The Director of FinCEN found that the Democratic Peopleâs Republic of Korea (ââNorth Koreaââ) 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 institutionsâ 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.
1506-0071 Supporting Statement 2019-11-21 GID DPRK.docx
Imposition of Special Measure Against North Korea as a Jurisdiction of Primary Money Laundering Concern