Electronic Filing of Bank Secrecy Act Reports

1Language expanding the scope of the BSA to intelligence or counter-intelligence activities to protect against international terrorism was added by
Section 358 of the Uniting and Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (the USA PATRIOT Act), Public Law 107–56. 2FinCEN completed its triennial review of its System of Records Notices. Updated Notices will be published in the Federal Register pending the completion of the required comment period. 3All CMIRs are filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the port of entry/exit or mailed to the Commissioner of Customs in Washington, DC. There are no electronic filing capabilities at the ports. A CBP contractor keys the data on the completed form into a data tape that is electronically uploaded to the BSA database. FinCEN receives no paper filed CMIRs. 4See 26 U.S.C. 6011(e)(2); see also 26 CFR 1.6050I–1(e)(3)(i) and 31 CFR 1010.330(e)(1). Washington, DC 20423–0001. In addition, one copy of each pleading must be served on John K. Fiorilla, 8000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 300S, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054. Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at www.stb.dot.gov. Decided: February 24, 2012. By the Board. Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of Proceedings. Jeffrey Herzig, Clearance Clerk. [FR Doc. 2012–4843 Filed 2–28–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4915–01–P DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Agency Information Collection and Reporting Activities; Electronic Filing of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Reports; Final Notice AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury. ACTION: Final notice. SUMMARY: FinCEN is adopting a requirement that all financial institutions subject to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting use electronic filing for certain reports beginning no later than July 1, 2012. FinCEN will consider limited hardship exemptions in certain circumstances. DATES: Effective date is July 1, 2012. Inspection of comments received. If a financial institution wishes to review comments received in response to the September 16, 2011, Federal Register notice they may be inspected, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., in the FinCEN reading room in Vienna, VA. Persons wishing to inspect the comments submitted must request an appointment with the Disclosure Officer by telephoning (703) 905–5034 (not a toll free call). Comments received in response to the above notice are not open for further comment. Electronic copies of the received comments may be reviewed at: http://www.fincen.gov/ statutes_regs/bsa/bsa_data_field_ comment_20111118.html. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FinCEN Regulatory Helpline at 800– 949–2732, select option 7. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Bank Secrecy Act Reporting, (31 CFR chapter X). Abstract: The statute generally referred to as the ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act,’’ Titles I and II of Public Law 91–508, as amended, codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951–1959, and 31 U.S.C. 5311–5332, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary), inter alia, to require financial institutions to file reports that are determined to have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, and regulatory matters, or in the conduct of intelligence or counter￾intelligence activities to protect against international terrorism, and to implement counter-money laundering programs.1 Regulations implementing Title II of the BSA appear at 31 CFR
chapter X. The authority of the
Secretary to administer the BSA has been delegated to the Director of FinCEN. The Secretary was granted authority with the enactment of Title 31 U.S.C., to require financial institutions and other persons to file various BSA reports. The information collected on the reports is required to be provided pursuant to Title 31 U.S.C., as implemented by FinCEN regulations found throughout 31 CFR chapter X. The information collected pursuant to this authority is made available to appropriate agencies and organizations as disclosed in FinCEN’s Privacy Act System of Records Notice.2 Current Action: In support of Treasury’s paperless initiative and efforts to make government operations more efficient, FinCEN has chosen to mandate electronic filing of certain BSA reports effective July 1, 2012. This requirement will significantly enhance the quality of FinCEN’s electronic data, improve its analytic capabilities in supporting law enforcement requirements, and result in a significant reduction in real costs to the U.S. government and ultimately to U.S. taxpayers. Specifically, this action makes mandatory the electronic submission of all BSA reports excluding the Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instrument Report (CMIR).3 Further, the Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business (Form
8300) may be filed electronically, but
because of statutory restrictions that may pertain to this report, which is required under both FinCEN and IRS regulations,4 electronic filing of Form 8300 will not be mandatory. Background: Since October 2002, FinCEN has provided financial institutions with the capability of electronically filing BSA reports through its system called BSA E-Filing. Effective August 2011, the system was expanded to support individuals filing the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) report. BSA E-Filing is a secure, web-based electronic filing system. It is a flexible solution for financial institutions or individuals, whether they file one BSA report or thousands. BSA E-Filing is a service that filers can access by using their existing Internet connections regardless of connection speed. In addition, it is designed to minimize filing errors and provide enhanced feedback to filing institutions or individuals, thereby providing a significant improvement in data quality. BSA E-Filing, which is provided free of charge, offers streamlined BSA information submission; faster routing of information to law enforcement; greater data security and privacy compared with paper forms; long-term cost savings to institutions, individuals, and the government; and ensures compatibility with future versions of BSA reports. In addition, BSA E-Filing offers the following features not available to paper filers:

• Electronic notification of
  submissions, receipt of submission, and errors, warnings, and alerts;
• Batch validation;
• Acknowledgement that a batch-filed
  currency transaction report (CTR) and/ or suspicious activity report (SAR) was received;
• Feedback reports to filers;
• Faster acknowledgement to money
  services businesses of receipt of their registration;
• Ability to send and receive secure
  messages;
• Use of Adobe forms that allows
  users to create templates, reducing data entry but still providing for printing paper copies if the filer wants a paper copy for its internal review and approval processes;
• Ability for supervisory users to
  assign system roles to their staff; and
• Access to training materials.
  In 2010, FinCEN initiated a complete redesign and rebuilding of a new