foreign Bank Relationships With Iranian-Linked Financial Institutions 
Designated Under IEEPA and IRGC-Linked Persons Designated Under IEEPA

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 comments on the proposed renewal, 
without change,

[[Page 8931]]

of a currently approved information collection found in an existing 
Bank Secrecy Act regulation. Specifically, the regulation requires that 
upon receiving a written request from FinCEN, a U.S. bank that 
maintains a correspondent account for a specified foreign bank must ask 
the foreign bank, and report to FinCEN, about transactions or other 
financial services provided by that foreign bank to Iranian-linked 
financial institutions designated under the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 
(IRGC)-linked persons designated under IEEPA. This request for comments 
is made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments are welcome, and must be received on or before 
April 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal E-rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Refer to Docket Number 
FINCEN-2022-0005 and the specific Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
control number 1506-0066.
    <bullet> Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2022-0005 and OMB control number 1506-0066.
    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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#690f1b0a290f00070a0c07470e061f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1c7a6e7f5c7a75727f7972327b736a">[email protected]</span></a>.

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 legislation, including most recently the Anti-Money 
Laundering 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 
includes notes thereto, with implementing regulations at 31 CFR chapter 
X.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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 (re-affirmed Jan. 14, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment 
Act of 2010 (CISADA) amended the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 by 
expanding economic sanctions against Iran. To comply with the 
Congressional mandate to prescribe regulations under section 104(e) of 
CISADA and consistent with its statutory mission under 31 U.S.C. 310, 
FinCEN issued a regulation requiring a U.S. bank \4\ that maintains a 
correspondent account \5\ for a specified foreign bank \6\ to ask of 
the foreign bank, and report to FinCEN, certain information about 
transactions or other financial services provided by that foreign bank. 
Under the regulation, U.S. banks are only required to report this 
information to FinCEN upon receiving a specific written request from 
FinCEN (``CISADA Request''). The regulation implementing section 104(e) 
of CISADA appears at 31 CFR 1060.300.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 31 CFR 1010.100(d). A bank is defined as each agent, agency, 
branch or office within the United States of any person doing 
business in one or more of the capacities listed below: (1) A 
commercial bank or trust company organized under the laws of any 
State or of the United States; (2) a private bank; (3) a savings and 
loan association or a building and loan association organized under 
the laws of any State or of the United States; (4) an insured 
institution as defined in section 401 of the National Housing Act; 
(5) a savings bank, industrial bank or other thrift institution; (6) 
A credit union organized under the law of any State or of the United 
States; (7) any other organization (except a money services 
business) chartered under the banking laws of any state and subject 
to the supervision of the bank supervisory authorities of a State; 
(8) a bank organized under foreign law; (9) any national banking 
association or corporation acting under the provisions of section 
25(a) of the Act of Dec. 23, 1913, as added by the Act of Dec. 24, 
1919, ch. 18, 41 Stat. 378, as amended (12 U.S.C. 611-32).
    \5\ 31 CFR 1010.605(c)(1)(ii). For purposes of 31 CFR 1010.630, 
a correspondent account is defined as an account established for a 
foreign bank to receive deposits from, or to make payments or other 
disbursements on behalf of, the foreign bank, or to handle other 
financial transactions related to such foreign bank.
    \6\ 31 CFR 1010.100(u). A foreign bank is defined as a bank 
organized under foreign law, or an agency, branch or office located 
outside the United States of a bank. The term does not include an 
agent, agency, branch or office within the United States of a bank 
organized under foreign law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(a) General

    Upon receiving a CISADA Request, a U.S. bank that maintains a 
correspondent account for a specified foreign bank is required under 31 
CFR 1060.300(a) to inquire of the foreign bank, and report to FinCEN: 
(i) Any correspondent account maintained by such foreign bank for an 
Iranian-linked financial institution designated under IEEPA (``Iranian-
linked Financial Institution''); \7\ (ii) any direct or indirect 
transfer of funds for or on behalf of an Iranian-linked Financial 
Institution processed by such foreign bank within the preceding 90 
calendar days, other than through a correspondent account; (iii) and 
any direct or indirect transfer of funds for or on behalf of an IRGC-
linked person designated under IEEPA (``IRGC-linked Person'') \8\ 
processed by such foreign bank within the preceding 90 calendar days.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ For purposes of 31 CFR 1060.300, ``Iranian-linked financial 
institution designated under IEEPA'' means a financial institution 
designated by the U.S. Government pursuant to IEEPA (or listed in an 
annex to an Executive order issued pursuant to IEEPA) in connection 
with Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or delivery 
systems for weapons of mass destruction, or in connection with 
Iran's support for international terrorism.
    \8\ For purposes of 31 CFR 1060.300, an ``IRGC-linked person 
designated under IEEPA'' means the IRGC or any of its agents or 
affiliates designated by the United States Government pursuant to 
IEEPA (or listed in an annex to an Executive order issued pursuant 
to IEEPA).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(b) Duty To Inquire

    31 CFR 1060.300(b) requires that, upon receiving a CISADA Request, 
a U.S. bank that maintains a correspondent account for a specified 
foreign bank must contact the foreign bank and request that the foreign 
bank certify whether it: (i) Maintains a correspondent account for an 
Iranian-linked Financial Institution; (ii) has processed one or more 
transfers of funds within the preceding 90 calendar days, directly or 
indirectly, for or on behalf of an Iranian-linked Financial 
Institution, other than through a correspondent

[[Page 8932]]

account; and (iii) has processed one or more transfer of funds within 
the preceding 90 calendar days, directly or indirectly, for or on 
behalf of an IRGC-linked Person. In addition, at the time the U.S. bank 
contacts the foreign bank, the U.S. bank is required to request that 
the foreign bank agree to notify the U.S. bank if the foreign bank 
subsequently establishes a new correspondent account for an Iranian-
linked Financial Institution within 365 calendar days from the date of 
the foreign bank's initial response.
    FinCEN has developed an optional certification form \9\ that 
includes a request to the foreign bank for information required under 
31 CFR 1060.300. U.S. banks may use the certification form to obtain 
the necessary information from the foreign bank.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ Available at https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/federal_register_notice/CISADA_Certification.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(c) Filing Procedures

    Upon receiving a CISADA Request, 31 CFR 1060.300(c)(1) requires 
that a U.S. bank report to FinCEN, in the format and manner prescribed 
by FinCEN, the following information for any specified foreign banks 
for which the U.S. bank maintains correspondent accounts:
    <bullet> The name of any foreign bank that certifies that it 
maintains a correspondent account for an Iranian-linked Financial 
Institution, and the following related information: The name of the 
Iranian-linked Financial Institution; the full name(s) on the 
correspondent account and the correspondent account number(s); any 
information regarding whether the correspondent account has been 
blocked or restricted; other applicable identifying information for the 
correspondent account; and the approximate value in U.S. dollars of 
transactions processed through the correspondent account within the 
preceding 90 calendar days;
    <bullet> The name of any foreign bank that certifies that it has 
processed one or more transfers of funds within the preceding 90 
calendar days for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, an Iranian-
linked Financial Institution, other than through a correspondent 
account, and the following related information: The name of the 
Iranian-linked Financial Institution; the identity of the system or 
means by which such transfer(s) of funds was processed; the full name 
on the account(s) and the account number(s), other applicable 
identifying information for such transfer(s) of funds; and the 
approximate value in U.S. dollars of such transfer(s) of funds 
processed within the preceding 90 calendar days;
    <bullet> The name of any foreign bank that certifies that it has 
processed one or more transfers of funds within the preceding 90 
calendar days directly or indirectly for or on behalf of an IRGC-linked 
Person, and the following related information: The name of the IRGC-
linked Person; the identity of the system or means by which such 
transfer(s) of funds was processed; the full name on the account(s) and 
the account number(s); other applicable identifying information for 
such transfer(s) of funds; and the approximate value in U.S. dollars of 
such transfer(s) of funds processed within the preceding 90 calendar 
days;
    <bullet> The name of any foreign bank that certifies that it does 
not maintain a correspondent account for an Iranian-linked Financial 
Institution; that certifies that to its knowledge it has not processed 
one or more transfers of funds within the preceding 90 calendar days 
for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, an Iranian-linked 
Financial Institution, other than through a correspondent account; and/
or that certifies that to its knowledge it has not processed one or 
more transfers of funds within the preceding 90 calendar days directly 
or indirectly for or on behalf of an IRGC-linked Person;
    <bullet> The name of any foreign bank for which the U.S. bank is 
unable to determine if the foreign bank: (i) Maintains a correspondent 
account for an Iranian-linked Financial Institution; (ii) has processed 
one or more transfers of funds within the preceding 90 calendar days 
directly or indirectly for or on behalf of an Iranian-linked Financial 
Institution, other than through a correspondent account; and/or (iii) 
has processed one or more transfers of funds within the preceding 90 
calendar days directly or indirectly for or on behalf of an IRGC-linked 
Person. In addition, the U.S. bank must provide an explanation of the 
reason(s) the U.S. bank cannot determine if the foreign bank has 
provided financial services to an Iranian-linked Financial Institution 
or an IRGC-linked Person, for example, if the foreign bank fails to 
respond to a request from the U.S. bank;
    <bullet> The name of any foreign bank that notifies the U.S. bank 
that it has established a new correspondent account for an Iranian-
linked Financial Institution at any time within 365 calendar days from 
the date of the foreign bank's initial response, and the following 
related information: The name of the Iranian-linked Financial 
Institution; the full name(s) on the correspondent account and the 
correspondent account number(s); applicable information regarding 
whether the correspondent account has been blocked or restricted; and 
other applicable identifying information for the correspondent account;
    <bullet> If applicable, confirmation that the U.S. bank does not 
maintain a correspondent account for the foreign bank(s), but only in 
instances in which FinCEN specifically requests that the U.S. bank 
report such information; and
    <bullet> If applicable, the name of any foreign bank that provides 
a certification to the U.S. bank more than 45 calendar days after the 
date of FinCEN's request, along with all applicable related information 
associated with that certification.
    31 CFR 1060.300(c)(2) requires that a U.S. bank report to FinCEN 
within 45 calendar days of receipt of a CISADA Request. U.S. banks must 
also report to FinCEN within 10 calendar days of receipt of any 
subsequent notifications received from a foreign bank regarding the 
establishment of a new correspondent account for an Iranian-linked 
Financial Institution. For reports based on certifications received 
from a foreign bank after the 45 calendar day deadline, U.S. banks are 
required to report to FinCEN within 10 calendar days of receipt of the 
certification.

(d) Retention of Records

    31 CFR 1060.300(d) requires that U.S. banks maintain a copy of any 
report filed and the original or any business record equivalent of any 
supporting documentation for a report, including a foreign bank 
certification or other responses to a FinCEN inquiry pursuant to 31 CFR 
1060.300, for a period five years.

(e) No Other Action Required

    31 CFR 1060.300(e) states that nothing under 31 CFR 1060.300 shall 
be construed to require a U.S. bank to take any action, or to decline 
to take any action, other than the requirements identified in 31 CFR 
1060.300, with respect to an account established for, or a transaction 
engaged in with, a foreign bank. However, nothing in 31 CFR 1060.300 
relieves a U.S. bank of any other applicable regulatory obligations.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) <SUP>10</SUP>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Title: Reporting obligations on foreign bank relationships with 
Iranian-linked financial institutions designated under IEEPA and IRGC-
linked persons

[[Page 8933]]

designated under IEEPA (31 CFR 1060.300).
    OMB Control Number: 1506-0066.
    Report Number: Optional form--certification for purposes of section 
104(e) of CISADA and 31 CFR 1060.300.
    Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control 
number for the regulation that requires that upon receiving a CISADA 
Request, a U.S. bank that maintains a correspondent account for a 
specified foreign bank must inquire with the foreign bank, and report 
to FinCEN, with respect to transactions or other financial services 
provided by that foreign bank to Iranian-linked Financial Institutions 
and IRGC-linked Persons.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit institutions, and 
non-profit institutions.
    Type of Review:
    <bullet> Renewal without change of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Frequency: As required.
    Estimated Number of Potential Respondents: 5,164 banks.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ Data are from the Federal Reserve's Structured Data for 
U.S. Banking Offices (see FRB: Structure Data for U.S. Banking 
Offices of Foreign Entities (federalreserve.gov)) and quarterly call 
report bank data (specifically, Schedule RC-E: Deposit liabilities, 
line 5: Liabilities of banks in foreign countries) from the 
Financial Institution Retrieval Data System (FINDRS). Using these 
two sources, FinCEN determines that as of Q3 2021, approximately 
5,164 banking organizations (national and state banks, trusts, 
thrifts and savings and loans, branches and agencies of foreign 
banking organizations, representative offices, Edge Act 
corporations, and agreement corporations) will be affected by this 
rule on any given year. Specifically, we determine that there are 
approximately: 190 branches and agencies of foreign banks; 115 
representative offices, Edge Act corporations, and agreement 
corporations; and 4,859 U.S. banks (national and state chartered, 
trusts, savings and loans, thrifts) that report values for deposit 
liabilities of banks in foreign countries. Deposit liabilities in a 
foreign country is an indication that a bank maintains at least one 
correspondent account with a foreign financial institution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Number of Responses: 1,040 responses.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ Table 1 below sets forth a breakdown of the number and type 
of responses by banks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Historically, since this regulation was implemented in 2011, FinCEN 
has used this authority in limited circumstances. For that reason, 
FinCEN conservatively estimates that on average around one percent of 
U.S. banks (i.e., approximately 52 U.S. banks) \13\ that maintain 
correspondent accounts for foreign banks will maintain correspondent 
accounts for foreign banks that FinCEN may request information about 
under 31 CFR 1060.300: This estimate is based on the fact that foreign 
banks generally only hold a limited number of correspondent account 
relationships with separate U.S. banks. In order to further reduce the 
number of affected banks, when possible, FinCEN relies on information 
available to Treasury, or publicly available, to help limit the number 
of U.S. banks requested to provide information with respect to the 
foreign banks that are the subject of specific requests. In turn, 
FinCEN intends to continue to send requests directly to U.S. banks that 
FinCEN, based on all available information, believes maintain 
correspondent accounts for the specified foreign bank(s). If FinCEN 
makes a CISADA Request relating to approximately 10 foreign banks per 
year, and on average 52 U.S. banks are required to respond to such a 
request, U.S. banks will provide 520 CISADA-related reports per year to 
FinCEN. Each time a U.S. bank receives a CISADA Request from FinCEN, 
the U.S. bank will incur: A reporting burden associated with 31 CFR 
1060.300(b) (inquiry) and 31 CFR 1060.300(c) (reporting); and a 
recordkeeping burden associated with 31 CFR 1060.300(d) (record 
retention). FinCEN estimates that the average burden associated with:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ 5,164 U.S. banks multiplied by one percent equals 51.64, 
which is round to 52 U.S. banks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <bullet> 31 CFR 1060.300(b) is one hour per U.S. bank, because the 
U.S. bank can send the optional certification form to the foreign bank;
    <bullet> 31 CFR 1060.300(c) is one hour per U.S. bank, because the 
U.S. bank can submit the responses from the foreign bank to FinCEN 
electronically; and
    <bullet> 31 CFR 1060.300(d) is one hour per U.S. bank to maintain 
the records received from the foreign bank and transmitted to the U.S. 
bank.
    These estimates result in a total estimated average burden of three 
hours per U.S. bank with respect to each CISADA Request.
    In certain instances, FinCEN may request that, if a U.S. bank 
receives a CISADA Request from FinCEN, and the U.S. bank does not 
maintain a correspondent account for the foreign bank specified in the 
CISADA Request, the U.S. bank report this information to FinCEN. As 
noted above, FinCEN intends to send CISADA Requests primarily to U.S. 
banks that FinCEN is already aware have a correspondent account for a 
specified foreign bank. In instances in which FinCEN is not aware of 
which U.S. banks maintain a correspondent account for a specified 
foreign bank, FinCEN may send CISADA Requests to those U.S. banks 
FinCEN believes might have a correspondent account for a specified 
foreign bank. In instances where FinCEN is sending a CISADA Request to 
a small number of U.S. banks that FinCEN believes might maintain a 
correspondent account for a specified foreign bank, FinCEN may request, 
in the CISADA Request, that the U.S. banks that do not maintain a 
correspondent account for the specified foreign bank report such 
information to FinCEN. FinCEN believes that the estimated average 
reporting burden for a bank to report to FinCEN that it does not 
maintain a correspondent account for the foreign bank specified in 
CISADA Request will be approximately 30 minutes per request. Such 
responses can be submitted to FinCEN electronically. FinCEN also 
estimates that across the 10 requests FinCEN anticipates making 
annually, on average one percent of U.S. banks (52 banks) will receive 
a CISADA Request from FinCEN regarding foreign banks for which the U.S. 
banks do not maintain correspondent accounts. This means that 
approximately 52 U.S. banks will be required to report that they do not 
maintain a correspondent account for a foreign bank specified in a 
CISADA Request in any given year. If FinCEN makes a CISADA Request 
relating to approximately 10 foreign banks per year, and on average 52 
U.S. banks are required to respond to such a request, U.S. banks will 
provide 520 CISADA-related reports per year to FinCEN.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 1,040 responses as described in 
Table 1.

[[Page 8934]]



   Table 1--Breakdown of the Estimated Number of U.S. Banks That Have a Correspondent Account With a Specified
   Foreign Bank, Versus the Estimated Number of Banks That Do Not Have a Correspondent Account for a Specified
                                                  Foreign Bank
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Number of reports from U.S. banks
Number of reports from U.S. banks that         that do not maintain a        Estimated number of CISADA- related
maintain a correspondent account for a      correspondent account for a          reports submitted to FinCEN
  specified foreign bank in a CISADA     specified foreign bank in a CISADA   annually as a result of inquiries
             request \14\                           request \15\                    under 31 CFR 1060.300
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
520...................................                                 520                                1,040
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Recordkeeping and Reporting Burden:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ One percent of banks (52) multiplied by 10 CISADA Request 
per U.S. bank equals 520 CISADA-related reports.
    \15\ One percent of banks (52) multiplied by 10 CISADA Request 
per U.S. bank equals 520 CISADA-related reports.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FinCEN provides U.S. banks an optional certification form to send 
to the foreign banks to collect the information required to be reported 
to FinCEN pursuant to 31 CFR 1060.300. In addition, FinCEN has 
historically allowed U.S. banks to submit their responses to FinCEN 
electronically.
    FinCEN's estimate of the annual PRA burden, therefore, is 1,820 
hours, as detailed in Table 2 below:

                 Table 2--Estimated Hourly Burden Associated With Complying With 31 CFR 1060.300
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Total number of                                     Total burden hours
    Type of CISADA-related report        CISADA-related       Burden hours per U.S. bank     per type of CISADA-
                                        reports per type                                       related report
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inquire with a foreign bank for                        520  3 hours.......................                 1,560
 which the U.S. bank maintains a
 correspondent account, and report
 the foreign bank's responses to
 FinCEN.
Report to FinCEN that the U.S. bank                    520  30 minutes....................                   260
 does not maintain a correspondent
 account for the specified foreign
 bank.
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden Hours..............  ....................  ..............................                 1,820
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To calculate the hourly costs of the burden estimate, FinCEN 
identified six roles and corresponding staff positions involved in 
obtaining, reviewing, and maintaining information from foreign banks: 
(i) General oversight (providing institution-level process approval); 
(ii) general supervision (providing process oversight); (iii) direct 
supervision (reviewing operational-level work and cross-checking all or 
a sample of the work product against supporting documentation); (iv) 
clerical work (engaging in research and administrative review, and 
recordkeeping); (v) legal compliance (ensuring the certification 
documents are in legal compliance); and (vi) computer support (ensuring 
certification documents can be properly stored, retrieved, and 
electronically submitted to FinCEN).
    FinCEN calculated the fully-loaded hourly wage for each of these 
six roles by using the mean wage estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS),\16\ and computing an additional benefits cost as 
follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2020 OEWS National 
Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates 
(bls.gov). The most recent data from the BLS corresponds to May 
2020. For the benefits component of total compensation, see U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``Table 9. Private industry workers, by 
major occupational group: Employer costs per hour worked for 
employee compensation and costs as a percentage of total 
compensation'', available at Employer Costs for Employee 
Compensation Historical Tables--June 2021 (bls.gov). The ratio 
between benefits and wages for private industry workers is $10.83 
(hourly benefits)/$25.80 (hourly wages) = 0.42, as of March 2021. 
The benefit factor is 1 plus the benefit/wages ratio, or 1.42. 
Multiplying each hourly wage by the benefit factor produces the 
fully-loaded hourly wage per position.
    \17\ For each occupation, FinCEN took the average of reported 
mean hourly wage across 9 affected financial industries (as measured 
at the most granular NAICS code available, whether at the 2, 3, 4 or 
5 digit NAICS code; see the BLS May 2020 OEWS National Industry-
Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (bls.gov)).
    \18\ General oversight may include board of directors/trustees 
approval.
    \19\ Chief executive officer is the highest paid category in the 
BLS Occupational Employment Statistics. For that reason, FinCEN is 
conservatively estimating the highest wage rate available for its 
cost analysis.

  Table 3--Fully-Loaded Hourly Wage by Role and BLS Job Position for All Financial Institutions Covered by This
                                                     Notice
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Mean hourly                    Fully-loaded
             Role                  BLS-code         BLS-name         wage \17\    Benefit factor    hourly wage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General oversight \18\........         11-1010  Chief Executive          $107.12            1.42         $152.11
                                                 \19\.
General supervision...........         11-3031  Financial                  74.59            1.42          105.92
                                                 Manager.
Direct supervision............         13-1041  Compliance                 35.81            1.42           50.85
                                                 Officer.
Clerical work (research,               43-3099  Financial Clerk.           23.27            1.42           33.04
 review, and recordkeeping).
Legal compliance..............         23-1010  Lawyers and                85.66            1.42          121.64
                                                 Judicial Law
                                                 Clerks.
Computer support..............         11-3021  Computer and               77.77            1.42          110.43
                                                 Information
                                                 Systems
                                                 Managers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 8935]]

    FinCEN estimates that, in general and on average,\20\ each role 
would spend different amounts of time on each portion of the 
traditional annual PRA burden, as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ By ``in general,'' FinCEN means without regard to outliers 
(e.g., U.S. banks that maintain correspondent accounts for a large 
number of foreign banks that FinCEN may submit a CISADA Request 
for). By ``on average,'' FinCEN means the mean of the distribution 
of each subset of the population.

 Table 4--Weighted Average Hourly Cost Associated With Complying With 31
                              CFR 1060.300
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Time (%)       Hourly cost
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Oversight.......................           16.67          $25.35
General Supervision.....................           16.67           17.65
Direct Supervision......................           16.67            8.48
Clerical Work...........................           16.67            5.51
Legal Compliance........................           16.67           20.27
Computer Support........................           16.67           18.41
                                         -------------------------------
    Equal Weighted Average Hourly Cost..  ..............         * 95.67
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* $95.67 rounded to $96.00.

    The total estimated cost of the annual PRA burden is 174,720, as 
reflected in Table 5 below.

                              Table 5--Total Cost of Traditional Annual PRA Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Steps                                Hourly burden    Hourly cost     Total cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inquire with a foreign bank for which the U.S. bank maintains a       \21\ 1,560     \22\ $96.00        $149,760
 correspondent account, and report the foreign bank's responses
 to FinCEN......................................................
Report to FinCEN that the U.S. bank does not maintain a                 \23\ 260      \24\ 96.00          24,960
 correspondent account for the specified foreign bank...........
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total Cost..................................................  ..............  ..............         174,720
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Recordkeeping and Reporting Burden: The average estimated 
annual PRA burden, measured in hours per respondent, is three hours for 
a U.S. bank that maintains a correspondent account for a specified 
foreign bank about which FinCEN inquires, and thirty minutes per U.S. 
bank that does not maintain a correspondent account for a specified 
foreign bank about which FinCEN inquires.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ See Table 2.
    \22\ See Table 4.
    \23\ See Table 2.
    \24\ See Table 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 1,040 responses, as set out in 
Table 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Burden: The estimated total 
annual PRA burden is 1,820 hours, as set out in Table 2.
    Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Cost: The estimated total 
annual PRA cost is $174,720, as set out in Table 5.
    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. 2022-03266 Filed 2-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>