[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 950-951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-56]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION


Voluntary Testing and Mandatory Enrollment for a New Method of 
Submitting the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury; 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council 
(FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' 
publication of this notice announcing the voluntary testing and 
mandatory enrollment for a new method of submitting the Consolidated 
Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report; FFIEC 031 and 041). 
Testing will be conducted in three phases (a functional pilot, and end-
to-end test, and a 100+ bank test), after which there will be mandatory 
global enrollment in the new system for all institutions that file the 
Call Report.

DATES: TESTING TIMEFRAME: Second and third quarters 2004.

[[Page 951]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: OCC: John Ference, Acting OCC 
Clearance Officer, or Camille Dixon, (202) 874-5090, Legislative and 
Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.
    Board: Cynthia M. Ayouch, Board Clearance Officer, (202) 452-2204, 
Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, 20th and C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551. 
Telecommunications Device fort he Deaf (TDD) users may call (202) 263-
4869.
    FDIC: Steven F. Hanft, (202) 898-3907, Room MB-3064, Legal 
Division, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20429.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Banks file Call Report data with the agencies each quarter for the 
agencies' use in monitoring the condition, performance, and risk 
profile of reporting banks and the industry as a whole. In addition, 
Call Report data provide the most current statistical data available 
for evaluating bank corporate applications such as mergers, for 
identifying areas of focus for both on-site and off-site examinations, 
and for monetary and other public policy purposes. Call Report data are 
also used to calculate all banks' deposit insurance and Financing 
Corporation assessments and national banks' semiannual assessment fees.
    The FFIEC has contracted with the Unisys Corporation and its 
development team to build a Central Data Repository (CDR) for the 
collection, validation, and distribution of Call Report data submitted 
by banks. The FFIEC anticipates that implementation of the new CDR 
system will start with the Call Reports for September 30, 2004. Under 
this new system, all institutions will be required to file their Call 
Report data via the Internet using software that contains the FFIEC 
edits for validating Call Report data prior to submission. Call Report 
software vendors are currently modifying their software to incorporate 
these edits.

II. Testing and Global Enrollment

    This notice announces the voluntary testing and mandatory 
enrollment for the new CDR System. As discussed below, the testing will 
be conducted in three phases (Functional Pilot, End-to-End Test, and 
100+ Bank Test) and will be followed by a mandatory Global Enrollment 
phase.
    [bull] Functional Pilot: This testing phase would include fifteen 
banks beginning in approximately April 2004 and would use only test 
data (from the past five quarters). As part of this phase of testing 
each participating bank would be expected to sign a ``Letter of 
Intent'' signup system to set up user IDs and passwords. After 
enrollment the bank would work with its software vendor to install and 
test software that is compatible with the new CDR system. 
Simultaneously, the agencies would distribute testing instructions to 
each participating bank while the vendors distribute the new taxonomies 
and text data files to the banks. The banks would then prepare and 
submit their test Call Report data and subsequently participate in a 
validity edit failure resolution test. Finally, each bank would 
participate in feedback discussions regarding the results of the first 
phase of testing.
    [bull] End-to-End Test: This phase of testing would include thirty 
banks (the original fifteen banks plus fifteen additional banks) 
beginning in approximately May 2004, and would use both test data (from 
the past nine quarters) and a sample of the banks' actual data. The new 
banks would be required to complete the same procedures as the original 
banks in the Functional Pilot except for the enrollment portion, which 
would be completed through the Global Enrollment at a later time. At 
the commencement of phase two all thirty banks would have the new 
software release installed by the software. The banks would also 
participate in a test of the three helpdesks (software vendor 
helpdesks, CDR helpdesk, and Call Report Analyst assistance).
    [sbull] 100+ Bank Test (Volume Test): This phase of testing would 
include 100 banks (the thirty banks from the End-to-End phase and 
seventy additional banks) beginning in approximately August 2004 and 
would use the banks' most recent quarter-end data. All participating 
banks would be required to complete the same procedures as were 
required in the first two test phases. In addition, this phase would 
require all participating banks to submit Call Report data twice, once 
via the legacy Electronic Data Systems Corporation process and once via 
the new CDR system. This type of testing is referred to as ``side-by-
side testing,'' which enables the agencies to test whether identical 
and accurate results are received. Prior to the data transmission, 
banks will receive directions on the date and time for the submission 
of Call Report data to help ensure peak volume testing.* Global 
Enrollment: Enrollment will be available in approximately late August 
or early September 2004 for all banks. This phase is mandatory for all 
banks that file Call Report data with the agencies. (Only the original 
fifteen test banks that completed the enrollment process during the 
Functional Pilot will be fully exempt from the Global Enrollment.) 
Banks that participated in testing phases two and three would only be 
required to enroll (provide contact information and set up user IDs and 
passwords) via the CDR website. All other banks would be required to 
use the CDR website to enroll and download test data and would 
subsequently submit test Call Report data.
    At the end of each testing phase the comments and recommendations 
received from the participating banks will be analyzed to determine the 
extent to which the FFIEC should modify the proposed testing and 
enrollment process.

    [This signature page pertains to the joint notice]
    Dated: December 15, 2003.
Mark J. Tenhundfeld,
Assistant Director, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
    Dated: December 24, 2003.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.

    Dated: at Washington, DC, this 24th day of December, 2003.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Robert E. Feldman,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-56 Filed 1-06-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33; 6210-01; 6714-01-M