[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10023-10024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5044]
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board).
ACTION: Notice of information collection to be submitted to OMB for
review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Board hereby gives notice that it
has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on behalf of
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, and the Board (the agencies) a request for
approval of the information collection system described below. The
Board may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to
respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised,
or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 30, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments, which should refer to the OMB control number,
should be addressed to the OMB desk officer for the Board: Alexander
Hunt, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 3208,
Washington, DC 20503. Comments should also be addressed to Mr. William
W. Wiles, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,
20th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, DC 20551, or delivered to the
Board's mail room between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., and to the security
control room outside of those hours. Both the mail room and the
security control room are accessible from the courtyard entrance on
20th Street between Constitution Avenue and C Street, N.W. Comments
received may be inspected in room M-P-500 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00
p.m., except as provided in section 261.8 of the Board's Rules
Regarding Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.8(a).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act
Submission (OMB 83-I), supporting
[[Page 10024]]
statement, and other documents that have been submitted to OMB for
review and approval may be requested from the agency clearance officer,
whose name appears below.Mary M. McLaughlin, Federal Reserve Board
Clearance Officer (202-452-3829), Division of Research and Statistics,
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.
For Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users only, Dorothea
Thompson, (202-452-3544), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, DC 20551.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposal to request approval from OMB of the extension, with
revision, of the following report:
1. Report title: Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and
Agencies of Foreign Banks
Form number: FFIEC 002
OMB control number: 7100-0032
Frequency of Response: Quarterly
Reporters: U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks
Number of respondents: 513
Total Annual Responses: 2,052
Estimated average hours per response: 23.25
Annual reporting hours: 47,709
General description of report: This information collection is
mandatory (12 U.S.C. 3105(c)(2), 1817(a)(1) and (3), and 3102(b)).
Except for select sensitive items, this information collection is not
given confidential treatment (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8)). Small businesses
(that is, small U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks) are
affected.
Abstract: On November 4, 1997, the Board published on behalf of the
three agencies, a notice in the Federal Register (62 FR 59704)
describing in detail and inviting comment on the proposed changes to
this collection of information. This notice provides the public with
the opportunity to obtain, review, and comment on, the Board's
supporting statement.
On a quarterly basis, all U.S. branches and agencies of foreign
banks (U.S. branches) are required to file detailed schedules of assets
and liabilities in the form of a condition report and a variety of
supporting schedules. This balance sheet information is used to fulfill
the supervisory and regulatory requirements of the International
Banking Act of 1978. The data are also used to augment the bank credit,
loan, and deposit information needed for monetary policy purposes. The
Federal Reserve System collects and processes this report on behalf of
all three agencies.
Current Actions: Effective with the March 31, 1998, report date,
the existing data collected on Schedule A, item 4.b for balances due
from ``Other banks in foreign countries and foreign central banks''
would be modified to exclude data on balances due from banks in the
U.S. branches' home country. This modified data would be collected in
renumbered item 4.c. A new item 4.b for balances due from ``Banks in
home country and home country central bank'' would be added. The
Agencies are also proposing to add a new memorandum item to Schedule
RAL for pledged securities. The new item would identify the amount of
U.S. government securities included in Schedule RAL items 1.b.(1),
``U.S. Treasury securities,'' and 1.b.(2), ``U.S. Government agency
obligations,'' that are pledged to secure deposits, repurchase
transactions, borrowings, or for any other purpose.
The Board received one letter of comment in response to the notice
published in the Federal Register requesting comment on the proposed
revisions to the FFIEC 002 for 1998. The commenter supported the
proposed changes. In addition, the agencies received five comment
letters from commercial banks in response to the proposed changes
related to the reporting of investment securities with high price
volatility on the domestic commercial bank Reports of Condition and
Income (Call Report)(FFIEC 031-034; OMB No. 7100-0036). Similar to the
Call Report proposal, the agencies proposed to replace existing items
on ``high-risk mortgage securities'' and ``structured notes'' in the
FFIEC 002 with items covering certain mortgage-backed securities and
all other securities whose price volatility exceeds a specified
threshold level under a specified interest rate scenario. This
reporting change was intended to enhance the FFIEC 002 data used in the
monitoring of interest rate risk. However, the proposal did not
describe the specific test that respondents would have to use to
measure price volatility for purposes of the revised items.
After considering the comments, the agencies and the FFIEC decided
not to implement that proposed Call Report change in 1998. For purposes
of reporting consistency, the FFIEC will not implement the change to
the FFIEC 002 in 1998. The existing items on ``high-risk mortgage
securities'' and ``structured notes'' would continue to be collected
during 1998. Changes to these items can be reconsidered for
implementation at some future date after the industry has had an
opportunity for notice and comment on a more specific proposal. In the
interim, the agencies' staffs will study alternatives for obtaining
data on highly price sensitive securities, including the related
reporting burden, based on how such data is intended to be used in the
agencies' monitoring systems and interest rate risk testing procedures.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 23,
1998.
William W. Wiles,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 98-5044 Filed 2-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-F
