On March 14, 2007, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a final rule under the authority of section 5318A of Title 31, United States Code, to impose a special measure with respect to Banco Delta Asia. Specifically, FinCEN imposed special measure five prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining accounts for, or on behalf of, Banco Delta Asia and requiring U.S. financial institution to apply due diligence to its correspondent accounts to ensure they are not used to provide Banco Delta Asia with indirect access to the U.S. financial system.
When the final rule was published in March 2007, 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 recognizing that, under the final rule, all U.S. financial institutions are required to conduct special due diligence with respect to, and are prohibited from processing transactions involving, financial institutions named in the final rule.
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.
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.