Notice2024-20675
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations and Other Information Collections Maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 12, 2024
Issuing agencies
Treasury DepartmentForeign Assets Control Office
Abstract
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 or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's information collection requirements contained within OFAC's Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations, the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, the Iran Financial Sanctions Regulations, and the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74375-74376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20675]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Foreign Assets Control
[Docket No.: OFAC-2024-0003]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request for Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations and
Other Information Collections Maintained by the Office of Foreign
Assets Control
AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 or continuing
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995. Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the
Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's
information collection requirements contained within OFAC's Reporting,
Procedures and Penalties Regulations, the Cuban Assets Control
Regulations, the Iran Financial Sanctions Regulations, and the
Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 12,
2024 to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions on the website for submitting comments.
Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2d626b6c6e5f485d425f596d595f484c5e585f54034a425b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0e41484f4d7c6b7e617c7a4e7a7c6b6f7d7b7c7720696178">[email protected]</span></a> with Attn: Request for Comments
(Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations).
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and refer to Docket Number OFAC-2024-0003 and the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) control number 1505-0164. Comments received will be
made available to the public via <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or upon
request, without change and including any personal information
provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: OFAC: Assistant Director for
Licensing, 202-622-2480; Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs,
202-622-4855; or Assistant Director for Compliance, 202-622-2490 or
<a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/contact-ofac">https://ofac.treasury.gov/contact-ofac</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations.
OMB Number: 1505-0164.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection;
consolidation with other approved collections.
Description: The collections of information are contained in
sections 501.601 through 501.605, 501.801, and 501.804 through 501.807
of OFAC's Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations (the
``Regulations''), and certain other parts of 31 CFR chapter V, and
pertain to the operation of various economic sanctions programs
administered by OFAC under 31 CFR chapter V. Section 501.601 addresses
the maintenance of records, and Sec. 501.602 relates to OFAC demands
for information relative to any transaction or property subject to the
provisions of 31 CFR chapter V. Section 501.603 imposes reporting
requirements pertaining to blocked property and retained funds, as well
as property that is unblocked or transferred. This information is
required by OFAC to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements, to
support diplomatic negotiations concerning the targets of sanctions, to
support settlement negotiations addressing U.S. claims, and to respond
to Congressional reporting requirements. Section 501.604 requires the
filing of reports for compliance purposes by U.S. persons where a
transaction is not required to be blocked but where processing or
otherwise engaging in the transaction would nonetheless violate, or
facilitate a transaction that is prohibited under, other provisions in
31 CFR chapter V. Section 501.605 requires reporting of information
pertaining to litigation, arbitration, and other binding alternative
dispute resolution proceedings in the United States to prevent the
intentional or inadvertent transfer through such proceedings of blocked
property or retained funds. Sections 501.801, 501.804, and 501.805
relate to license requests, the procedures for rulemaking, and records
requests, respectively. Section 501.806 sets forth the procedures to be
followed by a person seeking to unblock funds that the person believes
they have blocked due to mistaken identity or typographical or similar
errors. Section 501.807 sets forth the procedures to be followed by a
person seeking administrative reconsideration of the listing of a
person or property (e.g., a vessel) on any list of sanctioned persons
or property maintained by OFAC. OFAC maintains mandatory and voluntary
forms for the bulk of these collections and is not making major changes
to these existing forms.
In addition, OFAC seeks to consolidate within this information
collection five separately approved information collections: OMB
Numbers 1505-0167, 1505-0168, 1505-0243, 1505-0255, and 1505-0170.
These information collections are relevant to 31 CFR 501.801, 515,572,
561.504, and 566.504. OFAC is also extending from five years to 10
years the recordkeeping requirements codified at 31 CFR 501.601,
paragraph IV.B of appendix A to part 501, and 515.572 to align with the
extended statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) or the Trading
with the Enemy Act (TWEA).
The reports covered by this information collection will be reviewed
by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and may be used for compliance,
civil penalty, and enforcement purposes by the agency.
Forms: For filers who have been granted an exception from
electronic reporting using the OFAC Reporting System (ORS), OFAC allows
the submission of the following, through the following approved forms:
the Annual Report of Blocked Property (ARBP), TD-F 90-22.50; Report on
Blocked Property--Financial, TD-F 93.02; Report on Blocked Property--
Tangible/Real/Other Non-Financial Property, TD-F 93.08; Report on
Rejected Transaction, TD-F 93.07. OFAC also maintains the following
forms related to licensing: TSRA License Application, TD-F 93.04;
Licensing Cover Sheet, TD-F 98-22.61; and Application for the Release
of Blocked Funds TD-F 90-22.54. In addition, OFAC issued a new form,
REPO for Ukrainians Act Report Form, TD-F 93.09, to implement a new
reporting requirement pursuant to the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity
and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act for financial institutions holding
Russian sovereign assets, if not previously reported to OFAC. The other
information collections covered by this notice do not have mandatory or
voluntary forms.
Affected Public: Financial institutions, business organizations,
nonprofit organizations, individuals, households, nongovernmental
organizations, and legal representatives.
Estimated Number of Respondents: OFAC's estimate for the number of
unique reporting respondents is approximately 10,900. The significant
increase in the number of unique
[[Page 74376]]
respondents since OFAC's last information collection submission
regarding the Regulations in 2021 is due to OFAC consolidating several
information collection requests and, in response to unpredictable
foreign policy developments and considerations, and given the ongoing
conflict in Ukraine, has added a number of new prohibitions, as well as
several thousand new designations, particularly with respect to Ukraine
and Russian, resulting in a corresponding increase in related reports.
In addition, a May 2024 amendment to the Cuban Assets Control
Regulations in 31 CFR 515.584(d) reinstated an authorization for ``U-
turn'' transactions to support independent private sector entrepreneurs
in Cuba, by facilitating remittances and payments for authorized
transactions in the Cuban private sector, which is expected to lead to
an increase in remittances to Cuba over the coming three years.
Frequency of Response: The estimated annual frequency of responses
is between 1 and 17,800, varying greatly by entity depending on the
size, nature, and scope of business activities of each respondent, with
the majority of filers providing a small number of responses and a
small number of filers submitting a higher number of responses.
Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: The estimated total
number of responses per year is approximately 2,502,086.
Estimated Time per Response: OFAC assesses that there is an average
time estimate for reports associated with forms ranging from 15 minutes
to 2 hours and for reports associated with general licenses, Cuba
remittances, Cuba travel, closure of correspondent or payable-through
accounts, and other miscellaneous reports ranging from 1 minute to 5
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The estimated total annual
reporting burden is approximately 86,223 hours.
Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and 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; (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 required to provide information.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
Dated: September 9, 2024.
Lisa M. Palluconi,
Acting Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
[FR Doc. 2024-20675 Filed 9-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AL-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 12, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.