Answer:
The final rule provides a "safe harbor" provision for the definition of "ordinary course of business." A person (including a bank) that had in the previous year 100 or fewer remittance transfers by individuals for consumer purposes, for which the recipients (or their accounts) are located outside the U.S., and 100 or fewer of those transactions in the current year is not considered to provide remittance transfer services in the ordinary course of business, and would not therefore be subject to the rule.
When you count transactions to see if you're at or near the trigger threshold, include only those transactions that would be subject to the rule if your bank were subject to the regulation's requirements. Remember that foreign wires, outbound IAT ACH entries, certain bill pay transactions and some prepaid access transactions should be included in the count, if sent for consumers. If the nine outgoing international wire transfers you asked about are the sum total of all your transactions to be counted, you're well under the threshold, and you won't have to comply with the requirements of subpart B of Regulation E (the Remittance Transfer Rules), at least not unless you reach the 100 count in 2013 or a later year.
First published on BankersOnline.com 12/10/12.
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