[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15921-15923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-7554]
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FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION
[NV 95-13]
Policy Statement Concerning the Release of Consolidated Reporting
System Information
AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration.
ACTION: Policy statement.
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SUMMARY: On March 20, 1995, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA)
adopted a policy statement concerning the release of reports of
condition and performance (Call Reports) and other reports containing
nonexempt information (such as the Uniform Performance Report (UPR) and
the Uniform Peer Performance Report (UPPR)) that are produced from the
FCA's Consolidated Reporting System (CRS) (hereinafter nonexempt CRS
Reports). Under this policy, the UPR and UPPR will be disclosed to the
institution that submitted the information 50 days after the end of a
quarter or a fiscal year. All other reports containing nonexempt
information that are produced from the FCA's CRS would be disclosed, as
available, to System institutions and to the general public 90 days
after the end of a quarter or a fiscal year. For purposes of this
policy, nonexempt CRS Reports are defined as reports produced from the
CRS containing information that has been routinely disclosed in System
institutions' quarterly and annual financial reports to shareholders
and filed with the FCA pursuant to 12 CFR part 620. The FCA intends to
set user fees for the dissemination of this information sufficient to
recover the cost of dissemination. Nonexempt CRS Report information has
been previously disclosed on a case-by-case basis in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests. The FCA believes that providing
the public access to nonexempt CRS Report information under this policy
statement would enhance the FCA's information management activities in
an efficient, effective, and economical manner.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 20, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nan P. Mitchem, Compliance Officer, Office of Examination, Farm Credit
Administration, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102-5090,
(703) 883-4073, TDD (703)883-4444
or
Jane M. Virga, Senior Attorney, Office of General Counsel, Farm Credit
Administration, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102-5090,
(703) 883-4071, TDD (703)883-4444.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Call Reports and other nonexempt information produced from the
FCA's CRS contain valuable information and could be useful to Farm
Credit System institutions and to members of the public by enabling
them to evaluate the financial condition of the institution in
comparison to its peers. This policy statement is intended to provide
for the dissemination of this information in a manner that effectively
balances the goals of maximizing the usefulness of the information and
minimizing the cost to the Government and the public. Similarly, the
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, which consists of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, and the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, has made a determination to disseminate CRS-type
information to banks, State banking departments, and the public in a
report known as the Uniform Bank Performance Report.
The FCA's objective in adopting this policy statement is to enhance
the utility of Call Reports for System institutions and the public, and
to make available in an orderly and consistent way nonexempt
information (i.e., information that has been routinely disclosed in
System institutions' quarterly and annual financial reports and filed
with the FCA) in conformance with the objectives set forth in OMB
Circular A-130. This policy statement should benefit System
institutions and the public by establishing a more effective and
efficient means of accessing information that can be used to evaluate
and compare System institutions and their performance. The release of
nonexempt CRS Reports should also benefit the FCA in its regulatory
role and in accomplishing its mission by enhancing the agency's
communications with System institutions. Additionally, the FCA believes
that the availability of nonexempt CRS Reports will enhance its ability
to oversee and examine institutions.
Availability of Nonexempt CRS Reports
Under the policy statement, the UPR and UPPR will be disclosed free
of charge to the institution that submitted the information 50 days
after the end of a quarter or a fiscal year. All other reports
containing nonexempt information that are produced from the FCA's CRS
would be disclosed, as available, to System institutions and to the
general public 90 days after the end [[Page 15922]] of a quarter or a
fiscal year. The delay in availability of nonexempt CRS Reports would
allow System institutions to publish their quarterly and annual
financial reports prior to FCA dissemination. At a System institution's
request, a copy of a nonexempt CRS Report containing Call Report
information of another institution or computer diskettes containing
nonexempt Call Report information of all System institutions would be
provided for a fee. Nonexempt CRS Reports or computer diskettes
containing nonexempt Call Report information would also be made
available, upon request, to the general public for a fee. The FCA
believes that disclosing reports such as the UPR and the UPPR will
assist institutions and the public in their analyses and evaluations of
the delivery of financial services by allowing comparisons of financial
performance. To provide further assistance to System institutions and
the public, a detailed description of the UPR and the UPPR is provided
below.
A determination on a special request (i.e., ad hoc report) for
nonexempt CRS information and any fees assessed from any System
institution or the general public would be made on a case-by-case
basis. Special requests would be granted only when the benefit to the
FCA significantly outweighs the burden to the agency in complying with
the request. Requests for fee waivers may be granted to educational
institutions, researchers, Governmental agencies, newspapers, and other
parties, only when the agency determines that the benefit derived from
releasing the information exceeds the fees being waived. All requests
for release of CRS information should be directed to the Office of
Resources Management, Information Resources Division, Customer Planning
Team.
The FCA uses the UPR and the UPPR as analytical tools for
supervisory and examination purposes, offsite monitoring and
evaluation, and financial analysis. The reports, which are based on
data from the CRS and updated quarterly, contain information using key
ratios, percentages, and dollar amounts. The UPPR also contains peer
averages, as well as percentile rankings for all direct lender
associations falling within one of four peer groups based on asset
size. Each report displays four reporting periods. Yearend reports
contain financial data for the current year and the previous 3 years.
Quarterend reports contain financial data for the current quarter, the
same quarter for the previous year, and yearend information for the
previous 2 years.
These reports are organized to facilitate agency decisionmaking
concerning the adequacy of capital, asset quality, earnings, and
liquidity. Both the UPR and the UPPR are organized as follows:
Section I is a summary. It provides key balance sheet and income
statement items, as well as key ratios.
Section II presents a condensed balance sheet and summary
information on loan categories by performance category. The balance
sheet items are combined into key categories.
Section III addresses the composition of capital as a percentage of
assets and its relationship to liabilities, unallocated retained
earnings, and risk-adjusted assets.
Section IV contains information on assets, changes in assets, the
percentage of loans in each loan performance category, the various
relationships of the allowance accounts to loans and acquired
properties, and gains and losses incurred from the valuation and
disposition of these assets.
Section V is a year-to-date condensed income statement.
Section VI presents earnings and profitability measurements and
certain ratios involving net interest income. Also, this section
contains information on the return on average assets and component
ratios. Ratios of operating expenses are also shown in this section.
Section VII contains liquidity measurements and compares maturing
assets to maturing liabilities. This section also addresses collateral
and funds availability for investments.
User Fees
User fees for the above information would be sufficient to recover
the cost of dissemination. A CRS pricing schedule will be developed.
Special requests for information not listed on the CRS pricing schedule
may be subject to fees to recover the agency's cost of complying with
the request, which may include the cost of collecting and processing,
as well as disseminating the information.
The following glossary contains definitions that may be useful to
an understanding of this policy.
A. Farm Credit System institutions means the Farm Credit Banks,
banks for cooperatives, agricultural credit banks, production credit
associations, Federal land bank associations, agricultural credit
associations, Federal land credit associations, service corporations
chartered under the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended, the Federal
Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation, and Farm Credit System Financial
Assistance Corporation.
B. System Banks and associations means the Farm Credit banks, banks
for cooperatives, agricultural credit banks, production credit
associations, Federal land bank associations, agricultural credit
associations, and Federal land credit associations.
C. Direct lender associations means production credit associations,
agricultural credit associations, and Federal land credit associations.
D. Call Report means reports of financial condition and performance
prepared and filed by Farm Credit System institutions in accordance
with the FCA Uniform Call Report Instructions.
E. Call Report information means data contained in Call Reports.
F. Consolidated Reporting System (CRS) means all programs, files,
documentation, and interfaces with source data, created and used to
store, process, and retrieve CRS Derived Data and produce CRS Reports.
G. CRS Reports means reports produced via the CRS System for agency
use in planning, monitoring, and analyzing the performance of Farm
Credit System institutions.
H. Computer Diskette means a standard 3 \1/2\'' magnetic type
diskette used with personal computers that contains Call Report
information of all System institutions in an ASCII format.
The text of the Board's policy statement concerning the release of
CRS information to System institutions and to the general public is set
forth below in its entirety:
FCA BOARD ACTION ON POLICY STATEMENT CONCERNING THE RELEASE OF
CONSOLIDATED REPORTING SYSTEM INFORMATION, NV 95-13, FCA-PS-65
Effective Date: March 20, 1995.
Effect on Previous Action: None.
Source of Authority: 12 CFR part 621, subpart D; 12 CFR 602.200;
OMB Circular A-130 (July 2, 1993).
Purpose: The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) Board is hereby
adopting a policy to disclose reports of condition and performance
(Call Reports) and other reports containing nonexempt information (such
as the Uniform Performance Report (UPR) and the Uniform Peer
Performance Report (UPPR)) that are produced from the FCA's
Consolidated Reporting System (CRS) (hereinafter nonexempt CRS
Reports). Under this policy, the UPR and UPPR will be disclosed to the
institution that submitted the information 50 days after the end of a
quarter or a fiscal year. All other reports containing nonexempt
information that are produced from the FCA's CRS [[Page 15923]] would
be disclosed, as available, to System institutions and to the general
public 90 days after the end of a quarter or a fiscal year. For
purposes of this policy, nonexempt CRS Reports are defined as reports
produced from the CRS containing information that has been routinely
disclosed in Farm Credit System (System) institutions' quarterly and
annual financial reports and filed with the FCA.
Objectives: The FCA's mission is to facilitate the competitive
delivery of financial services to agriculture while protecting the
public, the taxpayer, and the investor. Consistent with that mission,
the FCA endeavors to provide information to System institutions and to
the public. Call Reports and other nonexempt CRS Reports contain
information of value to the agency, the System, and the public that
enables an evaluation of the financial condition of a System
institution in comparison to its peers. Release of this information
will provide institutions with a succinct assessment of performance, in
addition to that provided in the examination process. The FCA believes
that implementation of this policy statement will enhance the FCA's
information management activities in an efficient, effective, and
economical manner consistent with the objectives of OMB Circular A-130.
Operating Principles: Certain information reported to the agency in
compliance with Call Report instructions, such as asset and liability
repricing schedules or loan specific data, will continue to be exempt
from disclosure and will not be made available under this policy
statement. Nonexempt CRS Reports will be disclosed under a pricing
schedule to be subsequently determined.
Certain nonexempt CRS Reports (such as the UPR and the UPPR) that
contain Call Report information will be routinely forwarded free of
charge to the institution that submitted the information or will be
made available, upon request, to the general public for a fee. Upon
request by a System institution, the FCA will make available free of
charge any other nonexempt CRS Reports that contain Call Report
information submitted by that institution, or, for a fee, will make
available a copy of a nonexempt CRS Report containing Call Report
information of another institution or computer diskettes containing
nonexempt Call Report information of all System institutions. A
determination on a special request (i.e., ad hoc report) for nonexempt
CRS information and any fees assessed from any System institution or
the general public will be made on a case-by-case basis. Special
requests will be granted only when the benefit to the FCA significantly
outweighs the burden to the agency in complying with the request. All
requests for release of CRS information should be directed to the
Office of Resources Management, Information Resources Division,
Customer Planning Team.
Any fees assessed under this policy for disclosing routine
nonexempt CRS Reports will be sufficient to recover the cost of
dissemination. Special requests will be subject to fees to recover the
agency's cost of complying with the request, which will include the
cost of collecting and processing, as well as disseminating the
information. Requests for fee waivers may be granted to educational
institutions, researchers, Governmental agencies, newspapers, and other
parties, only when the agency determines that the benefit derived from
releasing the information exceeds the fees being waived.
Delegated Authority: The Director, Office of Resources Management,
in concurrence with the Director, Office of Examination, Director,
Office of Special Supervision and Corporate Affairs, and General
Counsel is responsible for implementing this policy statement,
developing operating procedures, developing a pricing schedule for the
fees to be charged for the reports, and developing specific guidelines
for fee waivers when releasing reports to educational institutions,
researchers, Governmental agencies, newspapers, and other parties, as
determined to be appropriate. Any of these responsibilities may be
delegated.
Reporting Requirements: The Director, Office of Resources
Management, shall make a report annually concerning nonexempt CRS
Report releases and the number of requests and fees received to the
Chief Operating Officer.
Adopted this 20th day of March, 1995 by order of the Board.
Dated: March 22, 1995.
Floyd Fithian,
Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board.
[FR Doc. 95-7554 Filed 3-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6705-01-P
