[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10023-10024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5044]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board).
ACTION: Notice of information collection to be submitted to OMB for 
review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Board hereby gives notice that it 
has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on behalf of 
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation, and the Board (the agencies) a request for 
approval of the information collection system described below. The 
Board 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.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 30, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments, which should refer to the OMB control number, 
should be addressed to the OMB desk officer for the Board: Alexander 
Hunt, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 3208, 
Washington, DC 20503. Comments should also be addressed to Mr. 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).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
Submission (OMB 83-I), supporting

[[Page 10024]]

statement, and other documents that have been submitted to OMB for 
review and approval 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. 
For Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users only, Dorothea 
Thompson, (202-452-3544), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, Washington, DC 20551.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Proposal to request approval from OMB of the extension, with 
revision, of the following report:
1. Report title: Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and 
Agencies of Foreign Banks
Form number: FFIEC 002
OMB control number: 7100-0032
Frequency of Response: Quarterly
Reporters: U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks
Number of respondents: 513
Total Annual Responses: 2,052
Estimated average hours per response: 23.25
Annual reporting hours: 47,709
    General description of report: This information collection is 
mandatory (12 U.S.C. 3105(c)(2), 1817(a)(1) and (3), and 3102(b)). 
Except for select sensitive items, this information collection is not 
given confidential treatment (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8)). Small businesses 
(that is, small U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks) are 
affected.
    Abstract: On November 4, 1997, the Board published on behalf of the 
three agencies, a notice in the Federal Register (62 FR 59704) 
describing in detail and inviting comment on the proposed changes to 
this collection of information. This notice provides the public with 
the opportunity to obtain, review, and comment on, the Board's 
supporting statement.
    On a quarterly basis, all U.S. branches and agencies of foreign 
banks (U.S. branches) are required to file detailed schedules of assets 
and liabilities in the form of a condition report and a variety of 
supporting schedules. This balance sheet information is used to fulfill 
the supervisory and regulatory requirements of the International 
Banking Act of 1978. The data are also used to augment the bank credit, 
loan, and deposit information needed for monetary policy purposes. The 
Federal Reserve System collects and processes this report on behalf of 
all three agencies.
    Current Actions: Effective with the March 31, 1998, report date, 
the existing data collected on Schedule A, item 4.b for balances due 
from ``Other banks in foreign countries and foreign central banks'' 
would be modified to exclude data on balances due from banks in the 
U.S. branches' home country. This modified data would be collected in 
renumbered item 4.c. A new item 4.b for balances due from ``Banks in 
home country and home country central bank'' would be added. The 
Agencies are also proposing to add a new memorandum item to Schedule 
RAL for pledged securities. The new item would identify the amount of 
U.S. government securities included in Schedule RAL items 1.b.(1), 
``U.S. Treasury securities,'' and 1.b.(2), ``U.S. Government agency 
obligations,'' that are pledged to secure deposits, repurchase 
transactions, borrowings, or for any other purpose.
    The Board received one letter of comment in response to the notice 
published in the Federal Register requesting comment on the proposed 
revisions to the FFIEC 002 for 1998. The commenter supported the 
proposed changes. In addition, the agencies received five comment 
letters from commercial banks in response to the proposed changes 
related to the reporting of investment securities with high price 
volatility on the domestic commercial bank Reports of Condition and 
Income (Call Report)(FFIEC 031-034; OMB No. 7100-0036). Similar to the 
Call Report proposal, the agencies proposed to replace existing items 
on ``high-risk mortgage securities'' and ``structured notes'' in the 
FFIEC 002 with items covering certain mortgage-backed securities and 
all other securities whose price volatility exceeds a specified 
threshold level under a specified interest rate scenario. This 
reporting change was intended to enhance the FFIEC 002 data used in the 
monitoring of interest rate risk. However, the proposal did not 
describe the specific test that respondents would have to use to 
measure price volatility for purposes of the revised items.
    After considering the comments, the agencies and the FFIEC decided 
not to implement that proposed Call Report change in 1998. For purposes 
of reporting consistency, the FFIEC will not implement the change to 
the FFIEC 002 in 1998. The existing items on ``high-risk mortgage 
securities'' and ``structured notes'' would continue to be collected 
during 1998. Changes to these items can be reconsidered for 
implementation at some future date after the industry has had an 
opportunity for notice and comment on a more specific proposal. In the 
interim, the agencies' staffs will study alternatives for obtaining 
data on highly price sensitive securities, including the related 
reporting burden, based on how such data is intended to be used in the 
agencies' monitoring systems and interest rate risk testing procedures.
    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 23, 
1998.
William W. Wiles,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 98-5044 Filed 2-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-F