2019-14499. Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION:

Notice, request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, without revision, the Disclosure and Reporting Requirements of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)-Related Agreements (Regulation G) (FR G; OMB No. 7100-0299).

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before September 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by FR G, by any of the following methods:

• Agency website: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/​apps/​foia/​proposedregs.aspx.
• Email: [e-mail]. Include OMB number in the subject line of the message.
• FAX: [phone] or [phone].
• Mail: Ann E. Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20551.

All public comments are available on the Board's website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/​apps/​foia/​proposedregs.aspx as submitted, unless modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 146, 1709 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. For security reasons, the Board requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by calling [phone]. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to present valid government-issued photo identification and to submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments.

Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Desk Officer—Shagufta Ahmed—Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) OMB submission, including the proposed reporting form and instructions, supporting statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public docket files, if approved. These documents will also be made available on the Board's public website at http://www.federalreserve.gov/​apps/​reportforms/​review.aspx or may be requested from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.

Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer—Nuha Elmaghrabi—Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board authority under the PRA to approve and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.

Request for comment on information collection proposal: The Board invites public comment on the following information collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:

a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the Board's functions, including whether the information has practical utility;

b. The accuracy of the Board's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

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

d. Ways to minimize the burden of information 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.

At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Board should modify the proposal.

Proposal to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension for three years, without revision, of the following report:

Report title: Disclosure and Reporting Requirements of the CRA-Related Agreements (Regulation G).

Agency form number: FR G.

OMB control number: 7100-0299.

Frequency: Quarterly, annually, and on occasion.

Respondents: State member banks and their subsidiaries, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies (Insured Depository Institutions (IDIs)); affiliates of bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies, other than banks, savings associations, and subsidiaries of banks and savings associations; and nongovernmental entities or persons (NGEP) that enter into covered agreements with any of the aforementioned companies.

Estimated number of respondents: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates—Copy of agreements to agency, 2 respondents; List of agreements to agency, 2 respondents; Annual report, 2 respondents; and Filing NGEP annual report, 2 respondents; Reporting: NGEP—Copy of agreements to agency, 6 respondents; and Annual Report, 6 respondents; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates—Covered agreements to public, 2 respondents; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 2 respondents; and Disclosure: NGEP—Covered agreements to public, 6 respondents.

Estimated average hours per response: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates—Copy of agreements to agency, 1 hour; List of agreements to agency, 1 hour; Annual report, 4 hours; and Filing NGEP annual report, 1 hour; Reporting: NGEP—Copy of agreements to agency, 1 hour; and Annual Report, 4 hours; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates—Covered agreements to public, 1 hour; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 1 hour; and Disclosure: NGEP—Covered agreements to public, 1 hour.

Estimated annual burden hours: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates—Copy of agreements to agency, 8 hours; List of agreements to agency, 8 hours; Annual report, 8 hours; and Filing NGEP annual report, 6 hours; Reporting: NGEP—Copy of agreements to agency, 6 hours; and Annual Report, 24 hours; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates—Covered agreements to public, 6 hours; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 6 hours; and Disclosure: NGEP—Covered agreements to public, 6 hours.

General description of report: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) amended the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) by adding a new section 48, entitled “CRA Sunshine Requirements.” Section 48 imposes disclosure and reporting requirements on IDIs, their affiliates, and NGEPs that enter into written agreements that (1) are made in fulfillment of the CRA and (2) involve funds or other resources of an IDI or affiliate with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 in a year, or loans with an aggregate principal value of more than $50,000 in a year. Section 48 excludes from the disclosure and reporting requirements any CRA-related agreement between an IDI or its affiliate, on the one hand, and an NGEP, on the other hand, if the NGEP has not contacted the IDI, its affiliate, or a federal banking agency concerning the CRA performance of the IDI.

The GLBA directed the Board, as well as the other federal banking agencies, to issue consistent and comparable regulations to implement the requirements of section 48 of the FDI Act. In 2001, the agencies promulgated substantially identical regulations, which interpret the scope of written agreements that are subject to the statute and implement the disclosure and reporting requirements of section 48.^[1] The Board's Regulation G implements the provisions of the GLBA requiring both IDIs and NGEP to make a copy of any covered agreement available to the public and the appropriate federal banking agency, and to file an annual report with each appropriate federal banking agency regarding the use of funds under such agreement for that fiscal year. In addition, each calendar quarter, an IDI and its affiliates must provide to the appropriate federal banking agency a list of all covered agreements entered into during that quarter or a copy of the covered agreements.

Legal authorization and confidentiality: The disclosure and reporting requirements of Regulation G are authorized pursuant to the authority of the Board to prescribe regulations to carry out the purposes of section 711 of GLBA.^[2] The obligation to comply with the disclosure and reporting requirements of Regulation G is mandatory. Because the disclosure and reporting requirements of section 711 and Regulation G require relevant parties to disclose covered agreements to the public, an entity subject to Regulation G would likely be unable to prevent the Board from releasing a covered agreement to the public.^[3] However, in the preamble to Regulation G, the Board stated that an entity subject to Regulation G may submit a public version of its covered agreements to the Board with a request for confidential treatment. The Board further stated that it would release this version to the public unless it received a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the entirety of the CRA-related agreement. In such case, information in the agreement may be protected from disclosure by FOIA exemptions (b)(4) (which protects “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged and confidential”) ^[4] and (b)(8) (which protects information contained in “examination, operating, or condition reports” obtained in the bank supervisory process).^[5]

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, July 2, 2019.

Michele Taylor Fennell,

Assistant Secretary of the Board.

Footnotes

1.  12 CFR part 35 (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency); 12 CFR part 207 (Board); 12 CFR part 346 (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation).

2.  12 U.S.C. 1831y(h)(1).

3.  The Board noted in the preamble to Regulation G that section 711 would require disclosure of some types of information that an agency might normally withhold from disclosure under the FOIA and that the Board would not keep information confidential under the FOIA that a party would be required to disclose under section 711. Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements, 66 FR 2052, 2066-2067 (Jan. 10, 2001).

4.  5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

5.  5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8).