Under 31 U.S.C. 5318(g), the Secretary
of the Treasury is authorized to require financial institutions to
report any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation
of law or regulation. Regulations implementing 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)
are found at 31 CFR 1020.320, 1021.320, 1022.320, 1023.320,
1024.320, 1025.320, 1026.320, 1029.320, and 1030.320. These
transactions are reported on FinCEN Report 111- Suspicious Activity
Report (SAR). Financial institutions submit SARs to FinCEN
electronically via the BSA E-filing system. The SAR regulatory
reporting requirements are currently covered under the following
OMB control numbers: 1506-0001 (31 CFR 1020.320 – Reports by banks
of suspicious transactions); 1506-0006 (31 CFR 1021.320 – Reports
by casinos of suspicious transactions); 1506-0015 (31 CFR 1022.320
– Reports by money services businesses of suspicious transactions);
1506-0019 (31 CFR 1023.320 – Reports by brokers or dealers in
securities of suspicious transactions, 31 CFR 1024.320 – Reports by
mutual funds of suspicious transactions, and 31 CFR 1026.320 –
Reports by futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in
commodities of suspicious transactions); 1506-0029 (31 CFR 1025.320
– Reports by insurance companies of suspicious transactions); and
1506-0061 (31 CFR 1029.320 – Reports by loan or finance companies
of suspicious transactions). OMB control number 1506-0065 applies
to FinCEN Report 111 – SAR. An administrative burden of one hour is
assigned to each of the SAR regulation OMB control numbers in order
to maintain the requirements in force. The reporting and
recordkeeping burdens are reflected in FinCEN Report 111 –
Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) under OMB control number
1506-0065. The rationale for assigning one burden hour to each of
the SAR regulation OMB control numbers is that the annual burden
hours would be double counted if FinCEN estimated burden in the
industry SAR regulation OMB control numbers and in the SAR OMB
control number.
In prior renewals, FinCEN
limited its annual SAR burden estimate to the SAR filing process.
In this renewal, FinCEN expanded the burden estimate to include the
burden to (i) evaluate cases for potential SAR filing, and (ii)
create and maintain records of cases that are not converted into
SARs. More specifically, the burden estimate in this renewal
includes the burden involved in evaluating cases to determine
whether or not the event constitutes a suspicious activity that
must be reported, and documenting the decision that led the
financial institution to conclude that an event did not warrant
filing a SAR. The burden estimate also includes the burden involved
in the following aspects of the SAR filing process: (a) selecting
supporting documentation; (b) completing the report, including
drafting the narrative; (c) filing the report through batch or
discrete filing; and (d) storing the filed report and supporting
documentation in physical or electronic form. For a more detailed
explanation of the methodology to estimate the burden associated
with this renewal of the SAR regulations and report see 85 FR 31598
(May 26, 2020).
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.
SAR Supporting Statement 7.28.2020. Final Version.docx
FinCEN Report 111- Suspicious Activity Report