[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11646-11647]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03663]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board 
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the final approval of a proposed 
information collection by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB 
Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-
approved collections of information are incorporated into the official 
OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and 
approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's 
public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, 
and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information 
collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after 
October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Federal Reserve Board Clearance 
Officer--Cynthia Ayouch--Division of Research and Statistics, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551 (202) 
452-3829. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may 
contact (202) 263-4869, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, Washington, DC 20551.
    OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.
    Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the extension for 
three years, with revision, of the following report:
    Report title: Bank Secrecy Act Suspicious Activity Report (BSA-
SAR).
    Agency form number: FR 2230.
    OMB control number: 7100-0212.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Reporters: State member banks, bank holding companies and their 
nonbank subsidiaries, Edge and agreement corporations, and the U.S. 
branches and agencies, representative offices, and nonbank subsidiaries 
of foreign banks supervised by the Federal Reserve.
    Estimated annual reporting hours: 139,515 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: 1.5 hours.
    Number of respondents: 6,000.
    General description of report: The BSA-SAR is mandatory, pursuant 
to authority contained in the following statutes: 12 U.S.C. 248(a)(1), 
625, 1844(c), 3105(c)(2), 3106(a), and 1818(s). SARs are exempt from 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure by 31 U.S.C. 5319 and FIOA 
exemption 3 which incorporates into the FOIA certain nondisclosure 
provisions that are contained in other federal statutes, 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(3), and by FOIA exemption 7, which generally exempts from public 
disclosure ``records or

[[Page 11647]]

information compiled for law enforcement purposes,'' 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(7). Additionally, pursuant to 31U.S.C. 5318(g), officers and 
employees of the Federal government are generally forbidden from 
disclosing the contents of a SAR, or even acknowledging that a SAR 
exists, to a party involved in a transaction that is the subject of a 
SAR. Finally, information contained in SARs may be exempt from certain 
disclosure and other requirements of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 552a(k)(2).
    Abstract: Since 1996, the federal banking agencies (the Federal 
Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union 
Administration) and the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have required certain types of financial 
institutions to report known or suspected violations of law and 
suspicious transactions. To fulfill these requirements, supervised 
banking organizations file SARs. Law enforcement agencies use the 
information submitted on the reporting form to initiate investigations 
and the Federal Reserve uses the information in the examination and 
oversight of supervised institutions.
    Current Actions: On December 5, 2012, the Federal Reserve published 
a notice in the Federal Register (77 FR 72349) requesting public 
comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the interagency 
Suspicious Activities Report by Depository Institutions. The comment 
period for this notice expired on February 4, 2013. The Federal Reserve 
did not receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented as 
proposed.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 12, 
2013.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2013-03663 Filed 2-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P