Proposed Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations Requirement To Report Suspicious Transactions

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

31 CFR Part 103

RIN 1506-AA13

Proposed Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations--

Requirement To Report Suspicious Transactions

AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of extension of time for submission of comments.

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SUMMARY: This document extends until November 13, 1995, the deadline

for the submission of comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to

require banks to file with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

reports of suspicious transactions under the Bank Secrecy Act. The

extension is intended to facilitate the submission of comments on the

notice without delaying implementation of the suspicious transaction

reporting system. The notice was published in the Federal Register on

September 7, 1995 (60 FR 46556) and comments were to be received on or

before October 10, 1995.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 13, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Office of Regulatory Policy and

Enforcement, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of the

Treasury, 2070 Chain Bridge Road, Vienna, VA 22182, Attention: NPRM--

Suspicious Transaction Reporting. Comments received will be available

for public inspection and copying at the Treasury Department Library,

Room 5030, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20220.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Klingman, Office of Financial

Institutions Policy, FinCEN, at (703) 905-3920, or Joseph M. Myers,

Attorney-Advisor, Office of Legal Counsel, FinCEN, at (703) 905-3590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Annunzio-Wylie Anti-Money Laundering

Act, Title XV of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992,

Pub. L. 102-550, and the Money Laundering Suppression Act of 1994,

Title IV of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement

Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-325, amended the Bank Secrecy Act to grant

Treasury authority to require reporting of suspicious transactions and

to require Treasury to designate a single government recipient for

reports of suspicious transactions. FinCEN has been working with the

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the ``OCC''), the Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the ``Board''), the Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation (the ``FDIC''), the Office of Thrift

Supervision (the ``OTS''), and the National Credit Union Administration

(the ``NCUA'') to create a single coordinated process for the reporting

of suspicious transactions under the Bank Secrecy Act and known or

suspected criminal violations involving financial institutions under

the regulations of those agencies.

FinCEN published a notice of proposed rulemaking relating to the

suspicious transaction reporting system on September 7, 1995. The

notice invited comments from interested parties and requested that they

address specific questions. Because all of the agencies were working to

implement the system in October, 1995, and because FinCEN's notice

related closely to notices already issued by the Board and the OCC,

comments were requested by October 10, 1995.

The agencies involved in creating the suspicious transaction

reporting system have postponed the target date for the system to

become operable until December 15, 1995. The FDIC, whose notice of

proposed rulemaking was published on September 14, 1995, has already

stated its intention to accept comments through November 13, 1995. All

of the agencies involved in the system are working together to review

comments as they are submitted and harmonize the proposed rules.

Accordingly, given the fact that extending the time to the end of the

FDIC's period will not delay implementation of the system, FinCEN has

determined to extend the comment period until November 13, 1995.

Dated: October 10, 1995.

William F. Baity,

Acting Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

[FR Doc. 95-25570 Filed 10-12-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820-03-P