E6-1221. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, “Recordkeeping Requirements for Securities Transactions—12 CFR part 12.” The OCC also gives notice that it has sent the information collection to OMB for review and approval.

DATES:

You should submit comments by March 3, 2006.

ADDRESSES:

Communications Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Public Information Room, Mailstop 1-5, Attention: 1557-0142, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to [phone], or by electronic mail to [e-mail]. You can inspect and photocopy the comments at the OCC's Public Information Room, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. You can make an appointment to inspect the comments by calling [phone].

Additionally, you should send a copy of your comments to OCC Desk Officer, 1557-0142, by mail to U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 725, 17th Street, NW., #10235, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

You can request additional information or a copy of the collection from Mary Gottlieb, OCC Clearance Officer, or Camille Dixon, [phone], Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The OCC is proposing to extend OMB approval of the following information collection:

Title: Recordkeeping Requirements for Securities Transactions—12 CFR part 12.

OMB Number: 1557-0142.

Description: This submission covers an existing regulation and involves no change to the regulation or to the information collection requirements. The only revisions to the submission are the revised estimates, which have been updated for accuracy.

The information collection requirements in 12 CFR part 12 are required to ensure national bank compliance with securities laws and to improve the protection afforded persons who purchase and sell securities through banks. The transaction confirmation information provides customers with a record regarding the transaction and provides banks and the OCC with records to ensure compliance with banking and securities laws and regulations. The OCC uses the required information in its examinations to, among other things, evaluate a bank's compliance with the antifraud provisions of the Federal securities laws.

The information collection requirements contained in 12 CFR part 12 are as follows: Section 12.3 requires a national bank effecting securities transactions for customers to maintain records for at least three years. The records required by this section must clearly and accurately reflect the information required and provide an adequate basis for the audit of the information. Section 12.4 requires a national bank to give or send to the customer a written notification of transaction or a copy of the registered broker/dealer confirmation relating to the securities transaction.

Sections 12.5(a), (b), (c), and (e) allow national banks, as an alternative to complying with § 12.4, to elect to provide alternative forms of notification to customers for certain transactions in accounts in which the bank does not exercise investment discretion, trust transactions, agency transactions and periodic plan transactions.

Sections 12.7(a)(1) through (a)(3) require a national bank to develop and maintain written securities trading policies and procedures.

Section 12.7(a)(4) requires bank officers and employees to report to the bank all personal transactions in securities made by them or on their behalf in which they have a beneficial interest, if certain conditions are met.

Section 12.8 requires a national bank to file a written request with the OCC for a waiver of one or more of the requirements set forth in §§ 12.2 through 12.7.

On November 25, 2005, the OCC published in the Federal Register (70 FR 71189) a notice concerning the renewal of this information collection. The OCC received no public comments and is now submitting its request to OMB for approval.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Individuals; Businesses or other for-profit.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 585.

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 2,369.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 3,207 hours.

Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility;

(b) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information;

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and

(e) Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Dated: January 25, 2006.

Stuart Feldstein,

Assistant Director, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division.