81 FR 37239 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations-Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Foreign Assets Control

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 111 (June 9, 2016)

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) (PRA). Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 111 (Thursday, June 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37239-37240]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13668]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Foreign Assets Control


Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Hizballah Financial 
Sanctions Regulations--Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions 
of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general 
public and other federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or 
continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
(PRA). Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within 
the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's 
Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. 
Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through 
Accounts.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 8, 2016 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions on the Web site for submitting comments.
    Fax: Attn: Request for Comments (Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations--Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of 
Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts) 202-622-1657.
    Mail: Attn: Request for Comments (Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations--Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of 
Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts), Office of Foreign 
Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Freedman's Bank Building, Washington, DC 20220.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and the Federal Register Doc. number that appears at the end of this 
document. Comments received will be made available to the public via 
regulations.gov or upon request, without change and including any 
personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Department of the Treasury's 
Office of Foreign Assets Control: Assistant Director for Licensing, 
tel.: 202-622-2480, Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs, tel.: 
202-622-4855, Assistant Director for Sanctions Compliance & Evaluation, 
tel.: 202-622-2490; or the Department of the Treasury's Office of the 
Chief Counsel (Foreign Assets Control), Office of the General Counsel, 
tel.: 202-622-2410.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations--Report on Closure 
by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-
Through Accounts.
    OMB Number: 1505-0255.
    Abstract: Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR part 566 (the Regulations), the Secretary of the 
Treasury may, among other things, prohibit a U.S. financial institution 
from opening or maintaining a correspondent account or a payable-
through account in the United States for a foreign financial 
institution that the Secretary has determined has engaged in certain 
activities involving Hizballah and whose name is added to the Hizballah 
Financial Sanctions Regulations List (HFSR List) on OFAC's Web site 
(www.treasury.gov/ofac). Section 566.504 of the Regulations authorizes 
certain transactions related to the winding down and closing of such a 
correspondent account or payable-through account. Section 566.506(b) 
includes a reporting requirement pursuant to which a U.S. financial 
institution that maintained such an account must file a report with 
OFAC that provides full details on the closing of each such account 
within 30 days of the closure of the account. This collection of 
information assists in verifying that U.S. financial institutions are 
complying with prohibitions on maintaining correspondent accounts or 
payable-through accounts for foreign financial institutions listed on 
the HFSR List. The reports will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of 
the Treasury and may be used for compliance and enforcement purposes by 
the agency.

[[Page 37240]]

    Current Actions: There are no changes being made to the collection 
at this time.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: U.S. financial institutions operating 
correspondent or payable-through accounts for foreign financial 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Because this collection of 
information is a report that must be filed by U.S. financial 
institutions closing correspondent or payable-through accounts for a 
foreign financial institution pursuant to section 566.504 after OFAC 
adds the name of the foreign financial institution to the HFSR List, 
OFAC cannot predict the number of respondents for the section 
566.504(b) reporting requirement at this time. From the date this 
reporting requirement was implemented pursuant to the Regulations 
(April 15, 2016) through June 9, 2016, OFAC did not add the name of any 
foreign financial institution to the HFSR List, and the number of 
respondents to this collection was therefore zero. For future PRA 
submissions, OFAC will continue to report retrospectively on the number 
of respondents during the previous reporting period.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 hours per response.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Because the section 566.504(b) 
reporting requirement applies to those U.S. financial institutions that 
operate correspondent or payable-through accounts for a foreign 
financial institution whose name is added to the HFSR List, OFAC cannot 
predict the response rate for the section 566.504(b) reporting 
requirement at this time. For future PRA submissions, OFAC will report 
retrospectively on the response rate during the previous reporting 
period.
    The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of 
information covered by this notice:
    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. Books or records 
relating to a collection of information 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 has 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (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.

Andrea Gacki,
Acting Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
[FR Doc. 2016-13668 Filed 6-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AL-P