2017-17344. 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 mandatory Reporting Requirements Associated with Regulation XX Concentration Limit (FR XX) and Financial Company (as defined) Report of Consolidated Liabilities (FR XX-1) (OMB No. 7100-0363). On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (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.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before October 16, 2017.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by FR XX or FR XX-1, by any of the following methods:

• Agency Web site: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/​apps/​foia/​proposedregs.aspx.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• 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 from the Board's Web site at http://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 form in Room 3515, 1801 K Street (between 18th and 19th Streets NW.,) Washington, DC 20006 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.

Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 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 PRA OMB submission, including the proposed reporting form and instructions, supporting statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public docket files, once approved. These documents will also be made available on the Federal Reserve Board's public Web site 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]. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact [phone], Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 Federal Reserve's functions; including whether the information has practical utility;

b. The accuracy of the Federal Reserve'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 Federal Reserve should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final approval.

Proposal To Approve Under OMB Delegated Authority the Extension for Three Years, Without Revision, of the Following Report

Report title: Reporting Requirements Associated with Regulation XX Concentration Limit; Financial Company (as defined) Report of Consolidated Liabilities.

Agency form number: FR XX; FR XX-1.

OMB control number: 7100-0363.

Frequency: Event-generated; annual.

Respondents: Insured depository institutions, bank holding companies, foreign banking organizations, savings and loan holding companies, companies that control insured depository institutions, and nonbank financial companies supervised by the Board; U.S. and foreign financial companies that do not otherwise report consolidated financial information to the Board or other appropriate Federal banking agency.

Estimated number of respondents: FR XX (Section 251.4(b)): 1; FR XX (Section 251.4(c)): 1; FR XX-1: 43.

Estimated average hours per response: FR XX (Section 251.4(b)): 10, FR XX (Section 251.4(c)): 10; FR XX-1: 2.

Estimated annual burden hours: FR XX (Section 251.4(b)): 10; FR XX (Section 251.4(c)): 10; FR XX-1: 86 (106 total).

General Description of Report: The Board adopted Regulation XX to implement section 14 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHC Act), which was added by section 622 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Section 14 established a financial sector concentration limit that generally prohibits a financial company from merging or consolidating with, or otherwise acquiring, another company if the resulting company's liabilities upon consummation would exceed 10 percent of the aggregate liabilities of all financial companies. Regulation XX established certain reporting requirements for financial companies. The Board created the FR XX-1 reporting form to collect information required to be submitted by Regulation XX.

Legal authorization and confidentiality: This information collection is authorized by section 14 of the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1852(d)) and Regulation XX (12 CFR part 251). The obligation of financial companies to comply with the consolidated liabilities reporting requirement is mandatory. Compliance by financial companies with the transactional reporting requirements is required in order to obtain the benefit of Board consent to consummation of the transactions.

Section 251.6 and FR XX-1. As noted, the required reporting of calendar year-end liabilities under section 251.6 of Regulation XX can be satisfied by many financial companies through their continued reporting of consolidated financial information to the Board or other appropriate Federal banking agency though the various reports listed above. The information collected on those forms has been the subject of separate authorization and confidentiality determinations. With regard to the collection of the specific information at issue, calendar year-end liabilities (including as collected on the FR XX-1), such information generally is not considered confidential, but some information, depending on the circumstances, may be the type of confidential commercial and financial information that may be withheld under exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C 552(b)(4)). As required information, it may be withheld under exemption 4 on a case-by-case basis only if public disclosure could result in substantial competitive harm to the submitting institution. Any request from a submitter for confidential treatment should be accompanied by a detailed justification for confidentiality.

Section 251.4. The information collected under section 251.4 (under both its prior written consent provision for individual transactions and the general consent authority) consists of (1) a description of the acquisition and (2) the change in and resultant aggregate amount of financial company liabilities. The reported liabilities information, in like fashion to the liabilities information reported under section 251.6, generally is not considered confidential but, depending on the circumstances, may be the type of confidential commercial and financial information that may be withheld under exemption 4 of FOIA. The description of the individual acquisitions provided under the prior written consent provisions generally would not be deemed confidential, but that some such information may be of the type that could be withheld under exemption 4 on a case-by-case basis, under the standards enumerated above.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, August 11, 2017.

Ann E. Misback,

Secretary of the Board.