(1) General. For disclosures described in §§ 1005.31(b)(1) through (3) and 1005.36(a)(1) and (2), estimates may be provided in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section for the amounts required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) through (vii), if:
1. Control. For purposes of this section, an insured institution cannot determine exact amounts “for reasons beyond its control” when a person other than the insured institution or with which the insured institution has no correspondent relationship sets the exchange rate required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) or imposes a covered third-party fee required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi). For example, if an insured institution has a correspondent relationship with an intermediary financial institution in another country and that intermediary institution sets the exchange rate or imposes a fee for remittance transfers sent from the insured institution to the intermediary institution, then the insured institution must determine exact amounts for the disclosures required under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) or (vi), because the determination of those amounts are not beyond the insured institution's control.
2. Examples of scenarios that qualify for the temporary exception. The following examples illustrate when an insured institution cannot determine an exact amount “for reasons beyond its control” and thus would qualify for the temporary exception.
i. Exchange rate. An insured institution cannot determine the exact exchange rate to disclose under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) for an international wire transfer if the insured institution does not set the exchange rate, and the rate is set when the funds are deposited into the recipient's account by the designated recipient's institution with which the insured institution does not have a correspondent relationship. The insured institution will not know the exchange rate that the recipient institution will apply when the funds are deposited into the recipient's account.
ii. Covered third-party fees. An insured institution cannot determine the exact covered third-party fees to disclose under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi) if an intermediary institution with which the insured institution does not have a correspondent relationship, imposes a transfer or conversion fee.
3. Examples of scenarios that do not qualify for the temporary exception. The following examples illustrate when an insured institution can determine exact amounts and thus would not qualify for the temporary exception.
i. Exchange rate. An insured institution can determine the exact exchange rate required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) if it converts the funds into the local currency to be received by the designated recipient using an exchange rate that it sets. The determination of the exchange rate is in the insured institution's control even if there is no correspondent relationship with an intermediary institution in the transmittal route or the designated recipient's institution.
ii. Covered third-party fees. An insured institution can determine the exact covered third-party fees required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi) if it has agreed upon the specific fees with an intermediary correspondent institution, and this correspondent institution is the only institution in the transmittal route to the designated recipient's institution.
(i) A remittance transfer provider cannot determine the exact amounts for reasons beyond its control;
(ii) A remittance transfer provider is an insured institution; and
(iii) The remittance transfer is sent from the sender's account with the institution.
(2) Sunset date. Paragraph (a)(1) of this section expires on July 21, 2020.
(3) Insured institution. For purposes of this section, the term “insured institution” means insured depository institutions (which includes uninsured U.S. branches and agencies of foreign depository institutions) as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), and insured credit unions as defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
(1) Permanent exception for transfers to certain countries —
(i) General. For disclosures described in §§ 1005.31(b)(1) through (b)(3) and 1005.36(a)(1) and (a)(2), estimates may be provided for transfers to certain countries in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section for the amounts required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) through (b)(1)(vii), if a remittance transfer provider cannot determine the exact amounts when the disclosure is required because:
(A) The laws of the recipient country do not permit such a determination, or
(B) The method by which transactions are made in the recipient country does not permit such determination.
(ii) Safe harbor. A remittance transfer provider may rely on the list of countries published by the Bureau to determine whether estimates may be provided under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, unless the provider has information that a country's laws or the method by which transactions are conducted in that country permits a determination of the exact disclosure amount.
(2) Permanent exception for transfers scheduled before the date of transfer.
1. Fixed amount of foreign currency. The following is an example of when and how a remittance transfer provider may disclose estimates for remittance transfers scheduled five or more business days before the date of transfer where the provider agrees to the sender's request to fix the amount to be transferred in a currency in which the transfer will be received and not the currency in which it was funded. If on February 1, a sender schedules a 1000 Euro wire transfer to be sent from the sender's bank account denominated in U.S. dollars to a designated recipient on February 15, § 1005.32(b)(2) allows the provider to estimate the amount that will be transferred to the designated recipient (i.e., the amount described in § 1005.31(b)(1)(i)), any fees imposed or taxes collected on the remittance transfer by the provider (if based on the amount transferred) (i.e., the amount described in § 1005.31(b)(1)(ii)), and the total amount of the transaction (i.e., the amount described in § 1005.31(b)(1)(iii)). The provider may also estimate any covered third-party fees if the exchange rate is also estimated and the estimated exchange rate affects the amount of fees (as allowed by § 1005.32(b)(2)(ii)).
2. Relationship to § 1005.10(d). To the extent § 1005.10(d) requires, for an electronic fund transfer that is also a remittance transfer, notice when a preauthorized electronic fund transfer from the consumer's account will vary in amount from the previous transfer under the same authorization or from the preauthorized amount, that provision applies even if subpart B would not otherwise require notice before the date of transfer. However, insofar as § 1005.10(d) does not specify the form of such notice, a notice sent pursuant to § 1005.36(a)(2)(i) will satisfy § 1005.10(d) as long as the timing requirements of § 1005.10(d) are satisfied.
(i) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section, for disclosures described in §§ 1005.36(a)(1)(i) and (a)(2)(i), estimates may be provided in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section for the amounts to be disclosed under §§ 1005.31(b)(1)(iv) through (vii) if the remittance transfer is scheduled by a sender five or more business days before the date of the transfer. In addition, if, at the time the sender schedules such a transfer, the provider agrees to a sender's request to fix the amount to be transferred in the currency in which the remittance transfer will be received and not the currency in which it is funded, estimates may also be provided for the amounts to be disclosed under §§ 1005.31(b)(1)(i) through (iii), except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section.
(ii) Covered third-party fees described in § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi) may be estimated under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section only if the exchange rate is also estimated under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section and the estimated exchange rate affects the amount of such fees.
(iii) Fees and taxes described in § 1005.31(b)(1)(ii) may be estimated under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section only if the amount that will be transferred in the currency in which it is funded is also estimated under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, and the estimated amount affects the amount of such fees and taxes.
(3) Permanent exception for optional disclosure of non-covered third-party fees and taxes collected by a person other than the provider. For disclosures described in §§ 1005.31(b)(1) through (3) and 1005.36(a)(1) and (2), estimates may be provided for applicable non-covered third-party fees and taxes collected on the remittance transfer by a person other than the provider, which are permitted to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(viii), provided such estimates are based on reasonable sources of information.
1. Reasonable sources of information. Pursuant to § 1005.32(b)(3) a remittance transfer provider may estimate applicable non-covered third-party fees and taxes collected on the remittance transfer by a person other than the provider using reasonable sources of information. Reasonable sources of information may include, for example: information obtained from recent transfers to the same institution or the same country or region; fee schedules from the recipient institution; fee schedules from the recipient institution's competitors; surveys of recipient institution fees in the same country or region as the recipient institution; information provided or surveys of recipient institutions' regulators or taxing authorities; commercially or publicly available databases, services or sources; and information or resources developed by international nongovernmental organizations or intergovernmental organizations.
(c) Bases for estimates generally. Estimates provided pursuant to the exceptions in paragraph (a) or (b)(1) of this section must be based on the below-listed approach or approaches, except as otherwise permitted by this paragraph. If a remittance transfer provider bases an estimate on an approach that is not listed in this paragraph, the provider is deemed to be in compliance with this paragraph so long as the designated recipient receives the same, or greater, amount of funds than the remittance transfer provider disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vii).
(1) Exchange rate. In disclosing the exchange rate as required under § 1005.31(b)(1)(iv), an estimate must be based on one of the following:
1. Most recent exchange rate for qualifying international ACH transfers. If the exchange rate for a remittance transfer sent via international ACH that qualifies for the § 1005.32(b)(1)(i)(B) exception is set the following business day, the most recent exchange rate available for a transfer is the exchange rate set for the day that the disclosure is provided, i.e., the current business day's exchange rate.
2. Publicly available. Examples of publicly available sources of information containing the most recent wholesale exchange rate for a currency include U.S. news services, such as Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times; a recipient country's national news services, and a recipient country's central bank or other government agency.
3. Spread. An estimate for disclosing the exchange rate based on the most recent publicly available wholesale exchange rate must also reflect any spread the remittance transfer provider typically applies to the wholesale exchange rate for remittance transfers for a particular currency.
4. Most recent. For the purposes of § 1005.32(c)(1)(ii) and (iii), if the exchange rate with respect to a particular currency is published or provided multiple times throughout the day because the exchange rate fluctuates throughout the day, a remittance transfer provider may use any exchange rate available on that day to determine the most recent exchange rate.
(i) For remittance transfers sent via international ACH that qualify for the exception in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section, the most recent exchange rate set by the recipient country's central bank or other governmental authority and reported by a Federal Reserve Bank;
(ii) The most recent publicly available wholesale exchange rate and, if applicable, any spread that the remittance transfer provider or its correspondent typically applies to such a wholesale rate for remittance transfers for that currency; or
(iii) The most recent exchange rate offered or used by the person making funds available directly to the designated recipient or by the person setting the exchange rate.
(2) Transfer amount in the currency in which the funds will be received by the designated recipient. In disclosing the transfer amount in the currency in which the funds will be received by the designated recipient, as required under § 1005.31(b)(1)(v), an estimate must be based on the estimated exchange rate provided in accordance with paragraph (c)(1) of this section, prior to any rounding of the estimated exchange rate.
(3) Covered third-party fees —
1. Potential transmittal routes. A remittance transfer from the sender's account at an insured institution to the designated recipient's institution may take several routes, depending on the correspondent relationships each institution in the transmittal route has with other institutions. In providing an estimate of the fees required to be disclosed under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi) pursuant to the § 1005.32(a) temporary exception, an insured institution may rely upon the representations of the designated recipient's institution and the institutions that act as intermediaries in any one of the potential transmittal routes that it reasonably believes a requested remittance transfer may travel.
(i) Imposed as percentage of amount transferred. In disclosing covered third-party fees, as described under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi), that are a percentage of the amount transferred to the designated recipient, an estimated exchange rate must be based on the estimated exchange rate provided in accordance with paragraph (c)(1) of this section, prior to any rounding of the estimated exchange rate.
(ii) Imposed by the intermediary or final institution. In disclosing covered third-party fees pursuant to § 1005.31(b)(1)(vi), an estimate must be based on one of the following:
(A) The remittance transfer provider's most recent remittance transfer to the designated recipient's institution, or
(B) A representative transmittal route identified by the remittance transfer provider.
(4) Amount of currency that will be received by the designated recipient. In disclosing the amount of currency that will be received by the designated recipient as required under § 1005.31(b)(1)(vii), an estimate must be based on the information provided in accordance with paragraphs (c)(1) through (3) of this section, as applicable.
(d) Bases for estimates for transfers scheduled before the date of transfer. Estimates provided pursuant to paragraph (b)(2) of this section must be based on the exchange rate or, where applicable, the estimated exchange rate based on an estimation methodology permitted under paragraph (c) of this section that the provider would have used or did use that day in providing disclosures to a sender requesting such a remittance transfer to be made on the same day. If, in accordance with this paragraph, a remittance transfer provider uses a basis described in paragraph (c) of this section but not listed in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the provider is deemed to be in compliance with this paragraph regardless of the amount received by the designated recipient, so long as the estimation methodology is the same that the provider would have used or did use in providing disclosures to a sender requesting such a remittance transfer to be made on the same day.
1. In general. When providing an estimate pursuant to § 1005.32(b)(2), § 1005.32(d) requires that a remittance transfer provider's estimated exchange rate must be the exchange rate (or estimated exchange rate) that the remittance transfer provider would have used or did use that day in providing disclosures to a sender requesting such a remittance transfer to be made on the same day. If, for the same-day remittance transfer, the provider could utilize either of the other two exceptions permitting the provision of estimates in § 1005.32(a) or (b)(1), the provider may provide estimates based on a methodology permitted under § 1005.32(c). For example, if, on February 1, the sender schedules a remittance transfer to occur on February 10, the provider should disclose the exchange rate as if the sender was requesting the transfer be sent on February 1. However, if at the time payment is made for the requested transfer, the remittance transfer provider could not send any remittance transfer until the next day (for reasons such as the provider's deadline for the batching of transfers), the remittance transfer provider can use the rate (or estimated exchange rate) that the remittance transfer provider would have used or did use in providing disclosures that day with respect to a remittance transfer requested that day that could not be sent until the following day.
