The software needed to file new suspicious-transaction reports should  arrive by the end of the month, according to a Federal Reserve Board   official.   
Richard Small, special counsel in the Fed's division of bank supervision  and a key figure in crafting the new rules, said banks would have the   product in a few weeks.   
  
There was still some "tweaking" being done to the software, which will  be available for Macintosh and IBM-compatible computers. Still, Mr. Small   said banks should receive it well before the new reporting rules take   effect, on April 1.     
Meanwhile, John J. Byrne, senior federal legislative counsel at the  American Bankers Association, said his group is planning half-day sessions   to explain the new rules.   
  
Mr. Byrne said the sessions were planned April 2 in Chicago, April 9 in  Philadelphia, and April 11 in Atlanta. Specific scheduling details were   still being worked out, he added.   
The new rules allow bankers to report questionable transactions to the  Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rather than to   many different agencies, as is currently required. The reports replace the   Criminal Referral Form and a box on the Currency Transaction Report that   banks have been checking and backing up with documentation explaining the   activity in question.