[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4428]


[Federal Register: February 28, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Thrift Supervision
[No. 94-13]


Public Disclosure of Reports of Condition

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) hereby gives notice 
that the information collected on the schedule CMR will not be 
available to the public. Schedule CMR replaced the previous schedule 
MR. This action is being taken pursuant to section 5(v) of the Home 
Owners' Loan Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John C. Price, (Acting) Assistant 
Director for Policy, (202) 906-5745, or Anthony G. Cornyn, Deputy 
Assistant Director, Policy, (202) 906-5727, Office of Thrift 
Supervision, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20552.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 5(v) of the Home Owners' 
Loan Act, 12 U.S.C. 1464(v), each savings association is required to 
make reports of condition to the OTS in a form prescribed by OTS. 
Section 5(v) further requires that such reports and all of the 
information they contain be available to the public unless the Director 
determines that public disclosure of a particular item would not 
protect the safety or soundness of a particular institution or 
institutions or the Savings Association Insurance Fund, or would not 
otherwise be in the public interest. If the Director restricts 
disclosure of any item for savings associations generally, that fact 
and the reason therefor are to be disclosed in the Federal Register.
    On August 7, 1990, the OTS gave notice that certain information 
collected on the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) would not be publicly 
disclosed.1 In that notice, OTS specifically discussed maturity/
repricing/rate information collected on Schedule MR and used to measure 
interest rate risk. The agency indicated that it would be premature and 
misleading to release such information at that time, because it was in 
the process of expanding and enhancing its collection and analysis of 
such data. OTS anticipated that after such enhancements were complete, 
it might be appropriate to disclose this interest-rate-risk related 
schedule.
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    \1\55 FR 32168 (Aug. 7, 1990).
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    Since that time, OTS has issued an interest-rate-risk 
regulation2 and has replaced Schedule MR with Schedule CMR. As 
that regulation and schedule have evolved, it has become apparent to 
the agency that releasing the information collected on Schedule CMR 
would not be in the public interest and would be detrimental to the 
safety and soundness of the thrift industry.
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    \2\58 FR 45799 (Aug. 31, 1993).
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    OTS uses the information collected on Schedule CMR to monitor the 
interest-rate-risk profiles of both individual thrifts and the entire 
industry. Under the new regulation, however, small (under $300 million 
in assets), highly capitalized (a risk-based capital ratio in excess of 
12 percent) institutions are generally not required to file Schedule 
CMR. This exemption covers well over half of the industry. OTS exempted 
these institutions from the filing requirements applicable to other 
savings associations because it believed that they generally held 
sufficient capital against potential interest rate risk. OTS encourages 
these savings associations to voluntarily file Schedule CMR with the 
agency to enable it to measure the industry's overall interest rate 
risk more accurately. The OTS can then provide these institutions with 
an assessment of their interest rate risk.
    Making Schedule CMR data publicly available could have several 
adverse consequences. First, the publication of data from only those 
required to file Schedule CMR would give a distorted view of the 
industry's interest rate risk profile because such a large portion of 
the industry is exempt from filing this schedule of the TFR.
    Second, OTS is concerned that if Schedule CMR data from individual 
institutions were made publicly available, current and potential 
voluntary filers would be far less likely to file Schedule CMR. In 
fact, a number of institutions have indicated that they will not file 
Schedule CMR voluntarily if the information is disclosed publicly. They 
have indicated that information on Schedule CMR has competitive 
significance. In particular, these institutions are concerned that 
disclosure would allow their competitors to gain access to important 
financial information about their portfolios, pricing strategies, and 
risk exposures.
    If such voluntarily filing thrifts chose not to file Schedule CMR, 
OTS's ability to measure the interest rate risk of these institutions 
would be severely hampered. Because understanding and effectively 
managing interest rate risk has historically been, and remains, of 
critical importance to a healthy thrift industry, OTS believes it is in 
the public interest to encourage, not discourage, voluntary reporting 
of Schedule CMR data by otherwise exempt savings associations.
    Finally, if the data from only mandatory filers were made publicly 
available, such institutions would be competitively disadvantaged in 
comparison not only to exempt thrifts, but also to commercial banks and 
state-chartered savings banks, who are not required to file similar 
data with their regulators.
    For these reasons, the OTS has determined not to make publicly 
available the data of individual institutions reported on Schedule CMR. 
The agency, however, does intend to make publicly available aggregate 
CMR data for selected industry peer groups.


    Dated: February 22, 1994.

    By the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Jonathan L. Fiechter,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 94-4428 Filed 2-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6720-01-P