TEXTRON - · PDF fileTEXTRON Terrence O'Donnell Executive Vice President & General...

@TEXTRON

Terrence O'DonnellExecutive VicePresident &General Counsel

Textron Inc. >40 Westminster StreetProvidence, RI02903-2596

tel: (401) 457-2555tax: (401) 457-2418todonnellOte1rtrOn.com

April 9, 2003

FinCENP.O. Box 39Vienna,VA 22183ATIN: ANPRM- Sections352 and 326- VehicleSellerRegulations

Ladies and Gentlemen:

TextronInc. respectfullysubmitsits commentson the above-referencedANPRM

via electronicmail. Textronis one of America's largestandbestgerfonning multi-industrycompanies,headquarteredin Providence,RI. Textronranks 164 on the FORTUNE500 list oflargestU.S. Companies,with revenuesof$11 Billion.49,000employeesand a diverse,globalcustomerbase. Familiarbrandnamesin our familyof companiesincludeCessnaAircraft,BellHelicopter,E-Z-GO,Jacobsen,OmniQuip,TextronSystems,TextronFinancialCorporationandCessnaFinanceCorporation. Today,we continueto expandour leadershippositionsin fivecorebusiness segments: Aircraft;IndustrialProducts;Finance;IndustrialComponentsand FasteningSystems.

Textroncompaniesin threeof our fivecorebusinesssegments,Aircraft.IndustrialProducts and Finance.couldbe affectedby the ANPRMand anyregulationof vehiclesellerswhich maybe issuedunder the USA PATRIOTAct. In addition,the Financesegmentcouldbedirectlyaffectedby anyregulationof financecompaniesunderthe act. Sincethe businesses,products andmarketsof the potentiallyaffectedcompaniesin each segmentare quitediverse,ourresponsesto the questionsposedby the ANPRMare organized,to some extent,by segment.

Together,the revenuesof the threecorebusinesssegmentspotentiallyaffectedcompose69% of Textron's revenues. The affectedcompaniesincludeCessnaAircraftand BellHelicopterTextron.aerospacemanufacturersengagedin aircraftsalesworldwide.TextronFinancialCorporationand CessnaFinanceCorporation.financecompaniesalso engagedinaircraft sales incidentalto their financebusinesses,E-Z-GO,JacobsenandOmniQuip,manufacturersof golf cars,mowersand turf careequipmentand telescopingfork lifts,respectively,and TextronSystems,a manufacturerof specialtymarinecraft. armoredvehicles,and light tanks, sold predominantlyto domesticandforeignmilitaryand policeorganizations.

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These aircraftmanufacturingand financebusinessespose a lowmoneylaunderingrisk; have safeguardsin place to guardagainsttheserisks;are subjectto existingmoneylaunderingtexport control, aircraftregistration,operationandmaintenance,financiallicensingand other pertinent laws andregulations;receivepaymentsthrougha bankingsystemwhich issubjectto new and existingregulationsdesignedto detectanddetermoneylaundering;andshould,thereforetbe exempt fromregulationas "financialinstitutionsuunder31 U.S.C. §5312(a)(2). Textron is a participatingmemberin the GeneralAviationManufacturersAssociation("GAMA")and the AerospaceIndustriesAssociation("AIAt'). Both of theseaircraftindustrytrade associationshave submittedcommentsin responseto the above-referencedANPRM,urgingthe TreasuryDepartmentto promulgateregulationsexemptingaircraftmanufacturersand sellers fromcompliancewiththe most stringentrequirementsof Sections326and 352 of the USA PATRIOTAct. We endorsethe viewsof GAMAand the AIAin connectionwith your considerationof the applicationof theseprovisionsto aircraftmanufacturersandsellers.

We want to emphasizethat TextronInc.is a strongsupporterof the policiesandprogramsassociatedwith legislativeandregulatoryeffortsto deterand combatterrorismandinternationalmoneylaundering. Our supportof the exemptionproposedby GAMAand the AlAis based on our concernthat marginaltif any,anti-terrorismbenefitwouldbe realizedtromimposingadditionalrequirementson aircraftmanufacturersand sellers. In our viewtanyadditionalburdenon aircraftsales-- particularly,costlyand time and labor-consuming"knowyour customer"requirements- shouldonlybe imposedon the aircraftindustry,if the additionalcosts and burdenscan bejustifiedby materialandsignificantanti-terrorismbenefits. We believethat this view is consistentwith the Congressionalmandatein Section352 (c) of the USAPatriotAct givingthe Secretaryof the Treasurythe directionto "prescriberegulationsthat considertheextent to which the requirementsimposedunderthis sectionare commensuratewith the size,location,and activitiesof the financialinstitutionsto whichsuchregulationsshallapply.u(Emphasisadded.)

As GAMA's responseto the ANPRMpointsout, the aircraftmanufacturingindustryis alreadysubjectto substantialregulatoryandrecord-keepingrequirements. Imposingadditionalrequirementsunderthe USAPATRIOTActon aircraftmanufacturerswouldpose asignificantrisk of erodingsales andUnitedStatesexportsin a keyUnitedStatesdominatedmanufacturingindustry-- an industrysufferingfIomthe effectsof the worstrecessionandneworder slowdownin over fifteenyears. Extremelydetailedandburdensomerequirementscouldlikelydrive aircraft salesto foreigncompetitors,unburdenedby similarrequirements. Forexample,more than 8,100UnitedStatestransportation-manufacturingsectorjobs - almost all ofthem in aircraftmanufacturing-- havebeenlost sinceSeptember11,2001, in Wichita,Kansas,Cessna's home andthe home of Boeing,RaytheonAircraftand BombardierLearjet.1Current

I Aircraftare generallyhigh cost items. Theaveragepurchasepriceof Textroncommercialaircraftis roughly$2,500,000per unit. Thereforetunlikeautomobilesand othermotor vehicles,the commercialmarketfor aircraftis relativelythin. In 2002,Textron's aircraftsales subsidiaries(BellHelicopterTextronInc., CessnaAircraftCompany,TextronFinancialCorporation,andCessna FinanceCorporation)sold a combinedtotalof fewerthan 1,300commercialunits. These

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predictionssuggestthat this trendmaycontinueuntil 2004,or beyond. As a result, this is anindustrythat couldbe severelyharmedby the impositionof additionalregulationandrelatedrecord-keepingcosts. Furthennore,newregulationof captiveaircraftfinancesubsidiaries,suchas CessnaFinance,both as aircraftsellersandas financecompanies,would furtherdamageUnited States aircraftmanufacturers'abilityto meetsaleschallengesin a depressedglobalmarket and simultaneouslydeal with loweredaircraftcollateral'Valuesand increasedloan lossesattendantto the ongoingdownturn.

In additionto our commentsrelatingto Textron's aircraftmanufacturingand salesfunctions,we offer these additionalviewswithrespectto our non-aircraftvehiclemanufacturingbusinesses- E-Z-GO,Jacobson,OmniQuip,andTextronSystems. In our view,these ''vehicle''manufacturersinvolvean extremelylowmoneylaunderingrisk andare not likelyto have beencontemplatedby Congressto fallwithin the requirementsof Sections326 and 352 of the USAPatriot Act. The E-Z-GODivisionof TextronInc.manufacturesand sellselectric-and gasoline-poweredgolf cars, as well as turfmaintenanceand industrialandmulti-purposevehicles. TheJacobsenDivisionof TextronInc.manufacturesand sellsa full rangeof ridingmowersand turfmaintenanceequipmentfor the professionallawncare, sportsfield andcommercialgroundsmaintenancemarkets. OmniQuipmanufacturesandsells telescopingfork lifts for use inresidentialand non-residentialconstructionand somemilitarymaterialhandlingapplications.TextronSystemshas two businessesthat are engagedin the manufactureand saleof vehiclesandboats: (1) CadillacGage TextronInc. is engagedin the manufactureandsaleof a product lineofarmoredvehiclesand light tanksto UnitedStatesand qualifiedforeigngovernmentcustomers;and (2) TextronMarine& LandSystemsDivisionis engagedin the manufactureand saleofspecialtymarinecraft,most notably,the LandingCraftAir Cushionand the Motor LifeBoat.These are sold exclusivelyto UnitedStatesgovernmentcustomersandqualifiedforeigncustomers. Both CadillacGage andTextronMarine& LandSystem'sproductsare considered"defenseitems" and their sale is subjectto a strictlicensingregimeand strict regulationunder theInternationalTraffic in ArmsRegulations("!TAR")administeredby the Officeof DefenseTradeControls ("ODTC")of the UnitedStatesDepartmentof State.

Althoughthesenon-aircraftproductsare commonlyreferredto as vehicles,itseemsevidentthat they are not the kindof ,'vehicles"describedin 31 U.S.C. § 5312(a)(2){T).These Textronproductsare all specialuse itemssuch as ridinglawnmowers,telescopingforklifts, golfcars, and light armoredvehicles. In addition,the saleof military/policevehiclesandwatercraftis alreadyheavilydocumentedandregulated,and it involvestransactionsexclusivelywith United Statesand other approvedgovernmentpurchasers. Noneof thesenon-aircraftbusiness units presentsan obviousor significantmoneylaunderingrisk. We requestthat when

totals includesales of new and used completeaircraft(ratherthansparesandreplacementparts).They do not includeUnitedStatesand foreignmilitaryaircraftsales,sincethose transactions,bydefinition,involveno likelihoodof moneylaunderingactivity.(Seegenerally,Submission,datedApril 2, 2003of AlA to FinCENin responseto ANPRM.)

regulationsare issuedpursuantto the ANPRM,such specialtyvehiclesbe specificallyexcludedfromtheir applicationto avoidanyrisk of confusion.2

If we can answeranyquestionsor provideyouwith furtherinformationregardinganyTextroncompany,pleasecontactDavidBlakemore,VicePresident& GeneralCounsel,CessnaFinanceCorporation,P.O. Box 308,220 W. Douglas,Suite300, Wichita,KS 67201-0308,phone 316-660-1256,fax 316-660-1264,e-maildblakemore@cfc.textron.com.Thankyou for your consideration.

Sincerely,

-T~Q

---~At« ", 1.1 ...

~eO'~MIExecutive Vice President and General Counsel

2Some suggestedcriteria forgrantingan exemptionto specialtyvehiclesincludethe following:(1) conveyancesnot originallydesignedandmanufacturedfor on-roaduse; (2) conveyancesnotsubjectto NationalHighwayTraffic& SafetyAdministration's(NHTSA)standardsandregulations;(3) conveyancesnot requiredto be titledunderStateor Federallaw andregulations;(4) conveyancesthat are not requiredby Federallawor regulationsto havevehicleidentificationnumbers;(5) equipmentdesignedsolelyfor fanning,cultivation,landscaping,landmoving,and/orconstructionactivities;and (6) conveyancesdesignedandmanufacturedfor the use ofmilitaryandlorpolice organizationsand subjectto ITAR. There is no provisionof the USAPATRIOTAct or the Bank SecrecyAct that suggeststhat Congressever intendedto bring themanufactureand sale of such vehicleswithinthe definitionof "financialinstitution." We wouldbe happyto provide any informationneededto helpyourofficefashionan appropriatedefinitionof specialtyvehicles for exclusionfromthe requirementsof anyUSAPATRIOTAct regulationspromulgated.