Purchases of Bank Checks and Drafts, Cashierâs Checks, Money Orders, and Travelerâs Checks (31 CFR 1010.415)
Extension without change of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
08/09/2021
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
08/31/2021
15,677
60,900
117,578
456,750
0
0
The BSA prohibits financial institutions from issuing any ââbank check, cashierâs check, travelerâs check, or money order to any individual in connection with a transaction or group of such contemporaneous transactions which involves United States coins or currency (or such other monetary instruments as the Secretary may prescribe) in amounts or denominations of $3,000 or moreââ unless the individual either has a verified transaction account with the financial institution, or furnishes the financial institution with the information required by regulations and that information is verified and recorded by the financial institution; financial institutions must record the method of account verification or the information required to be furnished. To implement these requirements, FinCEN issued a regulation requiring financial institutions to maintain records of the issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashierâs checks, money orders, and travelerâs checks. The regulation on its face applies to all financial institutions as defined in 31 CFR 1010.100(t). However, as a practical matter banks and money services businesses (MSBs) are the types of financial institutions most likely to be issuing or selling bank checks and drafts, cashierâs checks, money orders, and travelerâs checks.
Under 31 CFR 1010.415, financial institutions are required to maintain records of certain information related to the issuance or sale of bank checks and drafts, cashierâs checks, money orders, and travelerâs checks when the issuance or sale involves currency between $3,000-$10,000, inclusive, to any individual purchaser of one or more of these instruments. Under 31 CFR 1010.415(a)(1)(i), if the purchaser has a deposit account with the financial institution, the financial institution is required to maintain records of the: (A) purchaserâs name; (B) date of purchase; (C) type(s) of instrument(s) purchased; (D) serial number(s) of each of the instrument(s) purchased; and (E) the amount in dollars of each of the instrument(s) purchased. Under 31 CFR 1010.415(a)(1)(ii), the financial institution must also verify that the individual is a deposit accountholder or must verify the individualâs identity.
US Code:
31 USC 5325
Name of Law: Money and Fincance
The estimated total annual burden hours decreased by 339,171 hours from 456,750 hours in 2017 to 117,579 hours in 2020, although the annual hourly burden estimates (7.5 hours) per regulatory requirement remained the same as in 2017. The reduction in burden is a result of a decrease in the number of respondents from 60,900 in 2017 to 15,677 in 2020, based on additional FinCEN analysis which concluded that fewer financial institutions were affected by the requirements.
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.
1506-0057-Records of Money Orders Travelers' Checks Supporting Statement- Final 7-23-2021 in ROCIS.docx
Purchases of bank checks and drafts, cashier's checks, money orders and traveler's checks