Prohibition on Correspondent Accounts for Foreign Shell Banks; Records Concerning Owners of Foreign Banks and Agents for Service of Legal Process

Forms and Documents

Document Name	Status
Obtain and record a recertification per foreign bank Form and Instruction	New
Obtain and record a certification per foreign bank Form and Instruction	Modified
1506-0043 Shell Bank Supporting Statement 7_31_2025 FINAL.docx Supporting Statement A	2025-07-31

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Document Title	Status
276612	Obtain and record a recertification per foreign bank Form and Instruction	New
15355	Obtain and record a certification per foreign bank Form and Instruction	Modified

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 1506-0043	ICR Reference No: 202501-1506-001
Status: Received in OIRA	Previous ICR Reference No: 202204-1506-001
Agency/Subagency: TREAS/FINCEN	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Prohibition on Correspondent Accounts for Foreign Shell Banks; Records Concerning Owners of Foreign Banks and Agents for Service of Legal Process
Type of Information Collection: Extension without change of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular	Date Submitted to OIRA: 07/31/2025

	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	36 Months From Approved	07/31/2025
Responses	18,408	17,392
Time Burden (Hours)	73,632	260,880
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0

---

Abstract: 31 U.S.C. 5318(j) prohibits a covered financial institution from maintaining correspondent accounts in the United States for, or on behalf of, foreign banks that do not have a physical presence in any country. In addition, under 31 U.S.C. 5318(k), a covered financial institution maintaining a correspondent account in the United States for a foreign bank, must retain records identifying: (i) the owners of record and the beneficial owners of the foreign bank, and (ii) the name and address of a person residing in the United States who is authorized to accept service of legal process for the foreign bank. The covered financial institution must provide the information to any Federal law enforcement officer who has submitted a written request for such information, not later than 7 days after receipt of the request. The regulations implementing 31 U.S.C. 5318(j) and 31 U.S.C. 5318(k) appear at 31 CFR 1010.630.

---

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 31 USC 5318(j) and (k) Name of Law: Bank Secrecy Act
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

---

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

---

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	90 FR 21987	05/22/2025
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	90 FR 35963	07/30/2025
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? Yes

---

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Obtain and record a certification per foreign bank	N/A	CERTIFICATION REGARDING CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNTS FOR FOREIGN BANKS
Obtain and record a recertification per foreign bank	N/A	CERTIFICATION REGARDING CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNTS FOR FOREIGN BANKS

---

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Request	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	18,408	17,392	0	0	1,016	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	73,632	260,880	0	0	-187,248	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The estimated total annual burden hours decreased by 187,248 hours, from 260,880 hours in 2022 to 73,632 hours in 2025. As a result, the corresponding estimated total cost decreased by $16,208,640, from $25,044,480 to $8,835,840. These changes reflect adjustments in FinCEN’s methodological approach to its estimates which include: (1) a reduction in the number of expected respondents, (2) an increase in the number of expected responses per respondent, and (3) a decrease in the assigned incremental burden per response. This decrease is due to FinCEN incorporating additional data into the 2025 renewal. When FinCEN renewed this information collection request, under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 1506-0043, in 2022, FinCEN estimated that 8,696 covered financial institutions would obtain and maintain 17,392 certification and recertification forms from foreign banks, and estimated the burden per certification/recertification form would be 15 hours per form. Due to the lack of data on the likely number of foreign correspondent accounts in 2022, FinCEN applied a conservative estimate of the hourly burden for certification and recertification in order to avoid underestimating the total burden. However, FinCEN has updated its estimation methodology and believes the updated estimate (including the hourly burden for certification and recertification) to be a more accurate reflection of the cost profile associated with this requirement. Most U.S. banks do not maintain foreign correspondent accounts, and those that do, generally maintain more than one such account. In 2025, FinCEN updated its estimation methodology, estimating that both the time required to conduct a certification process and maintain its associated recordkeeping requirement would be 4 hours. The same 4-hour estimate was applied to both the time required to conduct to the recertification process and maintain its corresponding recordkeeping requirement. The reduction in burden is the result of a combination of a decrease in the estimated number of likely respondents and a decrease in the estimated hourly burden of certification and recertification. Although the estimate of the average number of accounts per respondent was revised significantly upwards, a reduction in these two factors (i.e., the likely respondents and the hourly certification/recertification burden) resulted in a decrease to the overall burden.

---

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $0

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

---

Common Form ICR:  No

---

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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 07/31/2025

---