2018-24495. Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request; Consumer Protections for Depository Institution Sales of Insurance

AGENCY:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

The OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information collection titled “Consumer Protections for Depository Institution Sales of Insurance.”

DATES:

Comments must be received by January 8, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Commenters are encouraged to submit comments by email, if possible. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• Email: [e-mail].
• Mail: Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Attention: 1557-0220, 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.
• Fax: [phone].

Instructions: You must include “OCC” as the agency name and “1557-0220” in your comment. In general, the OCC will publish comments on www.reginfo.gov without change, including any business or personal information that you provide, such as name and address information, email addresses, or phone numbers. Comments received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure.

You may review comments and other related materials that pertain to this information collection beginning on the date of publication of the second notice for this collection ^[1] by any of the following methods:

• Viewing Comments Electronically: Go to www.reginfo.gov. Click on the “Information Collection Review” tab. Underneath the “Currently under Review” section heading, from the drop-down menu, select “Department of Treasury” and then click “submit.” This information collection can be located by searching by OMB control number “1557-0220” or “Consumer Protections for Depository Institution Sales of Insurance.” Upon finding the appropriate information collection, click on the related “ICR Reference Number.” On the next screen, select “View Supporting Statement and Other Documents” and then click on the link to any comment listed at the bottom of the screen.
• For assistance in navigating www.reginfo.gov,, please contact the Regulatory Information Service Center at [phone].
• Viewing Comments Personally: You may personally inspect comments at the OCC, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC. For security reasons, the OCC requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by calling [phone] or, for persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, TTY, [phone]. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to present valid government-issued photo identification and submit to security screening in order to inspect comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaquita Merritt, Clearance Officer, [phone] or, for persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, TTY, [phone], Chief Counsel's Office, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. “Collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to include agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of part 44 requires federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, the OCC is publishing notice of the collection of information set forth in this document.

Title: Consumer Protections for Depository Institution Sales of Insurance.

OMB Control No.: 1557-0220.

Type of Review: Extension, without revision, of a currently approved collection.

Description: This information collection is required under section 305 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act), 12 U.S.C. 1831x. Section 305 of the GLB Act requires the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the Agencies) to prescribe joint consumer protection regulations that apply to retail sales practices, solicitations, advertising, and offers of any insurance product by a depository institution or by other persons performing these activities at an office of the institution or on behalf of the institution (other covered persons). Section 305 also requires those performing such activities to disclose certain information to consumers (e.g., that insurance products and annuities are not FDIC-insured).

This information collection requires national banks, federal savings associations, and other covered persons involved in insurance sales, as defined in 12 CFR 14.20(f), to make two separate disclosures to consumers. Under 12 CFR 14.40, a national bank, federal savings association, or other covered person must prepare and provide orally and in writing: (1) Certain insurance disclosures to consumers before the completion of the initial sale of an insurance product or annuity to a consumer and (2) certain credit disclosures at the time of application for the extension of credit (if insurance products or annuities are sold, solicited, advertised, or offered in connection with an extension of credit).

Consumers use the disclosures to understand the risks associated with insurance products and annuities and to understand that they are not required to purchase, and may refrain from purchasing, certain insurance products or annuities in order to qualify for an extension of credit.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.

Frequency: On occasion.

Estimated Burden:

Estimated Number of Respondents: 527.

Total Estimated Burden Hours: 2,635 hours.

Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the OCC, including whether the information has practical utility;

(b) The accuracy of the OCC's estimate of the information collection burden;

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

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and

(e) Estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of the operation, maintenance, and purchase of services necessary to provide the required information.

Dated: November 5, 2018.

Theodore J. Dowd,

Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Footnotes

1.  Following the close of the 60-Day comment period for this notice, the OCC will publish a notice for 30 days of comment for this collection.