[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4428]
[Federal Register: February 28, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Thrift Supervision
[No. 94-13]
Public Disclosure of Reports of Condition
AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision, Treasury.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) hereby gives notice
that the information collected on the schedule CMR will not be
available to the public. Schedule CMR replaced the previous schedule
MR. This action is being taken pursuant to section 5(v) of the Home
Owners' Loan Act.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John C. Price, (Acting) Assistant
Director for Policy, (202) 906-5745, or Anthony G. Cornyn, Deputy
Assistant Director, Policy, (202) 906-5727, Office of Thrift
Supervision, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20552.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 5(v) of the Home Owners'
Loan Act, 12 U.S.C. 1464(v), each savings association is required to
make reports of condition to the OTS in a form prescribed by OTS.
Section 5(v) further requires that such reports and all of the
information they contain be available to the public unless the Director
determines that public disclosure of a particular item would not
protect the safety or soundness of a particular institution or
institutions or the Savings Association Insurance Fund, or would not
otherwise be in the public interest. If the Director restricts
disclosure of any item for savings associations generally, that fact
and the reason therefor are to be disclosed in the Federal Register.
On August 7, 1990, the OTS gave notice that certain information
collected on the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) would not be publicly
disclosed.1 In that notice, OTS specifically discussed maturity/
repricing/rate information collected on Schedule MR and used to measure
interest rate risk. The agency indicated that it would be premature and
misleading to release such information at that time, because it was in
the process of expanding and enhancing its collection and analysis of
such data. OTS anticipated that after such enhancements were complete,
it might be appropriate to disclose this interest-rate-risk related
schedule.
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\1\55 FR 32168 (Aug. 7, 1990).
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Since that time, OTS has issued an interest-rate-risk
regulation2 and has replaced Schedule MR with Schedule CMR. As
that regulation and schedule have evolved, it has become apparent to
the agency that releasing the information collected on Schedule CMR
would not be in the public interest and would be detrimental to the
safety and soundness of the thrift industry.
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\2\58 FR 45799 (Aug. 31, 1993).
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OTS uses the information collected on Schedule CMR to monitor the
interest-rate-risk profiles of both individual thrifts and the entire
industry. Under the new regulation, however, small (under $300 million
in assets), highly capitalized (a risk-based capital ratio in excess of
12 percent) institutions are generally not required to file Schedule
CMR. This exemption covers well over half of the industry. OTS exempted
these institutions from the filing requirements applicable to other
savings associations because it believed that they generally held
sufficient capital against potential interest rate risk. OTS encourages
these savings associations to voluntarily file Schedule CMR with the
agency to enable it to measure the industry's overall interest rate
risk more accurately. The OTS can then provide these institutions with
an assessment of their interest rate risk.
Making Schedule CMR data publicly available could have several
adverse consequences. First, the publication of data from only those
required to file Schedule CMR would give a distorted view of the
industry's interest rate risk profile because such a large portion of
the industry is exempt from filing this schedule of the TFR.
Second, OTS is concerned that if Schedule CMR data from individual
institutions were made publicly available, current and potential
voluntary filers would be far less likely to file Schedule CMR. In
fact, a number of institutions have indicated that they will not file
Schedule CMR voluntarily if the information is disclosed publicly. They
have indicated that information on Schedule CMR has competitive
significance. In particular, these institutions are concerned that
disclosure would allow their competitors to gain access to important
financial information about their portfolios, pricing strategies, and
risk exposures.
If such voluntarily filing thrifts chose not to file Schedule CMR,
OTS's ability to measure the interest rate risk of these institutions
would be severely hampered. Because understanding and effectively
managing interest rate risk has historically been, and remains, of
critical importance to a healthy thrift industry, OTS believes it is in
the public interest to encourage, not discourage, voluntary reporting
of Schedule CMR data by otherwise exempt savings associations.
Finally, if the data from only mandatory filers were made publicly
available, such institutions would be competitively disadvantaged in
comparison not only to exempt thrifts, but also to commercial banks and
state-chartered savings banks, who are not required to file similar
data with their regulators.
For these reasons, the OTS has determined not to make publicly
available the data of individual institutions reported on Schedule CMR.
The agency, however, does intend to make publicly available aggregate
CMR data for selected industry peer groups.
Dated: February 22, 1994.
By the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Jonathan L. Fiechter,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 94-4428 Filed 2-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6720-01-P
