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FDIC Federal Register Citations

[Federal Register: March 11, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 47)]

[Notices]

[Page 11617-11625]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr11mr03-124]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Office of Thrift Supervision

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; Agency Information

Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request;

Suspicious Activity Report

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; joint comment request.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995, FinCEN, OCC, OTS, FDIC, and NCUA hereby give notice that

they plan to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

requests for review of the information collections described below.

Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.16 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System (the Board) hereby announces the Board's approval of the

information collection and plan to submit its supporting documentation

to OMB. The above-mentioned agencies are collectively referred to as

the ``agencies'' throughout this notice.

On November 4, 2002, the agencies, requested public comment on the

minor revision of the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). The OCC also

requested comments on all information collections contained in 12 CFR

part 21. The agencies are making the changes proposed and are making an

additional change suggested by the commenters. None of the changes will

impose substantial additional burden on respondents.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before April 10, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to

any or all of the agencies. All comments, which should refer to the OMB

control number(s), will be shared among the agencies. Direct all

written comments as follows:

FinCEN: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of the

Treasury, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183, Attention: 1506-0001, Revised

SAR, Financial Institutions. Comments also may be submitted by

electronic mail to the following Internet address:

regcomments@fincen.treas.gov with the caption in the body of the text,

``Attention: 1506-0001, Revised SAR, Financial Institutions''.

OCC: Public Information Room, Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail stop 1-5, Attention: 1557-0180-2,

Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by facsimile

transmission to (202) 874-4448, or by electronic mail to

regs.comments@occ.treas.gov. Due to delays in paper mail in the

Washington area, commenters are encouraged to submit comments by fax or

e-mail. You can make an appointment to inspect comments by calling

(202) 874-5043.

OTS: Information Collection Comments, Chief Counsel's Office,

Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552;

send a facsimile transmission to (202) 906-6518; or send an e-mail to

infocollection.comments@ots.treas.gov. OTS will post comments and the

related index on the OTS Internet site at http://www.ots.treas.gov .

In related index on the OTS Internet site at http://www.ots.treas.gov. In

addition, interested persons 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 publicinfo@ots.treas.gov, or send a

facsimile transmission to (202) 906-7755.

Board: Comments may be mailed to Ms. Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th

Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551. However,

because paper mail in the Washington area and at the Board of Governors

is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments by e-mail

to regs.comments@federalreserve.gov, or faxing them to the office of

the Secretary at 202-452-3819 or 202-452-3102. Comments addressed to

Ms. Johnson may also be delivered to the Board's mail facility in the

West Courtyard between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., located on 21st Street

between Constitution Avenue and C Street, NW. Members of the public may

inspect comments in Room MP-500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays

pursuant to 261.12, except as provided in 261.14, of the Board's Rules

Regarding Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.12 and 261.14.

FDIC: Written comments should be addressed to Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary, Attention: Comments/Legal, Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20429.

Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of the

550 17th Street Building (located on F Street), on business days

between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. [FAX number (202) 898-3838; Internet address:

comments@fdic.gov]. Comments may be inspected and photocopied in the

FDIC Public Information Center, Room 100, 801 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., on business days.

NCUA: Clearance Officer: Mr. Neil M. McNamara, (703) 518-6447,

National Credit Union Administration, 1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA

22314-3428, Fax No. 703-518-6489, E-mail: mcnamara@ncua.gov.

OMB: Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office

Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You may request additional information

or a copy of the collection by contacting:

FinCEN: Russell Stephenson, 202-354-6400 (ORP);

OCC: Jessie Dunaway, OCC Clearance Officer, or Camille Dixon,

Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the

Comptroller of the

[[Page 11618]]

Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Washington DC 20219, (202) 874-5090.

OTS: Richard Stearns, Enforcement Deputy Counsel, Office of

Enforcement, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20552, (202) 906-7966.

Board: Herbert A. Biern, Senior Associate Director, Division of

Banking Supervision and Regulation, (202) 452-2620. For users of

Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD) only, contact 202-263-

4869, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551.

FDIC: Tamara R. Manly, Legal Division, FDIC, 550 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20429, (202) 898-7453.

NCUA: NCUA Clearance Officer, Mr. Neil M. McNamara, (703) 518-6447,

or John K. Ianno, Office of General Counsel, (703) 518-6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Suspicious Activity Report. (The OCC is renewing all

information collections covered under the information collection

titled: ``(MA)-Minimum Security Devices and Procedures, Reports of

Suspicious Activities, and Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Program (12 CFR

21).'') FinCEN is renewing 31 CFR 103.18.

OMB Numbers

FinCEN: 1506-0001.

OCC: 1557-0180.

OTS: 1550-0003.

FDIC: 3064-0077.

Board: 7100-0212.

NCUA: 3133-0094.

Form Numbers

FinCEN: TD F 90-22.47.

OCC: None.

OTS: 1601.

Board: FR 2230.

FDIC: 6710/06.

NCUA: 2362.

Abstract: In 1985, the agencies issued procedures to be used by

banks, thrifts, credit unions, their holding companies, and certain

other financial institutions operating in the United States to report

known or suspected criminal activities to the appropriate law

enforcement agencies and the agencies. Beginning in 1994, the agencies

completely redesigned the reporting process. This redesign resulted in

the existing SAR, which became effective in April 1996.\1\

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\1\ The report is authorized by the following rules: 31 CFR

103.21 (FinCEN); 12 CFR 21.11 (OCC); 12 CFR 563.180 (OTS); 12 CFR

208.20 (Board); 12 CFR 353.3 (FDIC); 12 CFR 748.1 (NCUA). The rules

were issued under the authority of 31 U.S.C. 5318(g) (FinCEN); 12

U.S.C. 93a, 1818, 1881-84, 3401-22, 31 U.S.C. 5318 (OCC); 12 U.S.C.

1463 and 1464 (OTS); 12 U.S.C. 324, 334, 6114a, 1844(b) and (c),

3015(c)(2) and 3106(a) (Board); 12 U.S.C. 93a, 1818, 1881-84, 3401-

22 (FDIC); 12 U.S.C. 1766(a), 1789(a) (NCUA).

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Agencies Current Actions: FinCEN and the financial regulators

issued a joint initial Federal Register notice (60-day notice)

regarding the revised SAR on November 4, 2002, (67 FR 67239). A copy of

the revised SAR, together with the instructions to the form, was

published as part of the 60-day notice. The comments received in

response to the 60-day notice (discussed in the next paragraph) were

carefully considered. This notice proposed three minor revisions to the

form. In Part III Suspicious Activity Information, block 35 Summary

characterization of suspicious activity, two new check boxes would be

added, one to indicate ``Terrorist Financing'' and another to indicate

``Identity Theft.'' The third revision is an update to the ``Safe

Harbor'' wording in the instructions, to reflect changes by the USA

Patriot Act. These additions will improve the form's usefulness to law

enforcement and the agencies.

Comments Received and Agency Action Taken. The agencies received

five generally favorable comment letters from two banking trade

associations, a credit union trade association, a bank holding company,

and a credit card bank. The comments and recommendations for the most

part involved policy issues rather than comments affecting the form's

data collection elements. Four commenters suggested that examples of

suspicious activities be included with the form. Rather than including

numerous examples on the form itself, FinCEN and the financial

regulators decided to include a reference to the SAR Activity Review in

the instructions. The SAR Activity Review is readily available on

FinCEN's Web site (http://www.fincen.gov), contains examples and

definitions, and is updated regularly. This addition was made to Part

V, the ``Narrative.'' One commenter suggested alternate language for

the safe harbor provisions. After careful review, FinCEN and the

financial regulators elected to retain the language presented in the

initial Federal Register notice. One commenter recommended expanding

the reporting categories in Part III, block 35 and that FinCEN address

the issue of supplemental SARs. This commenter also requested

clarification on whether transactions that are reported to the Office

of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) should also be reported on a SAR. This

commenter's recommendations have merit and will be taken under

consideration by FinCEN and the financial regulators for possible

implementation at a later date.

Special Instructions: The SAR form included in this final Federal

this Federal Register is for training and system configuration use

only. Do not use this form to report suspicious activity before July 1,

2003. Depository institutions should use the current SAR dated June

2000, until June 30, 2003.

Depository institutions reporting possible terrorist financing

suspicious activity must file a SAR as indicated above, but should also

contact FinCEN's Financial Institutions Hotline (866) 556-3974 to

report the activity.

For individual copies of the form, call FinCEN's Regulatory

Helpline (800) 949-2732 after April 15, 2003, for individual copies of

the form. For information about obtaining bulk copies of the form, or

access to a fill-in version, visit the IRS's Internet Web site at

http://www.irs.gov after April 15, 2003. Copies of both the fill-in

version and individual copies may also be obtained on the FinCEN Web

site at http://www.fincen.gov after April 15, 2003.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Businesses, for-profit institutions, and non-

profit institutions.

Estimated Number of Respondents

FinCEN: 22,600.\2\

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\2\ Many respondents included in this estimate are also counted

in the agencies' estimates.

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OCC: 2,252.

OTS: 990.

Board: 10,000.

FDIC: 8,000.

NCUA: 9,300.

Estimated Total Annual Responses

FinCEN: 637,500.

OCC: 54,172.

OTS: 20,804.

Board: 11,162.

FDIC: 16,018.

NCUA: 2,961.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

The agencies have estimated 30 minutes per form.

FinCEN: 31,750 hours.\3\

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\3\ A respondent need only file one form. The estimated burden

per form is 30 minutes; this estimate does not allocate time between

agencies when copies of the form are filed to satisfy the rules of

more than one agency.

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OCC: 32,906 hours.

OTS: 10,402 hours.

Board: 5,581 hours.

FDIC: 8,009 hours.

NCUA: 1,480 hours.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required

[[Page 11619]]

respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of

information displays a valid OMB control number. A respondent must

retain the SAR and supporting documentation for five years. Generally,

information collected pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act is confidential,

but may be shared as provided by law with regulatory and law

enforcement authorities.

Request for Comments: Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the

proper performance of the functions of the agencies, including whether

the information shall have practical utility;

(b) The accuracy of the agencies' estimate of the burden of the

collection of information;

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.

Dated: March 3, 2003.

James F. Sloan,

Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Dated: February 20, 2003.

Mark J. Tenhundfeld,

Assistant Director, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division,

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Dated: February 26, 2003.

Deborah Dakin,

Deputy Chief Counsel, Regulations and Legislation Division, Office of

Thrift Supervision.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 24,

2003.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System.

Dated at Washington, DC, this 5th day of February, 2003.

By Order of the Board of Directors.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary.

By the National Credit Union Administration Board on February

24, 2003.

Becky Baker,

Secretary of the Board.

BILLING CODE 4810-02-P

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[FR Doc. 03-5649 Filed 3-10-03; 8:45 a.m.]

BILLING CODE 4810-02-C

Last Updated 03/03/2003

regs@fdic.gov

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