Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 44 / Monday, March 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 10145 

an agency to identify and consider a 

reasonable number of regulatory 

alternatives before promulgating a rule. 

The OTS has determined that this 

proposed rule will not result in 

expenditures by State, local, and tribal 

governments, or by the private sector, of 

$133 million or more in any one year. 

Accordingly, this proposal is not subject 

to section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Act. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 563 

Crime, Currency, Savings 

associations, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Security 

measures. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, part 563 of title 12 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 563—SAVINGS 

ASSOCIATIONS—OPERATIONS 

1. The authority citation for part 563 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 375b, 1462a, 1463, 

1464, 1467a, 1468, 1817, 1828, 3806; 31 

U.S.C 5318; 

2. Section 563.180 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (d)(2)(iii), (d)(3) 

introductory text, (d)(12), and (d)(13) to 

read as follows: 

§ 563.180 Suspicious Activity Reports and 

Other Reports and Statements. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(iii) SAR means a Suspicious Activity 

Report. 

(3) SARs required. A savings 

association or service corporation shall 

file a SAR with the appropriate Federal 

law enforcement agencies and the 

Department of the Treasury on the form 

prescribed by the OTS and in 

accordance with the form’s instructions, 

by sending a completed SAR to FinCEN 

in the following circumstances: 

* * * * * 

(12) Confidentiality of SARs. A SAR, 

and any information that would reveal 

the existence of a SAR, are confidential, 

and shall not be disclosed except as 

authorized in this paragraph (d)(12). 

(i) Prohibition on disclosure by 

savings associations—(A) General rule. 

No savings association or Service 

Corporation, and no director, officer, 

employee, or agent of a savings 

association or service corporation, shall 

disclose a SAR or any information that 

would reveal the existence of a SAR. 

Any savings association or service 

corporation, and any director, officer, 

employee, or agent of any savings 

association or service corporation that is 

subpoenaed or otherwise requested to 

disclose a SAR, or any information that 

would reveal the existence of a SAR, 

shall decline to produce the SAR or 

such information, citing this section and 

31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i), and shall 

notify the following of any such request 

and the response thereto: 

(1) Deputy Chief Counsel, Litigation 

Division, Office of Thrift Supervision; 

and 

(2) The Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network (FinCEN). 

(ii) Rules of Construction. Provided 

that no person involved in any reported 

suspicious transaction is notified that 

the transaction has been reported, 

subparagraph (k)(1) shall not be 

construed as prohibiting: 

(A) The disclosure by a savings 

association or service corporation, or 

any director, officer, employee or agent 

of a savings association or service 

corporation of: 

(1) A SAR, or any information that 

would reveal the existence of a SAR, to 

FinCEN or any Federal, state, or local 

law enforcement agency; or any Federal 

or state regulatory authority that 

examines the savings association for 

compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act; 

or 

(2) The underlying facts, transactions, 

and documents upon which a SAR is 

based, including disclosures: 

(i) To another financial institution, or 

any director, officer, employee or agent 

of a financial institution, for the 

preparation of a joint SAR; or 

(ii) In connection with certain 

employment references or termination 

notices, to the full extent authorized in 

31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(B); or 

(B) The sharing by a savings 

association, or any director, officer, 

employee, or agent of a savings 

association, of a SAR, or any 

information that would reveal the 

existence of a SAR, within the savings 

association’s corporate organizational 

structure, for purposes consistent with 

Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act as 

determined by regulation or in 

published guidance. 

(iii) Prohibition on disclosure by OTS. 

Neither OTS (nor any officer, employee 

or agent of OTS) shall disclose a SAR, 

or any information that would reveal the 

existence of a SAR, except as necessary 

to fulfill official duties consistent with 

Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act. For 

purposes of this section, official duties 

shall not include the disclosure of a 

SAR, or any information that would 

reveal the existence of a SAR, in 

response to a request for use in a private 

legal proceeding or in response to a 

request for disclosure of non-public 

information under 12 CFR 510.5. 

(13) Limitation on liability. A savings 

association or service corporation and 

any director, officer, employee or agent 

of a savings association or service 

corporation that makes a voluntary 

disclosure of any possible violation of 

law or regulation to a government 

agency or makes a disclosure pursuant 

to this section or any other authority, 

including a disclosure made jointly with 

another institution, shall be protected 

from liability for any such disclosure, or 

for failure to provide notice of such 

disclosure to any person identified in 

the disclosure, or both, to the full extent 

provided by 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3). 

* * * * * 

Dated: November 18, 2008. 

By the Office of Thrift Supervision. 

John M. Reich, 

Director. 

Editorial Note: This document was 

received in the Office of the Federal Register 

on February 27, 2009. 

[FR Doc. E9–4701 Filed 3–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6720–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Part 510 

[Docket ID OTS–2008–0018] 

RIN 1550–AC28 

Standards Governing the Release of a 

Suspicious Activity Report 

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision, 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Thrift 

Supervision (OTS) is proposing to revise 

its regulations governing the release of 

unpublished OTS information. The 

primary change being proposed would 

clarify that the OTS’s decision to release 

a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) will 

be governed by the standards set forth 

in proposed amendments to the OTS’s 

SAR regulation that are part of a 

separate, but simultaneous, rulemaking. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

June 8, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by OTS–2008–0018 by any of 

the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal:— 

‘‘Regulations.gov’’: Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, under the ‘‘More 

Search Options’’ tab click next to the 

‘‘Advanced Docket Search’’ option 

where indicated, select ‘‘Office of Thrift 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS2
10146 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 44 / Monday, March 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

1See 12 CFR 510.5. 

2See 12 CFR 510.5(d). 

3 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(1). 

4 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i). 

5The phrase ‘‘any person involved in the 

transaction’’ has been construed to apply to ‘‘any 

person’’ because the disclosure of SAR information 

to any outside party may make it likely that SAR 

information would be disclosed to a person 

involved in the transaction, which is absolutely 

prohibited by the BSA. See Cotton v. Private Bank 

and Trust Co., 235 F. Supp. 2d 809, 815 (N.D. Ill. 

2002). 

Supervision’’ from the agency dropdown menu, then click ‘‘Submit.’’ In the 

‘‘Docket ID’’ column, select ‘‘OTS– 

2008–0018’’ to submit or view public 

comments and to view supporting and 

related materials for this notice of 

proposed rulemaking. The ‘‘How to Use 

This Site’’ link on the Regulations.gov 

home page provides information on 

using Regulations.gov, including 

instructions for submitting or viewing 

public comments, viewing other 

supporting and related materials, and 

viewing the docket after the close of the 

comment period. 

• E-mail address: 

regs.comments@ots.treas.gov. Please 

include OTS–2008–0018 in the subject 

line of the message and include your 

name and telephone number in the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 906–6518. 

• Mail: Regulation Comments, Chief 

Counsel’s Office, Office of Thrift 

Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20552, Attention: OTS– 

2008–0018. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard’s 

Desk, East Lobby Entrance, 1700 G 

Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 

business days, Attention: Regulation 

Comments, Chief Counsel’s Office, 

OTS–2008–0010. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. All comments received will 

be posted without change to the OTS 

Internet Site at http://www.ots.treas.gov/ 

Supervision&Legal.Laws&Regulations, 

including any personal information 

provided. Comments received, 

including attachments and other 

supporting materials, are part of the 

public record and subject to public 

disclosure. Do not enclose any 

information in your comment or 

supporting materials that could be 

considered confidential or inappropriate 

for public disclosure. 

• Viewing Comments Electronically: 

Go to http://www.regulations.gov, under 

the ‘‘More Search Options’’ tab click 

next to the ‘‘Advanced Document 

Search’’ option where indicated, select 

‘‘Office of Thrift Supervision’’ from the 

agency drop-down menu and click 

‘‘Submit.’’ In the ‘‘Docket ID’’ column, 

select ‘‘OTS–2008–0018’’ to view public 

comments for this rulemaking action. 

• Viewing Comments On-Site: You 

may inspect comments at the Public 

Reading Room, 1700 G Street, NW by 

appointment. To make an appointment 

call (202) 906–5922, send an e-mail to 

public.info@ots.treas.gov, or send a 

facsimile transmission to (202) 906– 

6518. (Prior notice identifying the 

materials you will be requesting will 

assist us in serving you.) We schedule 

appointments on business days between 

10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In most cases, 

appointments will be available the next 

business day following the date we 

receive a request. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marvin Shaw, Senior Attorney, 

Regulations and Legislation (202–906– 

6639); Dirk Roberts, Deputy General 

Counsel, Litigation (202–906–7631), 

Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The Office of Thrift Supervision 

(OTS) is proposing to amend its 

regulations set forth in 12 CFR part 510, 

governing the release of unpublished 

OTS information. First, the proposed 

amendments would conform section 

510.5 to amendments to the OTS’s SAR 

confidentiality rule, 12 CFR 563.180, 

that are being proposed as part of a 

separate, but simultaneous, rulemaking 

that the OTS is conducting. Under the 

standards that the OTS is proposing to 

incorporate into section 510.5, the OTS 

would only release a SAR, or any 

information that would reveal the 

existence of a SAR (referred to in this 

preamble as ‘‘SAR information’’), when 

‘‘necessary to fulfill official duties 

consistent with Title II of the Bank 

Secrecy Act (BSA).’’ 

The effect of these proposed 

amendments is that the OTS would not 

release SAR information in response to 

a request from a private litigant arising 

out of a civil lawsuit or administrative 

proceeding to which the OTS is not a 

party. The Director also would not 

disclose SAR information to any other 

person or entity, and the OTS would not 

release SAR information in response to 

a request by another government 

agency, except to fulfill official duties in 

light of the purposes of the BSA. 

In addition to the clarification of the 

standards governing the release of SAR 

information, the proposed amendments 

to section 510.5 clarify that the OTS 

would deny a request for non-public 

information made under 12 CFR section 

510.5(d), if the release is prohibited by 

law. 

II. Background 

This proposal would amend part 510 

to make it consistent with the proposed 

amendments to OTS’s SAR regulation 

that implements section 351 of the USA 

PATRIOT Act, thus ensuring that the 

appropriate standard is applied to OTS’s 

disclosure of SAR information. Section 

510.5 sets forth OTS’s standards and 

procedures for the release of 

‘‘unpublished OTS information,’’ and 

sets forth the restrictions on the 

dissemination of such information. 

Generally, ‘‘unpublished OTS 

information’’ is confidential and 

privileged information that is the 

property of the OTS, and that the OTS 

is not required to release under the 

Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 

552 et seq.) or that the OTS has not yet 

published or made available pursuant to 

12 U.S.C. 1818(u), the statute requiring 

publication of certain enforcement 

orders. 

Section 510.5 describes procedures 

for requesting unpublished OTS 

information from the OTS, such as, 

where to submit a request, the form of 

the request, information that must be 

included in any request involving an 

adversarial matter, and various bases for 

the OTS’s denial of such a request.1

Section 510.5 authorizes the OTS to 

make unpublished OTS information 

available to a supervised entity and to 

other persons, at the sole discretion of 

the Director or his or her delegate.2

Section 510.5(d)(5) also indicates that 

the OTS may condition release of 

information that it discloses under this 

section. 

Although a SAR may be considered 

‘‘unpublished OTS information,’’ it is 

the OTS’s position that the release of a 

SAR must be governed by standards set 

forth in the BSA. The BSA and its 

implementing regulations require a 

financial institution to file a SAR when 

it detects a known or suspected 

violation of Federal law or a suspicious 

activity related to money laundering, 

terrorist financing, or other criminal 

activity.3 The BSA also provides that a 

financial institution, and its officers, 

directors, employees, and agents are 

prohibited from notifying any person 

involved in a suspicious transaction that 

the transaction was reported.4 Most 

importantly, in 2001, section 351 of the 

USA PATRIOT Act added a new 

provision to the BSA prohibiting 

officers or employees of the Federal 

government or any State, local, tribal, or 

territorial government within the United 

States from disclosing to any person 5

involved in a suspicious transaction that 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 44 / Monday, March 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 10147 

6See USA PATRIOT Act, section 351(b). Public 

Law 107–56, Title III, § 351, 115 Stat. 272, 321 

(2001). 

7For purposes of this provision ‘‘official duties’’ 

means official disclosures necessary to accomplish 

a governmental purpose consistent with Title II of 

the BSA entrusted to the agency, the officer or 

employee. For example, prosecutorial disclosures 

mandated by statute or the Constitution, such as a 

statement of a government witness to be called at 

trial, impeachment of a government witness, or 

material exculpatory of a criminal defendant. See, 

e.g., Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 153–54 

(1972); Brady v. State of Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 86– 

87 (1963); Jencks v. United States, 353 U.S. 657, 668 

(1957). 

8 31 U.S.C. 5311 (setting forth the purposes of the 

BSA). 

9See, e.g., Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 

153–54 (1972); Brady v. State of Maryland, 373 U.S. 

83, 86–87 (1963); Jencks v. United States, 353 U.S. 

657, 668 (1957). 

10See 12 CFR 510.5(d)(4). 

11As described earlier, § 510.5 does not apply to 

SAR information. 

the transaction was reported, other than 

as necessary to fulfill the official duties 

of such officer or employee.6

Accordingly, it is this provision that 

now governs the ability of the OTS to 

disclose SAR information to any person. 

The OTS is revisiting the treatment of 

SAR information in section 510.5 in 

light of the 2001 amendments to the 

BSA, added by section 351 of the USA 

PATRIOT Act that specifically 

addresses governmental disclosures of 

SARs. Under the proposed amendments 

to section 510.5, the OTS will decide 

whether to release SAR information 

based upon the standard in the OTS’s 

proposed amendments to its SAR rules, 

12 CFR 563.180, implementing section 

351, rather than upon the factors set out 

in section 510.5(d). The standard in the 

proposed amendments to the OTS’s 

SAR rule provides that ‘‘Neither OTS 

(nor any officer, employee or agent of 

OTS) shall disclose a SAR, or any 

information that would reveal the 

existence of a SAR except as necessary 

to fulfill official duties consistent with 

Title II of the BSA.’’ In addition, the 

standard provides that ‘‘official duties’’ 

shall not include the disclosure of SAR 

information in response to a request for 

use in a private legal proceeding or in 

response to a request for disclosure of 

non-public information under 12 CFR 

510.5.7 The proposed SAR rules 

interpret ‘‘official duties’’ to mean 

‘‘official duties consistent with the 

purposes of Title II of the BSA,’’ 

namely, for ‘‘criminal, tax, regulatory 

investigations or proceedings, or in the 

conduct of intelligence or 

counterintelligence activities, including 

analysis, to protect against international 

terrorism.’’ 8 This standard would 

permit disclosures responsive to a grand 

jury subpoena; a request from an 

appropriate Federal or State law 

enforcement or regulatory agency; and 

prosecutorial disclosures mandated by 

statute or the Constitution, in 

connection with the statement of a 

government witness to be called at trial, 

the impeachment of a government 

witness, or as material exculpatory of a 

criminal defendant.9

III. Section-by-Section Description of 

the Proposal 

Section 510.5(a) and (b) Scope and 

Purpose 

Section 510(b) currently includes 

several standards for the release of 

unpublished OTS information. A person 

seeking such information, generally 

must submit a request in writing to the 

OTS that addresses the factors set forth 

in section 510.5(b). Section 510.5(d) 

describes how the OTS will make its 

determination to release the 

information. That provision also 

provides that OTS will deny a request 

if it deems the information to be (A) not 

highly relevant, (B) privileged, (C) 

available from other sources, or (D) 

information that should not be disclosed 

for reasons that warrant restriction 

under the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure.10

This proposal adds a new paragraph 

(iv) to the scope section of 12 CFR 

510.5, which states that this section 

does not apply to OTS’s decision to 

disclose records or testimony involving 

a SAR filed pursuant to regulations 

implementing 12 U.S.C. 5318(g) or any 

information that would reveal the 

existence of a SAR. Accordingly, the 

OTS’s decision to disclose records or 

testimony involving SAR information 

would be governed solely by the 

standard in 12 CFR 563.180. Paragraph 

(iv) makes clear that the standard in 12 

CFR 563.180 would apply in place of 

the standards for denial set forth in 12 

CFR 510.5(d)(4). Accordingly, the OTS 

would not release SAR information in 

response to any request received 

pursuant to section 510.5, including 

from a federal, state, or foreign 

government, and the Director would not 

disclose SAR information to any person, 

except to fulfill the OTS’s official duties 

in light of the purposes of the BSA. 

Consistent with the OTS’s longstanding 

commitment to protect the 

confidentiality of SARs, the proposed 

SAR rule also states that ‘‘official 

duties’’ does not include the disclosure 

of SAR information in response to a 

request for use in a private legal 

proceeding or in response to a request 

for disclosure of non-public information 

under 12 CFR 510.5. 

Section 510.5(d) Consideration of 

Requests 

Section 510.5 generally describes how 

the OTS makes its determination to 

release or to withhold unpublished OTS 

information in response to requests 

received under section 510.5(b) and 

(d).11 Section 510.5(d)(4) specifically 

lists four examples of reasons for which 

the OTS will deny the release of 

unpublished OTS information. 

The OTS is proposing to add ‘‘when 

not prohibited by law’’ as a fifth reason 

for denial of requests made under 

section 510.5(d)(4). This addition would 

simply make the language in section 

510.5(d), consistent with the standard 

applicable to disclosures to government 

entities, which includes the condition 

that such disclosures only be made 

‘‘when not prohibited by law.’’ 

IV. Request for Comments 

The OTS welcomes comments on any 

aspect of these proposed amendments to 

the SAR rule. The OTS has timed the 

release of this proposal to coincide with 

the issuance of the proposed rule to 

amend its SAR confidentiality rule set 

forth in 12 CFR part 563.180, so that 

commenters can consider each proposal 

in commenting on the other. 

V. OTS Solicitation of Comments on 

Use of Plain Language 

Section 722 of the Gramm-LeachBliley Act, Public Law 106–102, sec. 

722, 113 Stat. 1338, 1471 (Nov. 12, 

1999), requires the OTS to use plain 

language in all proposed and final rules 

published after January 1, 2000. 

Therefore, the OTS specifically invites 

your comments on how to make this 

proposal easier to understand. For 

example: 

• Have we organized the material to 

suit your needs? If not, how could this 

material be better organized? 

• Are the requirements in the 

proposal clearly stated? If not, how 

could the requirements be more clearly 

stated? 

• Does the proposal contain language 

or jargon that is not clear? If so, which 

language requires clarification? 

• Would a different format make the 

regulations easier to understand? If so, 

what changes to the format would make 

them easier to understand? 

• What else could we do to make the 

regulations easier to understand? 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Under section 605(b) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 

U.S.C. 605(b), the regulatory flexibility 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS2
10148 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 44 / Monday, March 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

1The Federal bank regulatory agencies have 

parallel SAR requirements for their supervised 

entities: See 12 CFR 208.62 (the Board of Governors 

of the Federal Reserve System (‘‘Fed’’)); 12 CFR 

353.3 (the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

(‘‘FDIC’’)); 12 CFR 748.1 (the National Credit Union 

Administration (‘‘NCUA’’)); 12 CFR 21.11 (the 

Office of the Comptroller of Currency (‘‘OCC’’)) and 

12 CFR 563.180 (the Office of Thrift Supervision 

(‘‘OTS’’)). Of these agencies the OCC and OTS are 

proposing corollary regulation changes 

contemporaneously. 

2This single docket number is shared by three 

related documents (this notice of proposed 

rulemaking, and two related pieces of proposed 

guidance) published simultaneously by FinCEN in 

today’s Federal Register. Accordingly, commenters 

may submit comments related to any of the 

proposals, or any combination of proposals, in a 

single comment letter. 

analysis otherwise required under 

section 604 of the RFA is not required 

if the agency certifies that the rule will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small entities 

and publishes its certification and a 

short, explanatory statement in the 

Federal Register along with its rule. 

The OTS has determined that the 

proposed rules do not impose any 

economic costs as they simply clarify 

the scope of the statutory prohibition 

against the disclosure by financial 

institutions and by the government of 

SAR information. Therefore, pursuant to 

section 605(b) of the RFA, the OTS 

hereby certifies that this proposal will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. Accordingly, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis is not needed. 

Executive Order 12866 

The OTS has determined that this 

proposal is not a significant regulatory 

action under Executive Order 12866. We 

have concluded that the changes that 

would be made by the proposed 

amendments will not have an annual 

effect on the economy of $100 million 

or more. The OTS further concludes that 

this proposal does not meet any of the 

other standards for a significant 

regulatory action set forth in Executive 

Order 12866. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

We have reviewed the proposed 

amendments in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3506; 5 CFR 1320, Appendix A.1) 

(PRA) and have determined that they do 

not contain any ‘‘collections of 

information’’ as defined by the PRA. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

Section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995, Public 

Law 104–4 (UMRA) requires that an 

agency prepare a budgetary impact 

statement before promulgating a rule 

that includes a Federal mandate that 

may result in the expenditure by state, 

local, and tribal governments, in the 

aggregate, or by the private sector of 

$100 million or more (adjusted annually 

for inflation) in any one year. If a 

budgetary impact statement is required, 

section 205 of the UMRA also requires 

an agency to identify and consider a 

reasonable number of regulatory 

alternatives before promulgating a rule. 

The OTS has determined that its 

proposed rule will not result in 

expenditures by state, local, and tribal 

governments, or by the private sector, of 

$133 million or more. Accordingly, OTS 

has not prepared a budgetary impact 

statement or specifically addressed the 

regulatory alternatives considered. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 510 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Freedom of information, 

Individuals with disabilities, Minority 

businesses, Organization and functions 

(Government agencies), Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Women. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, part 510 of title 12 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 510—MISCELLANEOUS 

ORGANIZATIONAL REGULATIONS 

1. The authority citation for part 510 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1462a, 1463, 1464; 

Pub.L. 101–410, 104 Stat 890; Pub.L. 104– 

134, 110 Stat 1321–358. 

2. Amend § 510.5 by: 

a. Adding paragraph (a)(3)(iv); 

b. Removing, at the end of paragraph 

(d)(4)(i)(C), the word ‘‘or’’; 

c. Removing the period at the end of 

paragraph (d)(4)(i)(D) and adding in its 

place ‘‘; or’’ and 

d. Adding paragraph (d)(4)(i)(E) as 

follows: 

§ 510.5 Release of unpublished OTS 

information. 

(a) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(iv) Requests for a Suspicious Activity 

Report (SAR), or any information that 

would reveal the existence of a SAR. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(4) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(E) Information that should not be 

disclosed, because such disclosure is 

prohibited by law. 

* * * * * 

Dated: November 18, 2009. 

By the Office of Thrift Supervision. 

John M. Reich, 

Director. 

Editorial Note: This document was 

received at the Office of the Federal Register 

on February 27, 2009. 

[FR Doc. E9–4699 Filed 3–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6720–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

31 CFR Part 103 

RIN 1506–AA99 

[Docket Number: TREAS–FinCEN–2008– 

0022] 

Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network; Confidentiality of Suspicious 

Activity Reports 

AGENCY: The Financial Crimes 

Enforcement Network (FinCEN), 

Department of the Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Financial Crimes 

Enforcement Network (‘‘FinCEN’’), a 

bureau of the Department of the 

Treasury (‘‘Treasury’’), is proposing to 

revise the regulations implementing the 

Bank Secrecy Act (‘‘BSA’’) regarding the 

confidentiality of a report of suspicious 

activity (‘‘SAR’’) to: Clarify the scope of 

the statutory prohibition against the 

disclosure by a financial institution of a 

SAR; address the statutory prohibition 

against the disclosure by the 

government of a SAR; clarify that the 

exclusive standard applicable to the 

disclosure of a SAR by the government 

is to fulfill official duties consistent 

with the purposes of the BSA; modify 

the safe harbor provision to include 

changes made by the Uniting and 

Strengthening America by Providing the 

Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept 

and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 

(‘‘USA PATRIOT Act’’); and make minor 

technical revisions for consistency and 

harmonization among the different 

rules. These amendments are consistent 

with similar proposals to be issued by 

some of the Federal bank regulatory 

agencies.1

DATES: Comments must be received by 

June 8, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 1506–AA99 or docket 

number TREAS-FinCen-2008–0022,2 by 

any of the following methods: 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS2