[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43234-43238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17352]
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NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Reinstatement, With Change, of a Previously Approved Collection
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The NCUA, as part of their continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden, invite the general public and other
Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on information
collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public
Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). NCUA is soliciting comments
concerning the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). As Bank Secrecy Act
(BSA) administrator, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
transitioned from a system originally designed for collecting industry
specific paper forms to a modernized information technology environment
centered on electronic reporting. Based on financial institution type,
depository institutions, broker-dealers in securities, futures
commission merchants and introducing brokers in commodities, insurance
companies, mutual funds, money services businesses, and casinos
currently filed reports on four separate forms. FinCEN's objective is
to have one electronically-filed dynamic and interactive BSA-SAR that
will be used by all filing institutions to report suspicious activity
as of April 1, 2013.
There are no proposed changes to the regulatory reporting criteria
for information collection. Federally
[[Page 43235]]
insured credit unions will continue to follow the regulation,
interagency guidance, and filing instructions to determine when a
report should be filed and what information should be included on the
report.
The interactive BSA-SAR includes several new data fields and
introduces data fields from the SARs of other industries. On March 29,
2012, FinCEN released guidance \1\ titled, ``Filing FinCEN's new
Currency Transaction Report and Suspicious Activity Report''. This
guidance clarified expectations and notes that FinCEN is making
available additional and more specific data elements (i.e.,
characterizations of suspicious activity and types of financial
services) as a more efficient way to bring information about suspicious
activity to the attention of FinCEN and law enforcement. The guidance
clarified the addition of new and expanded data elements; however, the
guidance does not create an expectation that financial institutions
will revise internal programs, or develop new programs, to capture
information that reflects the expanded lists.
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\1\ http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/pdf/FIN-2012-G002.pdf.
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Additional information about the paperwork burden associated with
these requirements, including statutory and regulatory history, a
description of the reporting requirements, and how the estimated total
annual burden was calculated, is discussed below.
Background and Justification
Since 1996, the federal banking agencies \2\ and 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 Suspicious
Activity Reports.\3\ Law enforcement agencies use the information
submitted on the reporting form to initiate investigations and Federal
Reserve staff use the information in the examination and oversight of
supervised institutions.
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\2\ The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration.
\3\ In 1996, the NCUA, together with the other federal banking
agencies issued nearly identical regulations to implement the SAR
process for banking organizations.
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The NCUA's suspicious activity reporting rules apply to all
federally insured credit unions. The NCUA is only responsible for the
paperwork burden imposed on these institutions. Other federal banking
agencies account for the paperwork burden for the institutions they
supervise. The annual burden per respondent varies depending on the
nature of the activity being reported.
The suspicious activity report filing requirement became effective
on April 1, 1996. Prior to the effective date, the NCUA, the other
federal banking agencies, and FinCEN each issued new and nearly
identical rules mandating the use of the interagency SAR-DI for the
reporting of suspicious activities. In separate actions, FinCEN also
enacted regulations requiring other types of financial institutions,
such as brokers or dealers in securities and futures; money services
businesses (money transmitters; issuers and sellers of money orders and
travelers' checks; check cashers, and dealers in foreign exchange);
casinos and card clubs; and insurance companies to file reports on
suspicious activities.
In January 2003, check boxes were added to Part III of the SAR-DI
to note terrorist financing and identity theft as suspicious activities
and the safe harbor language in the instructions was updated to reflect
changes made by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA
PATRIOT) Act of 2001. In 2006, the SAR-DI form was revised to support a
new joint filing initiative aimed at reducing the total number of
duplicate reports filed for a single suspicious transaction. On May 1,
2007, FinCEN published a Federal Register notice (72 FR 23891) \4\
announcing the delayed implementation of these revisions, which
ultimately were never implemented.
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\4\ http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/frn/pdf/sar_fr_notice.pdf.
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On July 15, 2011, FinCEN received final approval of the BSA-SAR \5\
from the Office of Management and Budget which concluded FinCEN's
October 15, 2010, request for comment.
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\5\ http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201104-1506-002.
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Description of Information Collection
Federally insured credit unions follow the SAR instructions to
determine when a SAR should be filed and what information should be
included on the SAR.
Proposed Revisions
The BSA-SAR would integrate four institution specific SARs into one
universal data collection. The previous five parts of the SAR-DI remain
with changes to their titles and placement in order of completion.
The proposed BSA-SAR is described below by form Part. Fields from
other industry SARs that may be new to depository institutions as well
as specific data fields that are new to all types of industry filers
have been identified. In the description provided below, questions for
which an answer must be provided (referred to as ``critical fields'')
are identified with the * symbol in front of the data element number.
Type of Filing
Field 1 is the Type of Filing and it would require the filer to
designate the category that best describes the filing from the choices
of:
* 1. Check all that apply--a. Initial report; b. Correct/amend
prior report; c. Continuing activity report; d. Joint report; e. Prior
report document control/file number if 1b or 1c are checked
On the current SAR-DI there is only one choice in data field 1 for
those reports that corrected a prior report.
Part I: Subject Information
Part I is titled Subject Information and would require the filer to
provide information for each subject involved in the suspicious
activity. Subject Information is titled Suspect Information on the
current SAR-DI. As with the existing SAR-DI, multiple subjects may be
included in Part I.
Each of the critical fields (*) in this Part have a new check box
that may be used if the information is unknown. If that box is checked,
the filer would not need to enter any information in that field.
In Part I, with the exception of the unknown check box, these data
fields would remain the same with no additions or changes from the SAR-
DI:
* 3. Individual's last name or entity's legal name--a. (check if)
unknown
* 4. First name--a. (check if) unknown
5. Middle initial (middle name for electronic filers)
7. Occupation or type of business
* 8. Address--a. (check if) unknown
* 9. City--a. (check if) unknown
* 10. State--a. (check if) unknown
* 11. ZIP/Postal Code--a. (check if)
* 12. Country Code--a. (check if) unknown
* 13. TIN--a. (check if) unknown
* 16. Date of birth mm/dd/yyyy--a. (check if) unknown
Listed below are the remaining data fields in Part I that would be
considered new data fields or data fields that would be modified.
2. Check--a. If entity; b. If all critical (*) subject information is
unavailable (If 2b is checked this Part may be left blank)
5a. Gender--b. (Check if) Male; c. (Check if) Female; d. (Check if)
Unknown
[[Page 43236]]
6. Alternate name, e.g. AKA for an Individual or DBA for an Entity
7a. NAICS Code (North American Industry Classification system code that
corresponds to 7)
14. TIN type (* if 13 is completed)--a. EIN; b. SSN-ITIN; c. Foreign
* 15. Form of identification for subject--a. (check if) unknown (or not
obtained); b. (check if) Driver's license/state ID; c. (check if)
Passport; d. (check if) Alien registration; e. Number; f. Issuing
state; g. Issuing country; z. (check if) Other
17. Phone number type--a. (check if) Home; b. (check if) Work; c.
(check if) Mobile; d. (check if) Fax
18. Phone number--a. Extension (if any)
19. Email address (if available)
19a. Web site (URL) address (if available)
20. Corroborative statement to filer?--a. (check if) Yes; b. (check if)
No (This was Admission/Confession on the SAR-DI)
21. Relationship of the subject to the filing institution (check all
that apply)--a. Institution TIN; b. Accountant; c. Agent; d. Appraiser;
e. Attorney; f. Borrower; g. Customer; h. Director; i. Employee; j. No
relationship to institution; k. Officer; l. Owner or Controlling
Shareholder; z. Other
22. If item 21h, 21i, 21j, or 21k is checked, indicate status of
relationship--a. (check if) Relationship continues; b. (check if)
Terminated; c. (check if) Suspended/barred; d. (check if) Resigned
23. Action date if 22 b, c, or d is checked
* 24. Financial Institution EIN and account number(s) affected that are
related to subject, if any--a. (check if) No known account involved; b.
(check if) Non-US Financial Institution; c. TIN; d. account number; e.
(check if) closed;
25. Subject's role in suspicious activity (if applicable); a. (check
if) Purchaser/Sender; b. (check if) Payee/Receiver; c. (check if) Both
a & b
Part II--Suspicious Activity Information
Part II, Suspicious Activity Information, would require the filer
to describe the suspicious activity that occurred.
Part II items would cover all filer institution types so all filers
would see field options that may not pertain to their report (such as
casino activities). Filers would only be required to complete those
items that apply to their institution and pertain to the report being
filed.
In Part II, with the exception of the unknown check box, these data
fields would remain the same as the current SAR-DI:
* 27. Date or date range of suspicious activity for this report--a.
From: mm/dd/yyyy; b. To: mm/dd/yyyy
The remaining data fields in this Part, specifically the
characterizations of suspicious activity, would be modified and
expanded when compared to the current SAR-DI. There are now ten general
categories and each category would be further broken down to specific
types of suspicious activity.
* 26. Amount involved in this report--a. (check if) Amount unknown; b.
(check if) No amount involved.
28. Cumulative amount only if box 1c (continuing activity report) is
checked
29. Structuring--a. Alters transaction to avoid BSA recordkeeping
requirement; b. Alters transactions to avoid CTR requirement; c.
Customer cancels transaction to avoid BSA reporting and recordkeeping
requirements; d. Multiple transactions below BSA recordkeeping
threshold; e. Multiple transactions below CTR threshold; f. Suspicious
inquiry by customer regarding BSA reporting or recordkeeping
requirements; z. Other (specify type of suspicious activity in space
provided)
30. Terrorist Financing--a. Known or suspected terrorist/terrorist
organization; z. Other (specify type of suspicious activity in space
provided)
31. Fraud (Type)--a. ACH; b. Business loan; c. Check; d. Consumer loan;
e. Credit/Debit card; f. Healthcare; g. Mail; h. Mass-marketing; i.
Pyramid scheme; j. Wire; z. Other (specify type of suspicious activity
in space provided)
32. Casinos--a. Inquiry about end of business day; b. Minimal gaming
with large transactions; c. Suspicious intra-casino funds transfers; d.
Suspicious use of counter checks or markers; z. Other (specify type of
suspicious activity in space provided)
33. Money laundering--a. Exchanges small bills for large bills or vice
versa; b. Suspicion concerning the physical condition of funds; c.
Suspicion concerning the source of funds; d. Suspicious designation of
beneficiaries, assignees or joint owners; e. Suspicious EFT/wire
transfers; f. Suspicious exchange of currencies; g. Suspicious receipt
of government payments/benefits; h. Suspicious use of multiple
accounts; i. Suspicious use of noncash monetary instruments; j.
Suspicious use of third-party transactors (straw-man); k. Trade Based
Money Laundering/Black Market Peso Exchange; l. Transaction out of
pattern for customer(s); z. Other (specify type of suspicious activity
in space provided)
34. Identification/Documentation--a. Changes spelling or arrangement of
name; b. Multiple individuals with same or similar identities; c.
Provided questionable or false documentation; d. Refused or avoided
request for documentation; e. Single individual with multiple
identities; z. Other
35. Other suspicious activities--a. Account takeover; b. Bribery or
gratuity; c. Counterfeit instruments; d. Elder financial exploitation;
e. Embezzlement/theft/disappearance of funds; f. Forgeries; g. Identity
theft; h. Little or no concern for product performance penalties, fees,
or tax consequences; i. Misuse of ``free look''/cooling off/right of
rescission; j. Misuse of position or self-dealing; k. Suspected public/
private corruption (domestic); l. Suspected public/private corruption
(foreign); m. suspicious use of informal value transfer system; n.
Suspicious use of multiple transaction locations; o. Transaction with
no apparent economic, business, or lawful purpose; p. Two or more
individuals working together; q. Unauthorized electronic intrusion; r.
Unlicensed or unregistered MSB; z. Other (specify type of suspicious
activity in space provided)
36. Insurance--a. Excessive insurance; b. Excessive or unusual cash
borrowing against policy/annuity; c. Proceeds sent to or received
unrelated third party; d. Suspicious life settlement sales insurance
(e.g. STOLI's, Viaticals); e. Suspicious termination of policy or
contract; f. Unclear or no insurable interest; z. Other (specify type
of suspicious activity in space provided)
37. Securities/Futures/Options--a. Insider trading; b. Market
manipulation/wash trading; c. Misappropriation; d. Unauthorized
pooling; z. Other (specify type of suspicious activity in space
provided)
38. Mortgage fraud--a. Appraisal fraud; b. Foreclosure fraud; c. Loan
modification fraud; d. Reverse mortgage fraud; z. Other
39. Were any of the following instrument/product type(s)
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involved in the suspicious activity? Check all that apply: a. Bonds/
Notes; b. Commercial mortgage; c. Commercial paper; d. Credit card; e.
Debit card; f. Forex transactions; g. Futures/Options on futures; h.
Hedge fund; i. Home equity loan; j. Home equity line of credit; k.
Insurance/Annuity products; l. Mutual fund; m. Options on securities;
n. Penny stocks/Microcap securities; o. Prepaid access; p. Residential
mortgage; q. Security futures products; r. Stocks; s. Swap, hybrid or
other derivative; z. Other (specify type in space provided)
40. Were any of the following instrument type(s)/payment mechanism(s)
involved in the suspicious activity? Check all that apply--a. Bank/
Cashier's check; b. Foreign currency; c. Funds transfer; d. Gaming
instruments; e. Government payment; f. Money orders; g. Personal/
Business check; h. Travelers check; i. U.S. Currency; z. Other (specify
type in space provided)
41. Commodity type (if applicable)
42. Product/Instrument description (if needed)
43. Market where traded (list of codes will be provided--dropdown menu
for electronic filers)
44. IP Address (if available) (multiple entries allowed for electronic
filers)
45. CUSIP number (multiple entries allowed for electronic filers)
46. CUSIP number (multiple entries allowed for electronic filers)
Part III--Information About Financial Institution Where Activity
Occurred
Part III information would be about the financial institution(s)
where the suspicious activity occurred. A separate Part III record
would be completed on each financial institution involved in the
suspicious activity. The data fields in Part III would be modified and
expanded when compared to the current SAR-DI.
* 47. Type of financial institution (check only one)--a. Casino/Card
club; b. Depository institution; c. Insurance company; d. MSB; e.
Securities/Futures; z. Other (specify type of institution in space
provided)
* 48. Primary Federal Regulator--A = Commodities Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC); B = Federal Reserve Board (FRB); C = Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC); D = Internal Revenue Service (IRS); E =
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); F = Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); G = Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC); Z = Not Applicable
49. If item 47a is check indicate type (Check only one)--a. State
licensed casino; b. Tribal authorized casino; c. Card club; d. Other
(specify)
50. If item 47e is checked, indicate type of Securities and Futures
institution or individual where activity occurred--check box(es) for
functions that apply to this report--a. Clearing broker-securities; b.
Futures Commission Merchant; c. Holding company; d. Introducing broker-
commodities; e. Introducing broker-securities; f. Investment Advisor;
g. Investment company; h. Retail foreign exchange dealer; i. Subsidiary
of financial/bank holding company; z. Other (specify type of
institution or individual in space provided)
51. Financial institution identification number (Check one box to
indicate type)--a. (check if) CRD number; b. (check if) IARD number; c.
(check if) NFA number; d. (check if) RSSD number; e. (check if) SEC
number; f. Identification number
52. Financial institution's role in transaction (if applicable)--a.
(check if) Selling location; b. (check if) Paying location; (check if)
Both a & b
* 53. Legal name of financial institution--a. (check if) unknown
54. Alternate name, e.g., AKA--individual or trade name, DBA--entity
* 55. TIN--a. (check if) unknown
56. TIN type (* if 55 is completed)--a. EIN; b. SSN-ITIN; c. Foreign
* 57. Address--a. (check if) unknown
* 58. City--a. (check if) unknown
59. State
* 60 ZIP/Postal Code--a. (check if) unknown
* 61. Country
62. Internal control/file number
63. Loss to financial institution (if applicable)
64. Branch's role in transaction (if applicable)--a. (check if) Selling
location; b. (check if) Paying location; c. (check if) Both a & b
* 65. Address of branch or office where activity occurred--a. (if no
branch activity involved, check box a)
66. RSSD number (of the branch)
67. City
68. State
69. ZIP/Postal Code
70. Country (2 letter code--list provided)
Part IV--Filing Institution Contact Information
Part IV information would be about the lead financial institution
or holding company that is filing the BSA-SAR. There would be only one
Part IV record for each filing. Part IV would take fields previously
contained in Part I, Part III, and Part IV on the SAR-DI as well as
added new fields.
* 78. Primary Federal Regulator--A = Commodities Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC); B = Federal Reserve Board (FRB); C = Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC); D = Internal Revenue Service (IRS); E =
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); F = Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); G = Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC); Z = Not Applicable
* 79. Filer name (Holding company, lead financial institution)
* 80. TIN
* 81. TIN type--a. EIN; b. SSN/ITIN; c. Foreign
* 82. Type of financial institution (check only one)--a. Casino/Card
club; b. Depository institution; c. Insurance company; d. MSB; e.
Securities/Futures; z. Other (specify type of institution in space
provided)
83. Type of Securities and Futures institution or individual filing
this report-check box(es) for function that apply to this report--a.
Clearing broker--securities; b. CPO/CTA; c. Futures Commission
Merchant; d. Holding company; e. Introducing broker--commodities; f.
Introducing broker--securities; g. Investment Adviser; h. Investment
company; i. Retail foreign exchange dealer; j. SRO Futures; k. SRO
Securities; l. Subsidiary of financial/bank holding company; z. Other
(specify type of institution or individual in space provided)
84. Filing institution identification number (Check one box to indicate
type)--a. (check if) CRD number; b. (check if) IARD number; c. (check
if) NFA number; d. (check if) RSSD number; e. (check if) SEC number; f.
Identification number
* 85. Address
* 86. City
87. State
* 88. ZIP/Postal Code
* 89. Country
90. Alternate name, e.g., AKA--individual or trade name, DBA--entity
91. Internal control/file number
92. LE contact agency
93. LE contact name
94. LE contact phone number--a. Extension (if any)
95. LE contact date
* 96. Designated contact office
* 97. Designated contact office phone number including area code--a.
Extension (if any)
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* 98. Date filed
Part V--Suspicious Activity Information Explanation/Description
Part V would require the filer to provide a chronological and
complete narrative account of the activity, including what is unusual,
irregular, or suspicious about the activity. In the BSA-SAR this part
would be a text file that is limited to 17,000 characters
(approximately six pages). Institutions may, but are not required to,
attach a MS Excel-compatible file (no larger than 1 MB) providing
details in tabular form of transactions subject to the suspicious
activity discussed in the text file.
Consultation Outside the Agency
As set forth above, the SAR was originally developed in 1996 by an
interagency group that consisted of the federal banking agencies, the
U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury, and several law enforcement
agencies. The general framework of the BSA-SAR report and revisions to
the BSA-SAR data elements have been discussed on an interagency basis.
Estimate of Respondent Burden
The burden per institution varies depending on the nature of the
activity being reported. Because of these changes to the BSA-SAR, the
estimated average burden would increase to 2 hours per response.
Between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012, federally insured
credit unions filed 67,537 \6\ SARs. Based on this data the annual
reporting burden for the federally insured credit unions is estimated
to be 135,074 hours with the proposed revisions.
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\6\ The SAR Activity Review--By the Numbers; Issue 18
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before September 17,
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2013.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to
the NCUA Contact and the OMB Reviewer listed below:
NCUA Contact: Tracy Crews, National Credit Union Administration,
1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3428, Fax No. 703-837-
2861, Email: [email protected].
OMB Contact: Office of Management and Budget, ATTN: Desk Officer
for the National Credit Union Administration, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information, a
copy of the collection, or a copy of submitted comments should be
directed to Tracy Crews at the National Credit Union Administration,
1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3428, or at (703) 518-6444.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Suspicious Activity Report by Depository Institutions (SAR).
OMB Control Numbers: 3133-0094.
Form Numbers: 2362.
Abstract: In 1985, the Banking Supervisory Agencies issued
procedures to be used by banks and certain other financial institutions
operating in the United States to report known or suspected criminal
activities to the appropriate law enforcement and Banking Supervisory
Agencies. Beginning in 1994, the Banking Supervisory Agencies and
FinCEN redesigned the reporting process resulting in the Suspicious
Activity Report, which became effective in April 1996. The report is
authorized by 12 CFR 748.1 (NCUA). The regulation was issued under the
authority contained in 1789(a) (NCUA).
Current Action: NCUA proposes to renew, with revision, the
previously approved form.
Type of Review: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection.
Affected Public: Business, for-profit institutions, and non-profit
institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 6,753.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 67,537.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: at an estimated 2 hours per form,
Total Annual Burden is 135,074 hours.
Records required to be retained under the Bank Secrecy Act and
these regulations issued by the Banking Supervisory Agencies must be
retained 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 submitted in response to this notice
will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget 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 shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
collection of information; (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.
By the National Credit Union Administration Board on July 15,
2013.
Mary Rupp,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2013-17352 Filed 7-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7535-01-P