[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23899-23900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11180]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Departmental Offices; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and 
other Federal agencies to comment on an information collection that is 
due for reinstatement

[[Page 23900]]

approval by the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of Program 
Services within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments 
concerning the Survey of Foreign Portfolio Investment in the United 
States as of March 31, 2000.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before June 6, 1999 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Dwight Wolkow, Administrator, 
International Portfolio Investment Data Systems, Department of the 
Treasury, Room 5205, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20220.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the forms and instructions should be directed to Dwright 
Wolkow, Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Systems 
at the above address, or by faxing (202) 622-7448, or by calling (202) 
622-1276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Survey of Foreign Portfolio Investment in the United States 
as of March 31, 2000.
    OMB Number: 1505-0123.
    Abstract: These forms are used to conduct periodic surveys of 
foreign portfolio ownership of U.S. long-term securities. These data 
are used by the U.S. Government in the formulation of international and 
financial policies and for the computation of the U.S. balance of 
payments and international investment position. Surveys of foreign 
portfolio investment in the United States are required to be conducted 
at least once every five years by the International Investment and 
Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). The last such 
survey was conducted as of December 31, 1994. The next survey will be 
held as of March 31, 2000, to avoid placing a reporting burden on 
respondents which coincides with Y2K-related efforts during the last 
half of 1999.
    Current Actions: Exemption levels will be raised from $10 million 
to $20 million, and the number of data items will be reduced. Data will 
be collected primarily from custodians of securities, and from issuers 
of securities only when foreigners have registered their foreign 
holdings directly with the U.S. securities issuer and do not use a 
U.S.-based custodian to safekeep the securities.
    Type of Review: Reinstatement with change.
    Affected Public: Business/Financial Institutions.
    Forms Survey of Foreign Portfolio Investment in the United States 
(1505-0123).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,200.
    Estimated Average Time per Respondent: 50 hours, but this will vary 
widely from respondent to respondent. It is estimated that all 
respondents will require on average a minimum of 16 hours to understand 
the survey requirements and gather the information necessary to 
determine their filing status. For issuers of securities that have data 
to report and are not custodians, the estimate is 40 hours total. For 
custodians of securities, the estimate is a total of 160 hours on 
average, but this figure will vary widely for individual custodians.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 60,000 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Approximately once every five years.

Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. The 
public is invited to submit written comments concerning: whether the 
Survey is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Office, including whether the information collected has practical uses; 
the accuracy of the above burden estimates; ways to enhance the 
quality, usefulness and clarity of the information to be collected; 
ways to minimize the reporting and/or record keeping burdens on 
respondents, including the use of information technologies to automate 
the collection of the data; and estimates of capital or start-up costs 
of operation, maintenance and purchases of services to provide 
information.
Dwight Wolkow,
Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Systems.
[FR Doc. 99-11180 Filed 5-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-25-M