[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1-2]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-32256]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 2004 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 1]]



DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

12 CFR Part 5

[Docket No. 04-01]
RIN 1557-AC13


Electronic Filings

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is 
adopting, in final form, without change, an interim rule that allows 
national banks to make any class of licensing filings electronically 
and clarifies the circumstances under which the OCC may adopt filing 
procedures different from those otherwise required by part 5. The rule 
also makes several technical changes related to the Comptroller's 
Licensing Manual (Manual).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective February 2, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Campbell, Attorney, Legislative 
and Regulatory Activities Division, (202) 874-5090; or Darrell Sheets, 
Licensing Data Manager, Licensing, Policy and Systems Division, (202) 
874-5060, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The OCC's ongoing objectives include minimizing regulatory burden 
for the national banks we supervise, consistent with safety and 
soundness, and achieving greater efficiency in the agency's regulatory 
processes. National banks' preparation of required licensing 
applications and filings and the OCC's processing of those submissions 
are activities where substantial efficiencies, including cost savings, 
can be achieved through increased use of electronic technology. 
Moreover, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA)\1\ requires 
that Federal agencies consider providing the public with the option of 
automated transactional processes that use and accept electronic 
filings and signatures, when practicable. The requirements of GPEA 
apply to all interactions with the Federal government that involve the 
electronic submission, maintenance, or disclosure of information.\2\ 
This includes transactions--such as the electronic filings that are the 
subject of this final rule--that involve Federal information 
collections covered by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).\3\
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    \1\ 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.
    \2\ See OMB Memorandum M-00-10, ``OMB Procedures and Guidance; 
Implementation of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act,'' 65 FR 
25508, May 2, 2000 (OMB Guidance).
    \3\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
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    To further the objectives we have described and to facilitate 
compliance with GPEA, the OCC designed a new electronic filing system 
called e-Corp. E-Corp uses a Web-based electronic application to enable 
national banks to submit electronically certain types of corporate 
filings to the OCC for approval. Authorized users at each national bank 
access electronic forms through the OCC's National BankNet Web site 
(BankNet)\4\ and submit electronically certain licensing filings to the 
OCC using electronic signatures. This final rule facilitates expansion 
of our electronic filing program.
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    \4\ BankNet is a secure, extranet Web site that allows the OCC 
to deliver data-based services via the Internet to the national 
banks we supervise.
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II. The Interim and Final Rules

    On April 14, 2003, the OCC published and requested comment on an 
interim rule amending 12 CFR part 5, which was published at 68 FR 
17890. The comment period ended June 13, 2003, and no comments were 
received. Thus, the OCC is adopting the interim rule as a final rule 
with no modifications.
    Accordingly, the final rule adopts revisions to Sec.  5.2 to 
expressly provide that the OCC may permit national banks to make any 
class of licensing filings electronically. Four applications were 
available to be filed electronically at the time we published the 
interim rule: establishment of a branch, relocation of a branch, 
relocation of a main office within a 30-mile radius (within current 
city, town or village limits), and relocation of a main office within a 
30-mile radius (outside current city, town or village limits). These 
four applications continue to be available for electronic filing. Five 
notices were added earlier this year, including notification of change 
of corporate title; notification of change of main office address; 
official 90-day advance branch closing and downgrade notice; final 
branch closing, consolidation, relocation, or downgrade notice; and 
notification of main office relocation to an existing branch. 
Additional electronic filings currently are under development. In 
recognition of the fact that national banks rely on technology to 
varying extents, electronic filing remains voluntary, as it was under 
the interim rule. Any bank that wishes to continue filing paper-based 
applications may do so.
    The final rule also refers national banks to the Manual to find 
information about the filings that are available for electronic 
submission. The Manual, which is available on the OCC's Internet Web 
site,\5\ is updated on a continuous basis.
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    \5\ See www.occ.treas.gov/corpapps/corpapplic.htm. This is the 
Web address for the OCC's Home page, which contains information 
available to the general public. Printed copies of the Manual are 
available for a fee from the OCC's Communications Division.
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    The final rule also adopts amendments to Sec.  5.2(b) of our rules 
to provide that, after giving appropriate notice to the applicant and, 
at the OCC's discretion, to others, the OCC may adopt materially 
different procedures for a particular filing, or a class of filings, in 
exceptional circumstances or unusual transactions.
    Finally, the final rule adopts several technical changes regarding 
the Manual. In 2002, the OCC replaced the Comptroller's Corporate 
Manual with the Comptroller's Licensing Manual and made the Manual 
available on our Internet Web site. The final rule adopts changes 
regarding the new name of the Manual, provides the OCC's Internet 
address, and substitutes a new address to use to request a printed 
version of the Manual.

[[Page 2]]

III. Regulatory Analysis

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act applies only to rules for which an 
agency publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 553(b).\6\ Because the OCC was not required to publish, and did 
not publish, a general notice of proposed rulemaking,\7\ the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act does not apply to this final rule.
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    \6\ See 5 U.S.C. 601(2).
    \7\ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A)(Administrative Procedure Act (APA) 
provision excepting from the notice and comment requirement ``rules 
of agency organization, procedure, or practice''); 68 FR 17891-92 
(discussion of applicability of section 553(b)(A) to the interim 
rule).
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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. 
104-04 (Unfunded Mandates Act) requires that an agency prepare a 
budgetary impact statement before promulgating a rule that includes a 
Federal mandate that may result in expenditure by State, local, and 
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 
million or more in any one year. If a budgetary impact statement is 
required, section 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Act also requires an 
agency to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory 
alternatives before promulgating a rule. The OCC has determined that 
the final rule will not result in expenditures by State, local, or 
tribal governments or by the private sector of $100 million or more. 
Accordingly, the OCC has not prepared a budgetary impact statement or 
specifically addressed the regulatory alternatives considered.

Executive Order 12866

    The OCC has determined that this final rule does not constitute a 
``significant regulatory action'' for the purposes of Executive Order 
12866.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
    This final rule adopts changes from the interim rule which, in 
Sec.  5.2(d), permits the electronic filing of applications that 
contain collection of information requirements. These requirements are 
found in sections of 12 CFR part 5, Rules, Policies, and Procedures for 
Corporate Activities, such as Sec. Sec.  5.30 (Establishment, 
acquisition, and relocation of a branch) and 5.40 (Change in location 
of main office). As part of the Manual, these collections of 
information have been reviewed and approved by the OMB in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) under 
OMB Control Number 1557-0014.

Effective Date

    Subject to certain exceptions, 12 U.S.C. 4802(b)(1) provides that 
new regulations and amendments to regulations prescribed by a Federal 
banking agency that impose additional reporting, disclosure, or other 
new requirements on an insured depository institution must take effect 
on the first day of a calendar quarter that begins on or after the date 
on which the regulations are published in final form. As we described 
in the preamble to the interim rule, the interim rule imposed no 
additional reporting, disclosure, or other new requirements on insured 
depository institutions. For that reason, we concluded that 12 U.S.C. 
4802(b)(1) did not apply to the interim rule. That reasoning also 
applies to the final rule, which is identical to the interim rule. 
Accordingly, we conclude that the delayed effective date requirement of 
12 U.S.C. 4802(b)(1) does not apply to the final rule.

List of Subjects in Part 5

    Administrative practice and procedure, National banks, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Securities.

PART 5--RULES, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES FOR CORPORATE ACTIVITIES

0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 12 CFR part 5 which was 
published at 68 FR 17890 on April 14, 2003, is adopted as a final rule 
without change.

    Dated: December 23, 2003.
John D. Hawke, Jr.,
Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 03-32256 Filed 12-31-03; 8:45 am]
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