SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions

a. Bank Secrecy Act

The legislative framework generally referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) consists of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970,^[1] as amended by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act),^[2] and other legislation, including the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).^[3] The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b and 1951-1960, and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5336, and includes notes thereto, with implementing regulations at 31 CFR chapter X.

The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to, inter alia, 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, risk assessments or proceedings, or in intelligence or counter-intelligence activities, including analysis, to protect against terrorism, and to implement anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs and compliance procedures.^[4] The Secretary has delegated to the Director of FinCEN the authority to administer the BSA.^[5]

b. Generic Clearances

A “generic clearance” is an umbrella approval that allows an agency to obtain expedited OMB approval for multiple, similar information collections, rather than seeking full approval for each collection individually.^[6] This streamlined process is generally limited to information collections that are voluntary, low-burden, and uncontroversial. Before an agency may use a generic clearance, however, it must obtain OMB approval of its initial generic clearance plan through the standard notice and comment process. FinCEN first completed that process in March 2011.^[7]

After the initial generic clearance, an agency need not seek further public comment on each specific information collection that falls within the generic clearance plan. Instead, the agency need only obtain OMB approval for each covered collection, subject to the terms of the agency's initial generic clearance plan. The OMB review period for such collections is typically brief, taking approximately five business days instead of the otherwise standard 60-day review period.

Once approved by OMB, a generic clearance plan may remain in place for up to three years, the maximum allowed under the PRA. Each information collection covered under a generic clearance plan is included in the PRA public docket on www.reginfo.gov prior to use.

FinCEN's generic clearance plan and the corresponding PRA public docket are covered by OMB control number 1506-0062.^[8] FinCEN conducts surveys under the generic clearance plan to collect qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback, in furtherance of its commitment to improving service delivery. For each information collection covered under FinCEN's generic clearance plan, FinCEN certifies the following:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) ^[9]

Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.

OMB Control Number: 1506-0062.

Form Number: Not applicable.

Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew, without change, its capability to solicit feedback from the public with respect to timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses ( printed page 47917) will inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders would be unavailable.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit institutions; non-profit institutions; and certain Federal, state, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

Type of Review: Renewal without change of currently approved information collections.

Frequency: As required, though generally once per year, per survey.

Estimated Number of Potential Respondents: 39,534 respondents, on average.^[10]

Estimated Number of Expected Respondents: 5,217 respondents, on average.^[11]

Estimated Number of Responses: 5,217 responses, on average.^[12]

Estimated Total Annual Reporting Burden: 1,496 hours, on average.^[13]

Estimated Total Three-Year Reporting Burden: 4,489 hours.^[14]

Under the PRA, FinCEN as a Federal 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.

General Request for Comments:

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or included in a request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (1) 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; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (4) ways to minimize the burden imposed on respondents by the collection of information, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (5) estimates of capital or start-up costs, cost of operation and maintenance, and cost involved in purchasing services.

III. Additional Requests for Comment

As it continues to implement the AML Act, FinCEN will further assess the PRA burden associated with BSA requirements. To inform that assessment, FinCEN requests comments in response to the following additional questions:

1. Do FinCEN estimates accurately represent the average time spent on survey responses? If not, please provide data or anecdotal evidence that would support revisions.

2. FinCEN estimates of time burden do not include incremental time necessary to access and submit survey responses. Should additional time be assigned to these activities?

3. Are there additional or different questions that should be included in the surveys, or alternative ways of administering them or otherwise soliciting the desired information, that would improve the balance between the value of the information collected and the burden on respondents?

91 FR 47915