Notice2026-08242
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Proposed New Information Collection; Survey of the Costs of AML/CFT Compliance
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
April 28, 2026
Issuing agencies
Treasury Department
Abstract
The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), on or after the date of publication of this notice. The public is invited to submit comments on this request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 81 (Tuesday, April 28, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 81 (Tuesday, April 28, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22915-22916]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08242]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Proposed New Information Collection; Survey of
the Costs of AML/CFT Compliance
AGENCY: Departmental Offices, U.S. Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of Information Collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) will submit the
following information collection request to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), on or after the date of
publication of this notice. The public is invited to submit comments on
this request.
DATES: Comments should be received on or before May 28, 2026 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the submissions may be
obtained from Spencer W. Clark by emailing <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ddddfcccdf9ffe8ecfef8fff4a3eae2fb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5f0f0d1e1f2b2d3a3e2c2a2d2671383029">[email protected]</span></a>, calling
(202) 927-5331, or viewing the entire information collection request at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
Title: Survey of the Costs of AML/CFT Compliance.
OMB Control Number: 1506-NEW.
Type of Request: New Collection.
Description: This information collection will seek information on
anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT)
compliance costs and related topics via a survey. The survey is
voluntary. The purpose of the survey is to better understand the cost
of AML/CFT compliance by financial institutions <SUP>1</SUP> subject to
the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and applicable implementing regulations
(BSA-regulated financial institutions, hereinafter referred to as
financial institutions),<SUP>2</SUP> and in particular for certain non-
bank financial institutions (NBFIs).<SUP>3</SUP> The information
gathered will help assess the cumulative impact of AML/CFT regulations
and may inform efforts to adjust regulatory obligations and advance
deregulatory proposals consistent with the Executive
[[Page 22916]]
Orders of the Trump Administration.<SUP>4</SUP> The data may also
support the development of deregulatory rulemakings or guidance to
reduce compliance burden without compromising the effectiveness of
current AML/CFT frameworks. Responses will not be used for supervisory
or enforcement purposes.
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\1\ See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2) and 31 CFR 1010.100(t) for
definition of ``financial institution.'' For the purpose of the
notice, the term ``financial institutions'' includes: banks; casinos
and card clubs (casinos); money services businesses (MSBs); brokers
or dealers in securities (broker-dealers); mutual funds; insurance
companies; futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in
commodities; dealers in precious metals, precious stones, or jewels;
operators of credit card systems; loan or finance companies; and
housing government sponsored enterprises.
\2\ Certain parts of the Currency and Foreign Transactions
Reporting Act, its amendments, and the other statutes relating to
the subject matter of that Act, have come to be referred to as the
BSA. These statutes are codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-
1960, and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5336 and notes thereto, with
implementing regulations at 31 CFR chapter X.
\3\ For the purpose of the notice, the term ``non-bank financial
institutions'' (NBFIs) refers to any financial institution that is
not a bank. Additionally, the definition of MSB (31 CFR
1010.100(ff)) covers both MSB principals and MSB agents. See 31 CFR
part 1022 describing AML/CFT requirements for MSBs.
\4\ See Executive Order (E.O.) 14192, Unleashing Prosperity
Through Deregulation, 90 FR 9065 (Feb. 6, 2025); Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), Guidance Implementing Section 3 of
Executive Order 14192 (OMB 14192 Guidance), M-25-20 (Mar. 26, 2025);
and E.O. 14219, Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the
President's `Department of Government Efficiency' Deregulatory
Initiative,'' 90 FR 10583 (Feb. 25, 2025); OMB, Streamlining the
Review of Deregulatory Actions, M-25-36 (Oct. 21, 2025).
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FinCEN will pilot the survey by distributing it exclusively to
money services businesses (MSBs) through MSB trade associations, rather
than attempting to reach all NBFIs in the first instance. As a
practical matter, MSBs have been subject to AML/CFT requirements since
the BSA was enacted in 1970, and based on FinCEN estimates, MSBs
currently represent the largest number of financial institutions
subject to the BSA.<SUP>5</SUP> For these reasons, FinCEN anticipates
MSBs can provide meaningful data, both in terms of quantity and
quality, on AML/CFT compliance costs. FinCEN also expects higher-
quality, more substantive responses when requests are conveyed through
trade associations where incentives are aligned between MSBs and their
trade associations in terms of ensuring accuracy and completeness of
cost-benefit estimates so FinCEN can consider such estimates with
respect to any existing regulatory obligations and future regulatory
actions, including deregulatory actions. This targeted approach is
intended to yield more focused analysis and higher-quality feedback,
while keeping the data collection and review process manageable given
private and public sector resource constraints. The pilot will also
allow FinCEN to assess the quality of responses received. Based on its
results, FinCEN will consider expanding the survey to additional NBFIs,
either through trade associations or by direct outreach.
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\5\ See Table 1: Estimates of Covered Financial Institutions by
Type, FinCEN, Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of
Terrorism Programs Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 91 FR 18704,
18728-18729 (Apr. 10, 2026).
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Interested members of the public may view the proposed survey
questionnaire on the following web page: <a href="https://www.fincen.gov/survey-costs-amlcft-compliance">https://www.fincen.gov/survey-costs-amlcft-compliance</a>.
Form: None.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Estimated Number of Potential Respondents: 354,172. See the table
directly below.
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Number of
Type of NBFI respondents
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Casinos and card clubs............................... \a\ 1,299
MSBs (Principals).................................... \b\ 24,856
MSBs (Agents)........................................ 307,212
Insurance companies.................................. \c\ 717
Precious Metals, Stones, and Jewelry (PMSJ) dealers.. \d\ 6,742
Operators of credit card systems..................... \e\ 4
Loan or finance companies............................ \f\ 13,342
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Total............................................ 354,172
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\a\ From the American Gaming Association, State of the States 2025: The
AGA Analysis of the Commercial Casino Industry, May 2025, p. 14,
<a href="https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-.pdf">https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-.pdf</a>.
\b\ The definition of MSB (31 CFR 1010.100(ff)) covers both principal
and agent MSBs. FinCEN estimated there were 24,856 uniquely
identifiable registered principal MSBs with indicia of active business
operations as of the three year-ends 2023-2025. FinCEN has estimated
that the number of agent MSBs is approximately 307,212 based on
internal data.
\c\ This estimate includes 717 life and health insurers in the United
States during 2024. From U.S. Department of the Treasury, Annual
Report on the Insurance Industry (Sept. 2025), p. 10 (<a href="https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/311/Final%20FIO%202025%20Annual%20Report.pdf">https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/311/Final%20FIO%202025%20Annual%20Report.pdf</a>). 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.
\d\ This estimate is based on data on firms with North American Industry
Classification System code 423940 (Jewelry, Watch, Precious Stone, and
Precious Metal Merchant Wholesalers) in the U.S. Census, 2022
Statistics of U.S. Businesses, <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>, accessed March 1, 2025.
\e\ This value is based on FinCEN review of active, U.S.-based market
participants at year-end 2025.
\f\ This estimate is based on data on firms with North American Industry
Classification System codes 522292 (Real Estate Credit) and 522310
(Mortgage and Non-Mortgage Loan Brokers) from the U.S. Census 2022
Statistics of U.S. Businesses (<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>), accessed March 1, 2025.
Estimated Number of Expected Respondents: As noted above, FinCEN
will pilot the survey by distributing it exclusively to MSBs through
MSB trade associations, rather than attempting to reach all NBFIs in
the first instance. Further, FinCEN expects that MSBs that are members
of trade associations--and therefore likely to receive and respond to
the proposed survey--are likely to be principal MSBs (population
24,856) rather than agents of principal MSBs. With these factors in
mind, and in keeping with the trend of declining response rates across
government surveys, FinCEN expects a response rate of approximately 30
percent, yielding 7,457 responses.<SUP>6</SUP>
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\6\ Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, ``Do Low Survey
Response Rates Threaten Data Dependence?,'' FRBSF Economic Letter,
March 2025, <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2025/03/do-low-survey-response-rates-threaten-data-dependence/">https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2025/03/do-low-survey-response-rates-threaten-data-dependence/</a> (``The figure highlights a pronounced
decline in the [Current Employment Statistics] response survey rate
that roughly coincided with the start of the pandemic. While the
response rate was hovering around 60% for the decade preceding the
pandemic, it has since declined to less than 45%.'').
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Frequency of Response: Once.
Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 7,457 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 8 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 59,656 hours.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
Spencer W. Clark,
Treasury PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2026-08242 Filed 4-27-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P
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