[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38202-38203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18587]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Notice.

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BACKGROUND: On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
(Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, as per 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and assign OMB control 
numbers to collection of information requests and requirements 
conducted or sponsored by the Board under conditions set forth in 5 CFR 
1320 Appendix A.1. 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. Board-
approved collections of information will be incorporated into the 
official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of 
information. A copy of the OMB 83-I and supporting statement and the 
approved collection of information instrument will be placed into OMB's 
public docket files. The following information collection, which is 
being handled under this delegated authority, has received initial 
Board approval and is hereby published for comment. At the end of the 
comment period, the proposed information collection, along with an 
analysis of comments and recommendations received, will be submitted to 
the Board for final approval under OMB delegated authority. 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; and
    (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.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 23, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments, which should refer to the OMB control number (or 
Agency form number in the case of a new information collection that has 
not yet been assigned an OMB number), should be addressed to William W. 
Wiles, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
20th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, DC 20551, or delivered to the 
Board's mail room between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., and to the security 
control room outside of those hours. Both the mail room and the 
security control room are accessible from the courtyard entrance on 
20th Street between Constitution Avenue and C Street, N.W. Comments 
received may be inspected in room M-P-500 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 
p.m., except as provided in section 261.8 of the Board's Rules 
Regarding Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.8(a).
    A copy of the comments may also be submitted to the OMB desk 
officer for the Board: Alexander T. Hunt, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 3208, Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the proposed form and 
instructions, the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission (OMB 83-I), 
supporting statement, and other documents that will be placed into 
OMB's public docket files once approved may be requested from the 
agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Mary M. McLaughlin, Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer (202-
452-3829), Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551. Telecommunications 
Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact Dorothea Thompson (202-452-
3544), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 
20551.
    Proposal to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension, 
with revision, of the following report:
    1. Report title: Survey of Terms of Bank Lending
Agency form number: FR 2028A, FR 2028B, and FR 2028S
OMB control number: 7100-0061
Frequency: quarterly
Reporters: commercial banks (all three reports) and U.S. branches and 
agencies of foreign banks (FR 2028A and FR 2028S)
Annual reporting hours: 8,095
Estimated average hours per response: FR 2028A: 4.0. FR 2028B: 1.5. FR 
2028S: 0.1.
Number of respondents: FR 2028A: 398. FR 2028B: 250. FR 2028S: 567.
Small businesses are affected.

[[Page 38203]]

    General description of report: This information collection is 
voluntary (12 U.S.C. Sec.  248(a)(2)) and is given confidential 
treatment (5 U.S.C. Sec.  552(b)(4)).
    Abstract: The Survey of Terms of Bank Lending provides unique 
information concerning the price and certain nonprice terms of loans 
made to businesses and farmers by commercial banks. The reports are 
completed for the first full business week of the mid-month of each 
quarter (February, May, August, and November). The FR 2028A and B 
collect detailed data on individual loans made during the survey week. 
The FR 2028S collects the prime interest rate for each day of the 
survey. From these sample STBL data, estimates of the terms of business 
and farm loans extended during the reporting week at all insured U.S. 
commercial banks are constructed. The estimates for business loans are 
published in the quarterly E.2 release, ``Survey of Terms of Bank 
Lending,'' while estimates for farm loans are published in the 
quarterly E.15 release, ``Agricultural Finance Databook.''
    Revisions proposed to the business loan survey include the 
elimination of two items that either have proven difficult for 
respondents to report or are insufficiently useful to justify the 
burden their reporting imposes, the addition of two new items covering 
loan risk and termination options, and redefinitions of several 
existing items. The coverage of the reporting panel for the business 
loan survey, currently limited to U.S. commercial banks, would be 
expanded to include a sample of U.S. branches and agencies of foreign 
banks, which now account for a significant fraction of business 
lending. The same item additions and redefinitions proposed for the 
business loan survey also would be made to the farm loan survey. The 
prime rate supplement, now collected only from respondents to the 
business loan survey, would be collected from respondents to the farm 
loan survey as well. The revised instructions have been reworded 
substantially to reflect the proposed changes, clarifications requested 
by Reserve Bank staff and the respondent banks since the last review of 
this survey, and revisions necessitated by changes in lending 
practices. The revised reporting forms and instructions would be 
implemented as of the February 1997 reporting week.
    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, July 17, 1996.
William W. Wiles
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 96-18587 Filed 7-22-95; 8:45AM]
Billing Code 6210-01-F