Withdrawal of finding and NPRM regarding Liberty Reserve S.A. (81 FR 9139)

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026)

Fincen

2016-02-24

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Research, not advice. Part of the Bitcoin research archive (October 2026). Claims labelled unverified, contested or fringe are reported, not endorsed; statuses of bills and rules are as of the date checked. Government, court and patent records are public domain; the research notes are CC BY 4.0.

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 36 / Wednesday, February 24, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                                 9139

                                                      For the Commission.                                   the BSA and its implementing                          of its finding and NPRM on June 6,
                                                    Cynthia G. Pierre,                                      regulations has been delegated to the                 2013. The Department of Justice
                                                    Chief Operating Officer.                                Director of FinCEN.                                   announced on May 28, 2013 that it had
                                                    [FR Doc. 2016–03530 Filed 2–23–16; 8:45 am]                Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act                 charged seven of Liberty Reserve’s
                                                    BILLING CODE 6570–01–P
                                                                                                            (‘‘Section 311’’) grants the Director of              principals and employees with money-
                                                                                                            FinCEN the authority, upon finding that               laundering, seized five domain names,
                                                                                                            reasonable grounds exist for concluding               including ‘‘LibertyReserve.com,’’ and
                                                                                                            that a foreign jurisdiction, foreign                  seized or restricted the activity of 45
                                                    DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
                                                                                                            financial institution, class of                       bank accounts related to Liberty
                                                    Financial Crimes Enforcement Network                    transactions, or type of account is of                Reserve. In light of these actions, Liberty
                                                                                                            ‘‘primary money laundering concern,’’                 Reserve has since ceased to function as
                                                    31 CFR Part 1010                                        to require domestic financial                         a financial institution.
                                                                                                            institutions and financial agencies to
                                                    RIN 1506–AB23                                           take certain ‘‘special measures’’ to                  III. Withdrawal of the Finding and
                                                                                                            address the primary money laundering                  NPRM
                                                    Financial Crimes Enforcement                            concern. The special measures                           For the reasons set forth above,
                                                    Network; Withdrawal of Finding and                      enumerated under Section 311 are                      FinCEN hereby withdraws its finding
                                                    Notice of Proposed Rulemaking                           prophylactic safeguards that defend the               that Liberty Reserve is of primary
                                                    Regarding Liberty Reserve S.A.                          U.S. financial system from money                      money laundering concern and the
                                                    AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement                    laundering and terrorist financing.                   related NPRM published on June 6,
                                                    Network (‘‘FinCEN’’), Treasury.                         FinCEN may impose one or more of                      2013, seeking to impose the fifth special
                                                    ACTION: Withdrawal of finding and                       these special measures in order to                    measure regarding Liberty Reserve.
                                                    notice of proposed rulemaking.                          protect the U.S. financial system from
                                                                                                            these threats. To that end, special                   Jamal El-Hindi,
                                                    SUMMARY: This document withdraws                        measures one through four, codified at                Deputy Director, Financial Crimes
                                                    FinCEN’s finding that Liberty Reserve                   31 U.S.C. 5318A(b)(1) through (4),                    Enforcement Network.
                                                    S.A. (‘‘Liberty Reserve’’) is a financial               impose additional recordkeeping,                      [FR Doc. 2016–03830 Filed 2–23–16; 8:45 am]
                                                    institution of primary money laundering                 information collection, and information               BILLING CODE 4810–02–P
                                                    concern and the related notice of                       reporting requirements on covered U.S.
                                                    proposed rulemaking seeking to impose                   financial institutions. The fifth special
                                                    the fifth special measure regarding                     measure, codified at 31 U.S.C.                        DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                                                    Liberty Reserve, pursuant to section 311                5318A(b)(5), allows the Director to
                                                    of the USA PATRIOT Act (‘‘Section                       prohibit or impose conditions on the                  National Park Service
                                                    311’’). Because of material subsequent                  opening or maintaining of
                                                    developments that have mitigated the                    correspondent or payable-through                      36 CFR Part 7
                                                    money laundering risks associated with                  accounts for the identified institution by
                                                                                                            U.S. financial institutions.                          [NPS–GOGA–19691; PX.XGOGA1604.00.1]
                                                    Liberty Reserve, FinCEN has determined
                                                    that Liberty Reserve is no longer a                     II. The Finding and Notice of Proposed                RIN 1024–AE16
                                                    primary money laundering concern that                   Rulemaking
                                                    warrants the implementation of a                                                                              Special Regulations, Areas of the
                                                    special measure under Section 311.                      A. The Finding and Notice of Proposed                 National Park Service, Golden Gate
                                                    DATES: The finding and notice of
                                                                                                            Rulemaking                                            National Recreation Area, Dog
                                                    proposed rulemaking are withdrawn as                       Based upon review and analysis of                  Management
                                                    of February 24, 2016.                                   relevant information, consultations with
                                                                                                                                                                  AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
                                                    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The                    relevant Federal agencies and
                                                                                                            departments, and after consideration of               ACTION: Proposed rule.
                                                    FinCEN Resource Center at (800) 767–
                                                    2825.                                                   the factors enumerated in Section 311,                SUMMARY: The National Park Service
                                                                                                            the Director of FinCEN found that                     proposes to amend its special
                                                    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                                                                            reasonable grounds existed for                        regulations for Golden Gate National
                                                    I. Background                                           concluding that Liberty Reserve S.A.                  Recreation Area regarding dog walking.
                                                                                                            (‘‘Liberty Reserve’’) was a financial
                                                       On October 26, 2001, the President                                                                         The rule would apply to 22 locations
                                                                                                            institution of primary money laundering
                                                    signed into law the Uniting and                                                                               within the park and would designate
                                                                                                            concern. FinCEN published a proposed
                                                    Strengthening America by Providing                                                                            areas within these locations for on-leash
                                                                                                            rule proposing the imposition of the
                                                    Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept                                                                       and regulated (i.e., voice and sight
                                                                                                            fifth special measure on June 6, 2013,
                                                    and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001,                                                                           control) off-leash dog walking. Areas in
                                                                                                            pursuant to the authority under 31
                                                    Public Law 107–56 (the ‘‘USA PATRIOT                                                                          these 22 locations that are not
                                                                                                            U.S.C. 5318A.1
                                                    Act’’). Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act                                                                      designated as open to dogs would be
                                                    amends the anti-money laundering                        B. Subsequent Developments                            closed to dogs, except for service
                                                    provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act                        Since FinCEN’s finding and related                  animals in accordance with National
                                                    (BSA), codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12                                                                        Park Service regulations. The rule

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
                                                                                                            NPRM regarding Liberty Reserve,
                                                    U.S.C. 1951–1959, and 31 U.S.C. 5311–                   material facts regarding the                          would modify and, in some
                                                    5314, 5316–5332, to promote the                         circumstances of the proposed                         circumstances, relax the National Park
                                                    prevention, detection, and prosecution                  rulemaking have changed. Liberty                      System-wide pet regulations for these 22
                                                    of international money laundering and                   Reserve was a web-based money transfer                locations. To the extent not modified by
                                                    the financing of terrorism. Regulations                 system when FinCEN published notice                   this rule, dog walking in all NPS-
                                                    implementing the BSA appear at 31 CFR                                                                         managed areas within the park would
                                                    chapter X. The authority of the                          1 See 78 FR 34008 (June 6, 2013) (RIN 1506–          continue to be regulated under National
                                                    Secretary of the Treasury to administer                 AB23).                                                Park System-wide pet regulations.

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