Electronic registration form available for prepaid access providers to register with FinCEN by March 31, 2012

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently released its new “FinCEN Report 107 RMSB” to facilitate the electronic registration of “providers of prepaid access” with FinCEN by the end of this month, March 31, 2012.  (See FinCEN’s notice here.)  The new RMSB form was released because the legacy Form 107 did not accommodate electronic filings by prepaid access providers.  Providers must now use the new RMSB form, which is available through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System.

Note that providers must first register as an “institution” with the BSA E-Filing System, which designation can take up to 7 business days, before being able to submit the new RMSB form.

As we reported in our summary of the prepaid access rules, providers of prepaid access serve as the principal conduit for access to information from fellow program participants.  Prepaid access program participants may agree which party should be deemed the “provider” for regulatory compliance and registration purposes. Otherwise, FinCEN will determine the “provider” based on who has “principal oversight and control” over the program.

Pursuant to FinCEN’s prepaid access rules published last July 2011, providers were originally required to register by September 2011.  A subsequent notice of administrative relief extended this deadline (among others) such that providers must now register with FinCEN by March 31, 2012.