Notice2025-18928
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; Comment Request; Renewal Without Change on Information Sharing Between Government Agencies and Financial Institutions
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 30, 2025
Issuing agencies
Treasury DepartmentFinancial Crimes Enforcement Network
Abstract
As part of its continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of existing information collection requirements found in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulations concerning information sharing between government agencies and financial institutions. Specifically, the regulations require that, upon receiving an information request from FinCEN, a financial institution must search its records to determine whether it maintains or has maintained any account or engaged in any transaction with an individual, entity, or organization named in the request. If a financial institution identifies an account or transaction named in the request, it must report such information to FinCEN in the manner and timeframe specified in the request. This request for comment is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 187 (Tuesday, September 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47125-47132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18928]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal;
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change on Information Sharing Between
Government Agencies and Financial Institutions
AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal,
without change, of existing information collection requirements found
in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulations concerning information sharing
between government agencies and financial institutions. Specifically,
the regulations require that, upon receiving an information request
from FinCEN, a financial institution must search its records to
determine whether it maintains or has maintained any account or engaged
in any transaction with an individual, entity, or organization named in
the request. If a financial institution identifies an account or
transaction named in the request, it must report such information to
FinCEN in the manner and timeframe specified in the request. This
request for comment is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments are welcome and must be received on or before
December 1, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal E-rulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Refer to Docket Number
FINCEN-2025-0039 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control
number 1506-0049.
<bullet> Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2025-0039 and OMB control number 1506-0049.
Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will be
reviewed consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
applicable OMB regulations and guidance. Do not include any personally
identifiable information (such as name, address, or other contact
information) or confidential business information that you do not want
publicly disclosed. All comments are public records; they are publicly
displayed exactly as received, and will not be deleted, modified, or
redacted. Comments may be submitted anonymously.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FinCEN's Regulatory Support Section at
<a href="http://www.fincen.gov/contact">www.fincen.gov/contact</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions
The legislative framework generally referred to as the 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.
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\1\ Title II of Public Law 91-508, 84 Stat. 1118 (Oct. 26,
1970).
\2\ Public Law 107-56, 115 Stat. 272 (Oct. 26, 2001).
\3\ The AML Act was enacted as Division F, sections 6001-6511,
of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116-283, 134 Stat. 3388 (Jan.
1, 2021).
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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, or 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 (Director) the authority to administer the BSA.\5\
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\4\ See 31 U.S.C. 5311(1)-(2).
\5\ See Treasury Order 180-01 (Jan. 14, 2020); see also 31
U.S.C. 310(b)(2)(I) (providing that the Director of FinCEN shall
``[a]dminister the requirements of subchapter II of chapter 53 of
this title, chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508, and section
21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, to the extent delegated
such authority by the Secretary'').
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The USA PATRIOT Act charged the Department of the Treasury
(Treasury) with developing regulations to facilitate information
sharing among government entities and financial institutions for the
purpose of combatting terrorism and money laundering. In 2002, FinCEN
published a final rule implementing the authority contained in section
314(a) of the USA PATRIOT Act (the Section 314(a) Rule).\6\ The rule
required financial institutions, upon FinCEN's request (Section 314(a)
Request), to search their records to determine whether they have
maintained an account or conducted a transaction with a specified
individual, entity, or organization that a Federal law enforcement
agency has certified is suspected, based on credible evidence, of
engaging in terrorist activity or money laundering. The rule was
expanded in 2010 to enable certain agencies other than Federal law
enforcement agencies to initiate Section 314(a) Requests. As amended,
the rule enables certain foreign law enforcement agencies, state and
local law enforcement agencies, and FinCEN itself, on its own behalf
and on behalf of appropriate components of Treasury, to initiate
Section 314(a) Requests.\7\ Before processing a request, FinCEN
requires the requesting agency to certify that, in the case of money
laundering, the matter is significant, and that the requesting agency
has been unable to locate the information sought through traditional
methods of investigation and analysis. The regulations implementing the
rules are found at 31 CFR 1010.520.
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\6\ FinCEN, Final Rule--Special Information Sharing Procedures
to Deter Money Laundering and Terrorist Activity, 67 FR 60579,
(Sept. 26, 2002).
\7\ FinCEN, Final Rule--Expansion of Special Information Sharing
Procedures To Deter Money Laundering and Terrorist Activity, 75 FR
6560, (Feb. 10, 2010).
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The requesting governmental entity must generally certify that each
individual, entity, or organization about which the governmental entity
is seeking information is engaged in, or is reasonably suspected based
on credible evidence of engaging in, terrorist activity or money
laundering. The requesting governmental entity must also provide FinCEN
with information identifying each subject of a Section 314(a) Request,
such as a name, date of birth (for an individual), address, and
taxpayer identification number (TIN), or for an individual, social
security number (SSN), or for an entity, employer identification number
(EIN). The requesting governmental agency must also provide a point-of-
contact (POC) who can be contacted by FinCEN or a financial institution
in case there are any questions relating to the Section 314(a) Request.
Upon receiving a 314(a) Request, a financial institution is
generally only required to search its records for: (i) any current
account maintained for a named subject; (ii) any account maintained for
a named subject during the preceding
[[Page 47126]]
twelve months from the date of the Section 314(a) Request; and (iii)
any transaction conducted by or on behalf of a named subject, or any
transmittal of funds conducted in which a named subject was either the
transmittor or the recipient, during the preceding six months from the
date of the Section 314(a) Request, that is required under law or
regulation to be recorded by the financial institution or is recorded
and maintained electronically by the institution.
A financial institution must report any matches to FinCEN, in the
manner and in the timeframe specified in the Section 314(a) Request,
and, as available, the following information: (i) the name of the
match, such as the name of the individual, entity, or organization;
(ii) the account number, or in the case of a transaction, the date and
type of each such transaction; and (iii) any TIN information, passport
number, date of birth, address, or other similar identifying
information provided by the individual, entity, or organization when
each such account was opened or each such transaction was conducted.
The Section 314(a) Rule also requires a financial institution, upon
receiving a Section 314(a) Request, to provide to FinCEN a POC to
receive future Section 314(a) Requests.\8\ Financial institutions must
promptly notify FinCEN of any changes to such information.
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\8\ See 31 CFR 1010.520.1010(b)(3)(iii). As a practical matter,
FinCEN generally pre-notifies specific financial institutions that
they will be recipients of 314(a) Requests, and it obtains
information about designated POCs of those financial institutions in
advance of submitting Section 314(a) Requests, all in the interest
of establishing a streamlined 314(a) communications channel.
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II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) <SUP>9</SUP>
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\9\ See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). Under OMB regulations the PRA
does not apply to requests FinCEN makes under 31 CFR 1010.520(b) on
behalf of a Federal law enforcement agency, or to reports by
financial institutions in response to such requests. See 5 CFR
1320.4(a)(1). Therefore, the total estimates of PRA burden and cost
in this renewal do not include the burden for financial institutions
to respond to Federal law enforcement 314(a) Requests. However,
because the 314(a) Program is a useful law enforcement tool that is
utilized mostly by Federal law enforcement agencies, FinCEN is
providing data on Federal law enforcement 314(a) Requests and
comparable burden estimates in this notice for additional context
and greater transparency. (see notes 17, 42 and 46).
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Title: Information sharing between government agencies and
financial institutions (31 CFR 1010.520).
OMB Control Number: 1506-0049.
Form Number: Not applicable.
Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control
number for regulations requiring information sharing between government
agencies and financial institutions.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit and non-profit
institutions.
Type of Review: Renewal without change of a currently approved
information collection.
Frequency: As required.
Estimated Number of Potential Respondents: 575,873 financial
institutions.
As set forth in 31 CFR 1010.520(a)(1), the information collection
required under the Section 314(a) Rule, as described in this notice,
pertains to an entity defined as a financial institution in 31 U.S.C.
5312(a)(2) but not necessarily defined as such in the regulations
generally implementing the BSA.\10\ FinCEN may contact any financial
institution so defined in carrying out a Section 314(a) Request. An
estimate of the total potentially affected population of these
respective institutions is provided in Table 1.
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\10\ See 31 CFR 1010.100(t).
Table 1--Financial Institutions Covered by the Section 314(a) Rule
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Number of
Financial institution type \a\ entities
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Banks \b\............................................ \c\ 9,384
Insurance Companies \d\.............................. \e\ 718
Brokers or Dealers in Securities (Broker-Dealers) \f\ \g\ 3,306
Money Services Businesses (Principals) \h\........... \i\ 28,456
Money Services Businesses (Agents)................... 229,161
Casinos or Card Clubs \j\............................ \k\ 1,292
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) and Introducing \m\ 956
Brokers in Commodities (IBCs) \l\...................
Mutual Funds \n\..................................... \o\ 1,363
Dealers in Precious Metals, Stones, and Jewels \q\ 6,742
(DPMSJs) \p\........................................
Loan or Finance Companies \r\........................ \s\ 13,342
Housing Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) \t\..... \u\ 13
Operators of Credit Card Systems \v\................. \w\ 4
Other Investment Companies \x\....................... \y\ 1,294
Investment Advisers \z\.............................. \aa\ 20,460
Pawnbrokers \bb\..................................... \cc\ 4,700
Travel Agencies \dd\................................. \ee\ 7,476
A Business Engaged in Automobile, Airplane, and Boat \gg\ 51,605
Sales \ff\..........................................
Persons Involved in Real Estate Closings and \ii\ 195,601
Settlements \hh\....................................
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Total............................................ 575,873
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\a\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2).
\b\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(A-E).
\c\ This includes 4,490 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-
insured depository institutions (i.e., federally regulated banks)
according to the FDIC's quarterly data summary for Q4 2024, and 4,499
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)-chartered credit unions
(i.e., federally regulated credit unions) according to NCUA's
quarterly credit union data summary for Q4 2024. The Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System Master Account and Services
Database contains data on financial institutions that utilize Federal
Reserve Bank financial services, including those with no Federal
functional regulator. FinCEN used this data to identify 395 banks and
credit unions with no Federal regulator that are utilizing Federal
Reserve Bank financial services.
\d\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(M).
\e\ This estimate includes 718 life and health (L&H) insurers in the
United States during 2023. U.S. Treasury ``Annual Report on the
Insurance Industry,'' (Sept. 2024). Neither the estimate presented
here nor the estimate of broker-dealers' controls for entities that
may be both a broker-dealer and an insurance company; thus, a certain
number of affected entities may be double-counted. However, based on
consultation with staff of other Federal regulators, FinCEN believes
this population of dually affected entities may be relatively small
and unlikely to significantly distort the overall assessment.
\f\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(G).
\g\ This estimate is based on SEC data on active broker-dealers
available at ``Company Information About Active Broker-Dealers''
(<a href="https://www.sec.gov/foia-services/frequently-requested-documents/company-information-about-active-broker-dealers">https://www.sec.gov/foia-services/frequently-requested-documents/company-information-about-active-broker-dealers</a>), which listed 3,306
active broker-dealers registered with the SEC as of April 29, 2025.
\h\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(J), (K), and (R) (collectively referred to
as ``money services businesses or MSBs'').
\i\ For purposes of implementing 31 CFR 1010.520, FinCEN treats agents
of MSBs as MSBs in their own right. The topline value for all MSBs
represents the average number of uniquely identifiable registered MSBs
with indicia of ongoing operations as of the three year-ends 2022-
2024, and primarily includes only principal MSBs required to register
with FinCEN. FinCEN has estimated that the number of agent MSBs is
approximately 229,161 (see 89 FR 65971 (Aug. 13, 2024)).
\j\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(X).
\k\ Estimate based on the American Gaming Association (AGA) ``State of
the States'' (available at <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-2024.pdf">https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-2024.pdf</a>).
\l\ See U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(H).
\m\ The number of FCMs as of May 2025 was obtained from data available
at ``NFA Membership and Registration,'' available at <a href="https://www.nfa.futures.org/registration-membership/membership-and-directories.html">https://www.nfa.futures.org/registration-membership/membership-and-directories.html</a>. Because no deduplication of entities registered as
both FCMs and IBCs was feasible, this estimate may double-count some
entities registered in both categories, but FinCEN believes this
subpopulation may be small. According to the CFTC, there are 63 total
registered FCMs as of May 31, 2025. See <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/financialfcmdata/index.htm">https://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/financialfcmdata/index.htm</a>.
\n\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(I).
\o\ According to the SEC, as of the fourth quarter of 2024, there were
1,363 unique, registered open-end investment companies that report on
Form N-CEN (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/dera/data/form-ncen-data-sets">https://www.sec.gov/dera/data/form-ncen-data-sets</a>).
\p\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(N) (definition of a ``dealer'' in precious
metals, stones, or jewels for purposes of applicability of FinCEN
regulations).
\q\ This estimate is based on data on entities with North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 423940 (Jewelry, Watch,
Precious Stone, and Precious Metal Merchant Wholesalers) published at
year-end 2024 in the 2022 Survey of U.S. Businesses (``2022 SUSB
Data'') accessed March 1, 2025 (<a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/econ/susb/2022-susb-annual.html">https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/econ/susb/2022-susb-annual.html</a>). It does not include Jewelry and
Silverware Manufacturing (NAICS code 33991) or Jewelry Retailers
(NAICS code 44831).
\r\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(P) (definition of ``loan or finance
company'').
\s\ This estimate is based on 2022 SUSB Data on entities with NAICS
codes 522292 (Real Estate Credit) and 522310 (Mortgage and Non-
Mortgage Loan Brokers).
\t\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(Y).
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\u\ Data on regional Federal home loan banks (FHLBs) was obtained from
the Federal Housing Finance Agency (see <a href="https://www.fhfa.gov/supervision/federal-home-loan-bank-system/about">https://www.fhfa.gov/supervision/federal-home-loan-bank-system/about</a>). Housing GSEs are
U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises and include Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac.
\v\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(L) (definition of ``operator of a credit
card system'' for purposes of applicability of FinCEN regulations).
\w\ This value is based on FinCEN review of active, U.S.-based market
participants at year-end 2023.
\x\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(I).
\y\ This estimate includes all firms filing SEC Form N-CEN, other than
those registered as open-end mutual funds. Form N-CEN is used by all
registered investment companies. This estimate, which is a minimum
estimate of investment companies under the `40 Act, may not include
all entities with obligations under the BSA. FinCEN invites public
comment on this figure.
\z\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(I).
\aa\ This figure includes 14,914 Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs)
and 5,546 Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs). The number of RIAs and
ERAs is estimated based on all registered advisers with at least one
client based on Item 5.D of Form ADV, as of Oct. 5, 2023. FinCEN notes
that this figure is likely an overestimate because Form ADV does not
allow us to separate advisers to only open-end investment companies,
which generally would be excluded from this category since mutual
funds (as defined in 31 CFR 1010.100(gg)) are included in a separate
category.
\bb\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(O).
\cc\ This estimate is based on 2022 SUSB Data on entities with NAICS
code 522298, which falls under the broader category of ``All Other
Nondepository Credit Intermediation.'' Specifically, ``Pawnshops'' is
one of the index entries for this NAICS code.
\dd\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(Q).
\ee\ This estimate is based on 2022 SUSB Data on entities with NAICS
code 561510 (Travel Agencies).
\ff\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(T).
\gg\ This estimate is based on 2022 SUSB Data on entities with NAICS
codes 4411 (Automobile Dealers), 44122 (Motorcycle, Boat, and Other
Motor Vehicle Dealers), and 44121 (Recreational Vehicle Dealers).
\hh\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(U).
\ii\ This estimate relies on 2022 SUSB Data. The following nominal
primary firm categories (NAICS codes) are used for grouping and
counting purposes: Title Abstract and Settlement Offices (541191),
Direct Title Insurance Carriers (524127), Other Activities Related to
Real Estate (531390), Offices of Lawyers (541110), and Offices of Real
Estate Agents and Brokers (531210). The estimate of affected attorneys
is calculated as ten percent of the total SUSB population of Offices
of Lawyers. This estimate is based on the average from FinCEN analysis
of U.S. legal bar association membership, performed primarily at the
State level, identifying the proportion of (state) bar members that
are members of the organization's (state's) real estate bar
association.
Estimated Number of Expected Respondents: 12,726 financial
institutions, per year, on average.\11\
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\11\ The number of estimated expected annual respondents is
derived from a three-year average. See Table 2. This estimate
pertains exclusively to financial institutions that have received
Section 314(a) Requests, and does not include consideration of law
enforcement entities that may additionally be deemed respondents as
defined by the PRA. See note 17; see also Section III.
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While all the entities in Table 1 are required to respond to a
Section 314(a) Request upon receipt, FinCEN generally only transmits a
Section 314(a) Request to a limited subset of those financial
institutions in any given year. Historically, the proportion of
potentially affected financial institutions required to provide a
response in a given year has remained below three percent. In 2024, for
example, of the estimated 575,873 potential respondents, FinCEN
transmitted Section 314(a) Requests to only 12,839 financial
institutions, approximately 2.2 percent of the potentially affected
population.
Of these respondents in 2024, approximately one third were banks or
credit unions, nearly 15 percent were broker-dealers or mutual funds,
and the remaining half were other types of covered financial
institutions. This industry composition of respondent financial
institutions (``Respondent FIs'') is broadly consistent with the
distribution of estimated respondents at the time of the previous
renewal which comprised ``14,960 financial institutions, consisting of
certain commercial banks, savings associations, and credit unions,
broker or dealers in securities, future commission merchants, trust
companies, life insurance companies, mutual funds and money services
businesses.'' \12\
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\12\ See FinCEN, Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposed Renewal; Comment Request; Renewal Without Change on
Information Sharing Between Government Agencies and Financial
Institutions, 87 FR 41186, (Jul. 11, 2022) (the 2022 314(a) PRA
Renewal), note 9.
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Estimated Total Annual Responses: 7,381,080 responses, per year, on
average.\13\
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\13\ This estimate is based on the three-year average number of
transmitted Section 314(a) Requests (116) multiplied by the three-
year average number of subjects per Section 314(a) Request (5)
multiplied by the three-year average number of total Respondent FIs
per year (12,726). For purposes of estimating the PRA burden of
Section 314(a) Requests and their responses, FinCEN conceptually
defines a response to correspond to each subject for which a
Respondent FI conducts a records search regardless of whether the
search yields a positive or negative result. In practice, the
incremental fixed burdens associated with a financial institution
establishing (pursuant to FinCEN pre-notification) and maintaining a
secure communication link with FinCEN via a Section 314(a) POC for
the receipt of Section 314(a) Requests are expected to accrue per
respondent, not per response. However, for simplicity and
tractability, a distributed version of these costs is assigned on a
per-response basis in the subsequent analysis.
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Over the period between 2023 and 2025, FinCEN sent, on behalf of
itself or state and local or foreign law enforcement,\14\ approximately
116 Section 314(a) Requests per year to 12,726 total respondents per
year, on average.\15\ These requests had an average of approximately
five subjects.\16\ In the most recent full calendar year, the
corresponding figures are 122 total Section 314(a) Requests \17\ to
12,839 total Respondent FIs, averaging approximately six subjects \18\
per request. As the three-year average number of required responses per
Respondent FI (approximately 580) is lower than the analogous value in
the most recently completed year (approximately 732), it is possible
that FinCEN's proposed PRA estimates are conservatively low.
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\14\ FinCEN also receives Section 314(a) Requests for Federal
law enforcement investigations, which are exempt from the PRA. The
positive hit rate on those requests is between 0.07 and 0.08 percent
annually as the result of approximately 78.6 million total record
searches yielding an estimated 58.7 thousand total confirmed
positive matches or approximately 75 positive search results out of
102,721 responses per Section 314(a) Request.
\15\ The positive hit rate on these 314(a) Requests is between
0.06 and 0.07 percent annually.
\16\ In this analysis, subjects may be non-unique because
aliases of named subjects are counted as distinct subjects. The
purpose of this approach is to avoid underestimating the search
activities and accompanying burden associated with queries
responsive to Section 314(a) Requests.
\17\ This number reflects only the Section 314(a) Requests to
which a PRA burden applies, including Section 314(a) Requests made
directly by FinCEN, Section 314(a) Requests from state/local law
enforcement, and Section 314(a) Requests from LEAs of foreign
countries approved by treaty. FinCEN also receives Section 314(a)
Requests for Federal law enforcement investigations, which are
exempt from the PRA. In 2024, FinCEN also received 782 Section
314(a) Requests related to Federal law enforcement investigations,
with an average of 7.83 subjects per Section 314(a) Request,
requiring approximately 6,256 responses per Respondent FI.
Respondent FIs reported an average of approximately 75 positive
search results for each of these Section 314(a) Requests (out of
approximately 102,721 responses per Section 314(a) Request). This
equates to a positive hit rate between 0.07 and 0.08 percent as the
result of approximately 78.6 million total record searches yielding
an estimated 58.7 thousand total confirmed positive matches.
\18\ In this analysis, subjects may be non-unique because
aliases of named subjects are counted as distinct subjects. The
purpose of this approach is to avoid underestimating the search
activities and accompanying burden associated with queries
responsive to Section 314(a) Requests.
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Table 2 provides a summary of requests and responses by the number
of affected financial institutions since the last OMB control number
renewal. The scope of new data used to update PRA estimates begins with
calendar year 2023,\19\ the year in which FinCEN transitioned from a
paper-only process for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to initiate
requests to an exclusively electronic filing process. In general, the
number of Section 314(a) Requests and number of subjects per Section
314(a) Request has increased over time and are expected to continue
doing so as a result of activities FinCEN has undertaken to enhance the
usability of the Section 314(a) Program.\20\
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\19\ The transition from a paper to electronic request-
initiating process occurred mid-year 2023, therefore only data from
the second half of year 2023 is fully comparable to current year
statistics for purposes of forecasting.
\20\ In a recent internal study of overall (not restricted to
PRA-covered) Section 314(a) Program usage trends between fiscal
years 2023 and 2024, FinCEN observed that there was an increase in
both the number of subjects being included in Section 314(a)
Requests and the number of unique LEAs utilizing the Section 314(a)
Program. This increase was attributed to the ease of electronic
request-filing and FinCEN outreach to LEAs, including additional
training and promotion of the Section 314(a) Program. The study
found that in fiscal year 2023, Section 314(a) Requests included a
total of 4,606 subjects, while in fiscal year 2024 that number
increased to 6,503 subjects. Further, in fiscal year 2023, 63
separate LEAs made Section 314(a) Requests for distribution to
financial institutions of interest, while in fiscal year 2024 that
number increased to 112 separate LEAs.
[[Page 47128]]
Table 2--Section 314(a) Requests and Responses per Year
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
section Average number of Estimated number of Estimated total
Year 314(a) subjects \b\ per financial institutions responses to
requests section 314(a) that received section section 314(a)
\a\ request 314(a) requests requests \c\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~2022 \d\......................... 57 6.4 14,960 5,457,408
2023.............................. 64 4.1 12,470 3,272,128
2024.............................. 122 5.8 12,839 9,084,876
2025 \e\.......................... 163 5.6 12,870 11,747,736
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three-year Average (2023-2025) 116 5 12,726 \f\ 7,381,080
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ These figures only pertain to Section 314(a) Requests with an associated PRA burden. See note 9, see also
Table 3.
\b\ These estimates count aliases of named subjects as distinct subjects (see note 18).
\c\ Estimates are a product of Section 314(a) Requests multiplied by the number of financial institutions that
received Section 314(a) Requests multiplied by the average number of subjects per Section 314(a) Request.
\d\ These values are based on the values for the approximately one-year period between April 2021 and May 2022
as reported in the most recent prior renewal (see the 2022 314(a) PRA Renewal).
\e\ Estimates for calendar year 2025 are derived from observed and interpolated data on the number of Section
314(a) Requests issued by each originator type between January 1 and June 30, 2025 (zero from FinCEN, 77 from
state/local law enforcement, and zero from foreign law enforcement), and the three previous years.
\f\ The estimated three-year average total number of responses to Section 314(a) Requests is a product of
rounded estimates of three-year average number of Section 314(a) Requests, average number of subjects per
Section 314(a) Request, and number of financial institutions that received Section 314(a) Requests.
Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
Despite certain changes to its methodological approach in this
notice, FinCEN results are broadly consistent with the previous \21\
method of estimating response burden, maintaining the estimate of
approximately four minutes per response,\22\ per respondent, per year,
on average. In this OMB control number renewal, FinCEN has expanded the
scope of its estimates in an effort to more comprehensively articulate
the full PRA burden of the Section 314(a) Program as incurred by
respondents. Where applicable, FinCEN's assignment of PRA burden
estimates associated with 31 CFR 1010.520 have been itemized, per
regulatory component in the more detailed discussion below. Where
FinCEN has not assigned or estimated a burden \23\ or is considering
further revisions or refinements to current estimates,\24\ a brief
explanation is provided, and public comment is invited.\25\
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\21\ See the 2022 314(a) PRA Renewal; see also FinCEN, Agency
Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; Comment
Request; Renewal Without Change of the Requirement for Information
Sharing Between Government Agencies and Financial Institutions, 84
FR 19999 (May 7, 2019).
\22\ See definition of response supra note 13.
\23\ See General Section 314(a) Program Components; see also
Components applicable to parties initiating a Section 314(a)
Request.
\24\ See Components applicable to parties receiving a Section
314(a) Request.
\25\ See General Request for Comments; see also Section III.
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The analysis also briefly reviews where changes in the mechanisms
and processes by which the Section 314(a) Program operates that have
become standard practice since prior OMB control number renewals are
expected to affect anticipated burdens. Furthermore, consistent with
the purposes of the PRA,\26\ FinCEN is providing additional description
of the agency's continuing efforts to reduce the reporting and
recordkeeping burdens covered by this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\26\See 44 U.S.C. 3501(1)-(8), and (10)
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(1) General Section 314(a) Program Components
31 CFR 1010.520 includes subsections that FinCEN does not expect to
impose PRA reporting or recordkeeping burdens despite being integral to
the overall design and operations of the Section 314(a) Program. These
include subsections 1010.520(a)(1)-(2), (b)(2), (b)(3)(iv)(B)(1)-(2),
(b)(3)(v), and (b)(4)-(5). Public response is invited to the extent
that commenters believe additional burden accrues because of these
provisions, and should be included in future renewals.
(2) Components Applicable to Parties Initiating a Section 314(a)
Request
31 CFR 1010.520 sets forth the requirements for parties that would
initiate a Section 314(a) Request. Table 3 \27\ only presents data on
requests from LEAs that are not part of the Federal government because
PRA considerations do not apply to Section 314(a) Requests from Federal
government agencies.\28\ The Table provides FinCEN historical data and
near-term projected population estimates of requests from these parties
as well as FinCEN.\29\
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\27\ Figures and estimates in Table 3 are limited to PRA
purposes and represent only, in part, how law enforcement's
utilization of FinCEN's 314(a) Program has increased over time. In a
recent internal review of aggregate 314(a) Program data by fiscal
year, FinCEN observed that the number of requests, annually,
increased between fiscal years 2021 and 2024 by more than 75 percent
(based on the following count of requests by fiscal year: 460
Section 314(a) Requests in 2021; 515 Section 314(a) Requests in
2022; 558 Section 314(a) Requests in 2023; and 818 Section 314(a)
Requests in 2024).
\28\ See supra note 9. Federal government agencies includes both
Section 314(a) Requests made by FinCEN on its own behalf and those
on behalf of another government entity, including other components
of Treasury and Federal law enforcement agencies.
\29\ Year-over-year trends on a calendar versus fiscal basis may
differ due to the mid-year timing of the technological changes.
Table 3--Number of Section 314(a) Requests by Initiating Party
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Foreign LEAs
Year FinCEN State and local LEAs \a\ Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~2022 \b\........................................... 3 45 9 57
2023................................................ 0 59 5 64
[[Page 47129]]
2024................................................ 4 111 7 122
2025 \c\............................................ 2 154 7 163
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See 31 CFR 1010.520(a)(2) for applicable definition. Data here represents Section 314(a) Requests identified
as originating from European Union countries approved by treaty.
\b\ As reported in the most recent prior renewal as the values for an approximately one-year period between
April 2021 and May 2022 (see the 2022 314(a) PRA Renewal, note 10).
\c\ Estimates for calendar year 2025 are derived from observed and interpolated data on the number of Section
314(a) Requests issued by each originator type between January 1 and June 30, 2025 (zero from FinCEN, 77 from
state/local law LEAs, and zero from foreign LEAs), and the three previous years.
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(1)--Section 314(a) Requests Initiated by an LEA
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(1) details the expectations of, and obligations
accruing to, an LEA that wants FinCEN to distribute a Section 314(a)
Request on its behalf, including (1) the certification, (2) the list of
subjects and associated information, and (3) the designation of an LEA
POC.
FinCEN believes all the information included in the certification
set forth in 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(1) is not subject to the PRA, but even
if some of it were, the incremental PRA burden of providing such
information on affected LEAs is de minimis. For those reasons, FinCEN
has not previously included a PRA burden estimate associated with
completing the certification in OMB control number renewals and is not
doing so in this renewal. However, FinCEN is seeking public comment
regarding whether the PRA burden on affected LEAs is more than de
minimis.
(3) Components Applicable to Parties Receiving a Section 314(a) Request
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(i)--Search
As set forth in 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(i), a Respondent FI, when
searching for an account matching a named suspect, need only search for
any current account maintained by a named suspect and any account
maintained for a named suspect within the last preceding twelve
months.\30\ Similarly, when searching for a matching transaction, a
Respondent FI need only search for any transaction conducted by or on
behalf of a named suspect, or any transmittal of funds conducted in
which a named suspect was either the transmittor or the recipient,
during the preceding six months that is required under law or
regulation to be recorded by the institution or is recorded and
maintained electronically by the institution.\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ See 31 CFR 1010.520(3)(b)(i)(A)-(B).
\31\ See 31 CFR 1010.520(3)(b)(i)(C).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When a Respondent FI receives a Section 314(a) Request, it is
provided a list of subjects identified by name,\32\ address, and as
much additional identifying data as possible.\33\ Respondent FIs can
retrieve the files in .csv, .txt, and .doc format to allow for
ingestion into various software that financial institutions use to run
searches against their systems. Providing downloads in a variety of
formats is intended to reduce burden on financial institutions by
allowing them to automate their records search in a format that is
compatible with their existing software and systems.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ In some cases, variations of the subject's name and aliases
are also provided, as available.
\33\ Pursuant to 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(1) and (b)(2), under which
LEAs and FinCEN, respectively, must include in a Section 314(a)
Request ``enough specific identifiers, such as date of birth,
address, and social security number, that would permit a financial
institution to differentiate between common or similar names.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To prepare a response, Respondent FIs must search their records for
data matches, including accounts maintained by the named subject(s)
during the preceding 12 months and non-account-related transactions
conducted within the past 6 months. FinCEN expects that executing this
may involve two types of activity: automated search and manual review.
FinCEN presumes that all Respondent FIs first conduct an automated
search by querying their records for positive matches to accounts
maintained or transactions conducted with the subject(s) of a Section
314(a) Request. If that search yields records that appear to match,
additional manual review is conducted to verify that identified matches
are correct and that in each case the automated query has not
identified a false positive match.
FinCEN expects that there may be substantial variation in the
search time associated with the subject(s) of a Section 314(a) Request
depending on the quality of the identified match. In cases where
automated search results are relatively unambiguous,\34\ search time
may range from two to five minutes per subject on average.
Alternatively, in cases where a match is more ambiguous, verifying a
positive match could require lengthier manual review and, in some
instances, necessitate communication with the Section 314(a) Request's
LEA or FinCEN point of contact. FinCEN expects that in these cases,
where verifying a positive match is more labor-intensive, search time
may range from 15 minutes to two hours and fifteen minutes, on average.
Based on observed response data, FinCEN estimates that the weighted
average search time \35\ per subject in a Section 314(a) Request is
approximately three and a half minutes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\34\ An unambiguous positive match to the subject of a Section
314(a) Request is a match where a financial institution can
immediately be certain that it has an account for or has conducted a
transaction with a specific subject of the Section 314(a) Request.
In this case, a financial institution would, in theory, not need to
conduct any additional research to determine whether the match is a
true match or a false positive. In practice, FinCEN expects that
financial institutions are unlikely to report a positive match
without conducting at least some research. However, there would be
substantially less research necessary to identify a positive match
that is more unambiguous.
\35\ Weight assignments allocate to the majority of responses a
burden of approximately three minutes for search results that are
more unambiguous, and allocate to a small minority of responses
approximately two hours for search results that require lengthier
manual review. Distributional weights are based on the three-year
moving average of the proportion of total positive responses as a
percentage of the population of all subjects in all Section 314(a)
Requests in the corresponding year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(ii)--Report to FinCEN
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(ii) delineates the required response if a
Respondent FI identifies a matching account or transaction. To minimize
burden on financial institutions, financial institutions only must
confirm with FinCEN that they have a positive match to the subject of a
Section 314(a) Request.\36\ This is in contrast to the detailed
information a financial institution would otherwise be required to
report under 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(ii). Financial institutions do not
need to reply to a Section 314(a) Request if the search does not
uncover any match to accounts or transactions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\36\ FinCEN has ``frequently asked questions'' that are made
available to financial institutions that receive Section 314(a)
Requests. See generally: <a href="https://bsaaml.ffiec.gov/manual/AssessingComplianceWithBSARegulatoryRequirements/07">https://bsaaml.ffiec.gov/manual/AssessingComplianceWithBSARegulatoryRequirements/07</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responses to Section 314(a) Requests are expected to occur within
two
[[Page 47130]]
weeks \37\ from the posting date of the initial Section 314(a) Request.
Responses to Section 314(a) Requests are filed electronically via a
FinCEN secure portal where a Respondent FI, presented with a list of
one or more subjects per Section 314(a) Request, need only check the
box next to any subject for which it can confirm a positive match in
its records and click ``submit.'' FinCEN estimates that in addition to
conducting the search activities necessary for a response, this
reporting activity imposes an additional 30 second time burden per
subject, per Section 314(a) Request, per Respondent FI.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\37\ Pursuant to 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(ii), a Respondent FI
``shall report to FinCEN . . . in the time frame specified in
FinCEN's request.'' According to FinCEN guidance, Respondent FIs
have two weeks from the posting date of the Section 314(a) Request
to respond within the secure portal with any positive matches. See
FinCEN's 314(a) Fact Sheet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FinCEN is not assigning a recordkeeping burden to this provision
because financial institutions are not required to maintain records
related to Section 314(a) Requests. Nevertheless, some Respondent FIs
may choose to maintain records as part of their broader compliance
program to demonstrate that all required searches have been performed
and positive matches reported. Respondent FIs who wish to do so may
obtain an activity report via FinCEN's secure portal, which provides
download and response history. To the extent that burden is incurred by
these activities, FinCEN expects that this would be captured by the
recordkeeping burden hours assigned to 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(A) as
described below.
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iii)--Contact Person(s)
As previously described,\38\ 31 CFR 1010.520 requires that a
Respondent FI must designate a Section 314(a) POC and both provide,
maintain, and update the required contact information for that person
as necessary. FinCEN is assigning a one-hour per year per Respondent FI
reporting and recordkeeping cost to this provision.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\38\ See discussion of 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iii) supra Section
1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(A)
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(A) provides that Respondent FIs may not
use information obtained by a Section 314(a) Request for purposes other
than responding to FinCEN's request \39\ and to determine whether to
establish or maintain an account or engage in a transaction or assist
the institution in complying with another requirement in Chapter X.\40\
FinCEN is assigning a four hour per respondent, per year \41\
recordkeeping burden to account for a Respondent FI's need to document
how it reviewed and incorporated Section 314(a) Request information
into its broader compliance with AML/CFT program requirements,
including the development of any policies and procedures or internal
processes related to compliance and/or risk management.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\39\ See 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(A)(1).
\40\ See 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(A)(2)-(3).
\41\ FinCEN is assigning this burden on an annually recurring
basis to reflect that the need to produce documentation is expected
to flow from the Section 314(a) Requests a Respondent FI receives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(C)
31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(iv)(C) provides that a Respondent FI shall
maintain adequate procedures to protect the security and confidentially
of Section 314(a) Requests. To account for this and other technology
and data security costs associated with a Respondent FI's Section
314(a) program, FinCEN is assigning a $0.10 non-labor cost to each
response.
Estimated Burden Hours Per Respondent: \42\ approximately 44 \43\
hours annually, on average.
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\42\ As discussed above, FinCEN also makes Section 314(a)
Requests on behalf of Federal LEAs, which are exempt from inclusion
in PRA burden estimates. In 2024, these Section 314(a) Requests
comprised an estimated total burden of 5.2 million hours, or
approximately 408 hours per institution.
\43\ This estimate reflects the sum of the total annual burden
hours associated with responding to a Section 314(a) Request
(492,072) and Section 314(a) Program operations and maintenance
(63,630) divided by the number of Respondent FIs (12,726) rounded to
the nearest whole hour (from 43.7).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The estimated burden per respondent includes the time associated
with responding to Section 314(a) Requests (approximately 39 hours per
respondent, on average) \44\ and recordkeeping associated with the
operation and maintenance of the Respondent FI's 314(a) program (5
hours per respondent, on average).\45\
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\44\ This estimate was calculated by dividing the total annual
burden hours associated with responding to a Section 314(a) Request
(492,072) by the number of Respondent FIs (12,726) and rounding from
38.7 to the nearest whole hour.
\45\ This includes the assigned annual burden estimates
associated with reporting and maintaining up-to-date contact
information for the designated Section 314(a) POC (1 hour) and
producing and maintaining compliance-related documentation that
integrates Section 314(a) Request activities (4 hours).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 555,702 hours per year, on
average.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\ See Table 5. As discussed above, this cost excludes costs
related to Federal law enforcement investigations, which are exempt
from the PRA. In 2024, Section 314(a) Requests associated with
Federal law enforcement investigations were estimated to have cost
financial institutions $629 million in labor costs associated with
responding to Section 314(a) Requests and $8 million in technology
and data security costs, for a total estimated private sector cost
of $637 million.
Table 4--Estimated Hourly Burden Associated With the Reporting and Recordkeeping Activities of 31 CFR 1010.520
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total responses Per-Unit Total burden
Section 314(a) program component or respondents burden hours hours \a\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responses to Section 314(a) Requests......................... 7,381,080 \b\ 0.067 492,072
Respondent FI Section 314(a) Program Operations and 12,726 \c\ 5 63,630
Maintenance.................................................
--------------------------------------------------
Total.................................................... ................. .............. 555,702
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ Estimates are a product of either total responses to Section 314(a) Requests or total number of Respondent
FIs multiplied by the average burden hours per response or Respondent FI.
\b\ Estimate reflects the combined time per response for search (3.5 minutes) and submission (0.5 minutes).
\c\ Estimate reflects the combined time per Respondent FI related to designating a Section 314(a) POC (1 hour)
and documenting the review and incorporation of Section 314(a) Request information into broader compliance
with AML/CFT program requirements (4 hours).
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $67,461,247.\46\
[[Page 47131]]
Table 5--Total Cost Associated With the Reporting and Recordkeeping Activities of 31 CFR 1010.520
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total annual
Section 314(a) program component Total units of burden Per-unit cost cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responses to Section 314(a) Requests......... 492,072 hours.................... \a\ $120.07 $59,083,085
Respondent FI Section 314(a) Program 63,630 hours..................... \a\ 120.07 7,640,054
Operations and Maintenance.
Technology and Data Security................. 7,381,080 responses.............. 0.10 738,108
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.................................... ................................. .............. 67,461,247
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ The wage rate applied here is the general composite hourly wage used across FinCEN notices that pertain to
the categories of financial institutions as grouped in 31 CFR chapter X, see, e.g., FinCEN, Agency Information
Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; Comment Request: Renewal Without Change of Reporting Obligations on
Foreign Bank Relationships With Iranian Linked Financial Institutions Designated Under IEEP and IRGC-Linked
Persons Designated Under IEEPA, 90 FR 14183 (Mar. 28, 2025) note footnote 49.
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. Records required to be retained under the BSA must be
retained for five years.
General Request for Comment: 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: (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 FinCEN's estimates 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 of the
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology; and (5) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of
operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide
information.
III. Additional Request for Comments
In connection with a variety of initiatives FinCEN is undertaking
to implement the AML Act, FinCEN intends to conduct, in the future,
additional assessments of the PRA burden associated with BSA
requirements. To assist with those activities, FinCEN is also
requesting comments in response to the following additional questions:
1. FinCEN invites comment on its analytical approach in this OMB
control number renewal. Does the new structure of the analysis more
accurately reflect the experiences and costs incurred by participants
in the Section 314(a) Program? Should alternative approaches be
considered? If so, please describe.
2. FinCEN Section 314(a) Program burden estimates do not currently
include an itemized consideration of information collections or
reporting costs to State, local, and foreign law enforcement when
originating Section 314(a) Requests because FinCEN believes the costs
are de minimis. Should FinCEN include an itemized burden estimate and
is there readily generalizable data or qualitative information that
could establish that these costs are not de minimis?
3. Are there start-up technology costs, such as costs to extend or
further customize existing electronic records systems, that a
potentially affected financial institution would need to incur as new
respondents that FinCEN should separately itemize as an expected
Section 314(a) Program cost? If so, please describe.
4. To what extent can a financial institution that would newly
become a respondent be able to rely on third-party services, existing
software, or other products to receive and process Section 314(a)
Requests?
5. On average, how long does it take to ingest or otherwise upload
a Section 314(a) Request to a Respondent FI's automated system and
perform an electronic query for its subjects? Approximately how long
does it take per subject? Are there meaningful differences in automated
search time depending on subject type (i.e., individual, entity, or
organization)?
6. In what proportion do query results from a Respondent FI's
automated search identify a potential match to a Section 314(a) Request
subject that is ultimately determined to be a false positive? Are there
ever instances where an automated search does not yield a match but a
Respondent FI identifies this as a false negative?
7. What steps are taken, once an automated system generates a
match, to determine if it is an actual match or a false positive?
Approximately how much time is required, on average, to make a
determination? Are there meaningful differences in time expended by
outcome? By subject type?
8. What type of records are produced to document the results of
this type of research? What type of records are maintained to document
that a Section 314(a) Request search has been conducted? Are there
meaningful differences in the time cost of recordkeeping that depend on
the results of the search (i.e., when a search results in no matches
versus when at least one confirmed, positive match occurs)?
9. In practice, are there any cases where non-electronic records
are searched or reviewed in connection with a Section 314(a) Request?
If so, please describe the general frequency and nature of these
instances.
10. 31 CFR 1010.520(b)(3)(i) provides that a Respondent FI may
contact a Section 314(a) Request's designated Requestor POC if they
have questions about the scope or terms or the request. What proportion
of requests and what proportion of subjects necessitate such contact?
In each case, how many times is contact typically required? How much
time is spent on communications with this contact, per instance and per
314(a) request? Is this outreach usually part of the research
activities specifically related to ambiguous query search results or to
other aspects of the request?
11. Is it reasonable to assume that the average financial
institution that is, or becomes, a respondent employs more than one
person, or relies on employees in more than one occupational category,
to conduct and review Section 314(a) Request searches?
12. This analysis uses a standard index wage rate that accounts for
multiple occupational roles involved in reporting and recordkeeping
activities. To what extent does this approach reflect how financial
institutions conduct Section 314(a) Request-related activities? Do
these activities generally involve several occupational roles, or would
a single wage rate be more appropriate? If the work involves more
[[Page 47132]]
than one occupational role, how is the total work divided between the
roles involved?
13. What is the typical occupation of an individual assigned by a
financial institution to serve as their Section 314(a) POC?
Approximately how much of their total labor is allocated to this
function? Approximately what proportion of potentially affected
financial institutions that have never been a Respondent FI have
assigned a Section 314(a) POC in advance?
14. FinCEN's use of an index wage rate to estimate time costs
assumes senior management participates in Section 314(a) Program
activities. How often and to what extent do such persons typically
review the search results for subjects of Section 314(a) Requests? How
often and to what extent do such persons typically review their
financial institution's Section 314(a) Program policies and procedures?
15. Does senior management typically evaluate policies, procedures,
and activities related to the privacy and security of Section 314(a)
Program-related data as a standalone activity or as part of broader
review of their financial institution's data privacy and security
practices?
Andrea M. Gacki,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2025-18928 Filed 9-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 30, 2025.
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.