03-14536. Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB

ADDRESSES:

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

ACTION:

Notice

SUMMARY:

Background. Notice is hereby given of the final approval of proposed information collections by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the OMB 83-Is and supporting statements and approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer -Cindy Ayouch-Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551 (202-452-3829).

OMB Desk Officer-Joseph Lackey-Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Final Approval Under OMB Delegated Authority of the Extension For Three Years, Without Revision, of the Following Report:

Report title: Recordkeeping and Disclosure Requirements in Connection with Regulation Z (Truth in Lending)

Agency form number: Reg Z

OMB Control number: 7100-0199

Frequency: Event-generated

Reporters: State member banks, branches and agencies of foreign banks (other than federal branches, federal agencies, and insured state branches of foreign banks), commercial lending companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge and agreement corporations

Annual reporting hours: Open-end credit-initial disclosure 28,463 hours; open-end credit-change in terms notice, 41,250 hours; periodic statement, 125,952 hours; error resolution-credit cards, 22,260 hours; error resolution-other open-end credit, 1,312 hours; credit & charge card accounts-advance disclosure, 29,952 hours; home equity plans-advance disclosure, 13,983 hours; home equity plans-change in terms notice, 354 hours; closed-end credit disclosures, 351,354 hours; advertising, 2,733 hours; and HOEPA pre-closing disclosures, 425 hours.

Estimated average hours per response: Open-end credit-initial isclosure, 1.5 minutes; open-end credit-change in terms notice, 1 minute; periodic statement, 8 hours; error resolution-credit cards, 30 minutes; error resolution-other open-end credit, 30 minutes; credit & charge card accounts-advance disclosure, 8 hours; home equity plans-advance disclosure, 1.5 minutes; home equity plans-change in terms notice, 3 minutes; closed-end credit disclosures, 6.5 minutes; advertising, 25 minutes; and HOEPA pre-closing disclosures, 3 minutes.

Number of respondents: State member banks, 947; branches and agencies of foreign banks (other than federal branches, federal agencies, and insured state branches of foreign banks), 287; commercial lending companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, 3; and Edge and agreement corporations, 75.

Small businesses are affected.

General description of report: This information collection is mandatory (15 U.S.C. 1601, 1604(a)). Since the Federal Reserve does not collect any information, no issue of confidentiality arises. Transaction- or account-specific disclosures and billing error allegations are not publicly available and are confidential between the creditor and the consumer. General disclosures of credit terms that appear in advertisements or take-one applications are available to the public.

Abstract: TILA and Regulation Z require disclosure of the costs and terms of credit to consumers. For open-end credit (revolving credit accounts) creditors are required to disclose information about the initial costs and terms and to provide periodic statements of account activity, notices of changes in terms, and statements of rights concerning billing error procedures. There are special disclosure requirements for credit and charge card applications and solicitations, as well as for home equity plans. For closed-end loans, such as mortgage and installment loans, cost disclosures are required to be provided prior to consummation. Special disclosures are required of certain products, such as reverse mortgages, certain variable rate loans, and certain mortgages with rates and fees above specified thresholds. TILA and Regulation Z also contain rules concerning credit advertising.

Recently, the Federal Reserve reevaluated the methodology used to estimate the paperwork burden associated with consumer regulations. As a result of this change, the estimated burden declined.

Final Approval Under OMB Delegated Authority to Conduct Following Survey:

Report title: 2004 Survey of Consumer Finance

Agency form number: FR 3059

OMB Control number: 7100-0287

Frequency: One-time survey

Reporters: U.S. families

Annual reporting hours: 7,500 hours

Estimated average hours per response: Pretest and survey, 75 minutes each

Number of respondents: Pretest, 400 families; Survey, 5,600 families Small businesses are not affected.

General description of report: This information collection is voluntary. The Federal Reserve's statutory basis for collecting this information is section 2A of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 225a); the Bank Merger Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(c)); and sections 3 and 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1842 and 1843) and 12 U.S.C. 353 and 461. The names and other characteristics that would permit identification of respondents are deemed confidential by the Board and are exempt from disclosure pursuant to exemption 6 in the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6)).

Abstract: For many years, the Board has sponsored consumer surveys to obtain information on the financial behavior of households. The 2004 Survey of Consumer Finance (SCF) will be the latest in a triennial series, which began in 1983, that provides comprehensive data for U.S. families on the distribution of assets and debts, along with related information and other data items necessary for analyzing behavior. These are the only surveys conducted in the United States that provide such financial data for a representative sample of households. Data for the SCF are collected by interviewers using a computer program. While some questions may be deleted and others modified, only minimal changes will be made to the questionnaire in order to preserve the time series properties of the data. The pretest will be conducted during 2003 and survey would be conducted between May and December 2004.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 4, 2003.

Jennifer J. Johnson

Secretary of the Board.