The Director of FinCEN found that the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (‘‘North Korea’’) is a
jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. On November 9,
2016, FinCEN issued a final rule to prohibit covered financial
institutions from opening or maintaining a correspondent account in
the United States for or on behalf of a North Korean banking
institution and to prohibit the use of foreign banking
institutions’ correspondent accounts at covered U.S. financial
institutions to process transactions involving North Korean
financial institutions.
When the final rule was
published in November 2016, the number of financial institutions
affected by the rule was estimated at 5,000. FinCEN has since
revised the estimated number of affected financial institutions
upward to account for all domestic financial institutions that
could potentially maintain correspondent accounts for foreign
banks, and to ensure that all U.S. financial institutions are
conducting their due diligence and not processing transactions that
may involve North Korean financial institutions. There are
approximately 23,615 such financial institutions doing business in
the United States. As noted, this revision should not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. In
addition, all U.S. persons, including U.S. financial institutions,
currently exercise some degree of due diligence in order to comply
with existing U.S. sanctions programs applicable to North Korea, to
include the prohibitions outlined in this particular rule and
adopted in November 2016.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.