Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies - FDIC

BANK SECRECY ACT, ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING,
AND OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL
Section 314(a) – Mandatory Information
Sharing Between the U.S. Government and
Financial Institutions
A Federal law enforcement agency investigating terrorist
activity or money laundering may request that FinCEN
solicit, on its behalf, certain information from a financial
institution or a group of financial institutions on certain
individuals or entities. The law enforcement agency must
provide a written certification to FinCEN attesting that
credible evidence of money laundering or terrorist activity
exists. It must also provide specific identifiers such as date
of birth, address, and social security number of the
individual(s) under investigation that would permit a
financial institution to differentiate among customers with
common or similar names.
Section 314(a) Requests
Upon receiving an adequate written certification from a
law enforcement agency, FinCEN may require financial
institutions to perform a search of their records to
determine whether they maintain or have maintained
accounts for, or have engaged in transactions with, any
specified individual, entity, or organization. This process
involves providing a Section 314(a) Request to the
financial institutions. Such lists are issued to financial
institutions every two weeks by FinCEN.
Each Section 314(a) request has a unique tracking number.
The general instructions for a Section 314(a) Request
require financial institutions to complete a one-time search
of their records and respond to FinCEN, if necessary,
within two weeks. However, individual requests can have
different deadline dates. Any specific guidelines on the
request supercede the general guidelines.
Designated Point-of-Contact for Section 314(a) Requests
All financial institutions shall designate at least one pointof-contact
for Section 314(a) requests and similar
information requests from FinCEN. FDIC-supervised
financial institutions must promptly notify the FDIC of any
changes to the point-of-contact, which is reported on each
Call Report.
Financial Institution Records Required to be Searched
The records that must be searched for a Section 314(a)
Request are specified in the request itself. Using the
identifying information contained in the 314(a) request,
financial institutions are required to conduct a one-time
search of the following records, whether or not they are
kept electronically (subject to the limitations below):
Section 8.1
• Deposit account records;
• Funds transfer records;
• Sales of monetary instruments (purchaser only);
• Loan records;
• Trust department records;
• Securities records (purchases, sales, safekeeping, etc.);
• Commodities, options, and derivatives; and
• Safe deposit box records (but only if searchable
electronically).
According to the general instructions to Section 314(a),
financial institutions are NOT required to research the
following documents for matches:
• Checks processed through an account for a payee,
• Monetary instruments for a payee,
• Signature cards, and
• CTRs and SARs previously filed.
The general guidelines specify that the record search need
only encompass current accounts and accounts maintained
by a named subject during the preceding twelve (12)
months, and transactions not linked to an account
conducted by a named subject during the preceding six (6)
months. Any record described above that is not maintained
in electronic form need only be searched if it is required to
be kept under federal law or regulation.
Again, if the specific guidelines or the timeframe of
records to be searched on a Section 314(a) Request differ
from the general guidelines, they should be followed to the
extent possible. For example, if a particular Section 314(a)
Request asks financial institutions to search their records
back eight years, the financial institutions should honor
such requests to the extent possible, even though BSA
recordkeeping requirements generally do not require
records to be retained beyond five years.
Reporting of “Matches”
Financial institutions typically have a two-week window to
complete the one-time search and respond, if necessary to
FinCEN. If a financial institution identifies an account or
transaction by or on behalf of an individual appearing on a
Section 314(a) Request, it must report back to FinCEN that
it has a “positive match,” unless directed otherwise. When
reporting this information to FinCEN, no additional details,
unless otherwise instructed, should be provided other than
the fact that a “positive match” has been identified. In
situations where a financial institution is unsure of a match,
it may contact the law enforcement agency specified in the
Section 314(a) Request. Negative responses to Section
314(a) Requests are not required; the financial institution
Bank Secrecy Act (12-04) 8.1-14 DSC Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation