Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation

• Since the March 1, 2005, implementation of the Secure Information Sharing System (SISS), financial institutions' Section 314(a) points of contact should be receiving biweekly e-mail notifications about new information available on the SISS Web site for their review.
• Usage statistics for the SISS have been provided to the FDIC. Current results indicate that a number of FDIC-supervised institutions are not registered to access the site. Statistics also indicate that a number of registered institutions have not logged on to SISS since their initial registration.
• SISS can only be accessed by the financial institution's designated Section 314(a) points of contact. If you use a third-party vendor or product to conduct searches, your institution is still required to log on and review the information on the SISS.
• Financial institutions that receive e-mail notifications from FinCEN stating new information has been posted to the SISS, and have not yet registered on the new system, can complete the registration process at: https://www.fincen.gov/314a/
• Financial Institutions receiving FinCEN information by fax are not impacted, and will continue to receive information by fax unless they ask to receive the Section 314(a) notifications via e-mail.
• Changes to Section 314(a) point of contact information must be made through the quarterly Call Report. For more information, contact (800) 688-FDIC or insurance-research@fdic.gov.
• Please distribute this information to the appropriate personnel in your institution. For further information, please contact FinCEN's Regulatory Help Line at 1-800-949-2732 or sys314a@fincen.treas.gov.

Distribution:
FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)

Suggested Routing:
Chief Executive Officer
BSA Compliance Officer

Related Topics:
Suspicious Activity Reports

Attachment
None

Contact:
Senior Program Analyst, Charles Collier at SASFIL@FDIC.gov or (202) 898-3673

Note:
FDIC Financial Institution Letters (FILs) may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2005/index.html.

To receive FILs electronically, please visit http://www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/fil.html.

Paper copies of FDIC FILs may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (1-877-275-3342 or (703) 562-2200).

Since the March 1, 2005, implementation of the Secure Information Sharing System (SISS), financial institutions' Section 314(a) points of contact should be receiving biweekly e-mail notifications about new information available on the SISS Web site for their review.

Section 314(a) of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56) required the Secretary of the Treasury to adopt regulations encouraging regulatory authorities and law enforcement authorities to share with financial institutions information about individuals, entities and organizations engaged in or reasonably suspected of, based on credible evidence, engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering activities. FinCEN's regulations under Section 314(a) enable federal law enforcement agencies, through FinCEN, to transmit requests to designated contacts within financial institutions across the country. The financial institutions are required to query their records for data matches.

Usage statistics for the SISS have been provided to the FDIC. Current results indicate that a number of FDIC-supervised institutions are not registered to access the site, and a number of registered institutions have not logged on to SISS since their initial registration. There are also a number of financial institutions that receive e-mail notifications from FinCEN stating new information has been posted to the SISS, but have not yet registered on the new system. The registration process can be completed at https://www.fincen.gov/314a/.

SISS can only be accessed by the financial institution's designated Section 314(a) points of contact. If you use a third-party vendor or product to conduct searches, your institution is still required to log on and review the information on the SISS.

Banks receiving FinCEN information by fax are not impacted, and will continue to receive information by fax unless they ask to receive the Section 314(a) notifications via e-mail. Changes to Section 314(a) point of contact information must be made through the quarterly Call Report. For more information, contact (800) 688-FDIC or insurance-research@fdic.gov.

Please distribute this information to the appropriate personnel in your institution. For further information, please contact FinCEN's Regulatory Help Line at 1-800-949-2732 or sys314a@fincen.treas.gov.