[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42412-42413]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14467]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Departmental Offices; Proposed Collections; Comment Requests

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 revisions of two information 
collections that are proposed for approval by the Office of Management 
and Budget. The Office of International Affairs within the Department 
of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning Treasury 
International Capital (TIC) Form BC/BC(SA), Report of U.S. Dollar 
Claims of Depository Institutions, Brokers, and Dealers on Foreigners; 
and Treasury International Capital (TIC) Form BL-1/BL-1(SA), Report of 
U.S. Dollar Liabilities of Depository Institutions, Brokers, and 
Dealers to Foreigners.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before September 20, 
2005, to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Dwight Wolkow, International 
Portfolio Investment Data Systems, Department of the Treasury, Room 
4410-1440NYA, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20220. In 
view of possible delays in mail delivery, please also notify Mr. Wolkow 
by e-mail ([email protected]), fax (202) 622-1207 or telephone 
(202) 622-1276.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the proposed forms and 
instructions are available on the Treasury's TIC Forms Web page, http://www.treas.gov/tic/forms.html.

[[Page 42413]]

Requests for additional information should be directed to Mr. Wolkow.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Titles: Treasury International Capital Form BC/BC(SA), Report of 
U.S. Dollar Claims of Depository Institutions, Brokers, and Dealers on 
Foreigners; and Treasury Capital Form BL-1/BL-1(SA), Report of U.S. 
Dollar Liabilities of Depository Institutions, Brokers, and Dealers to 
Foreigners.
    OMB Control Numbers: 1505-0017 and 1505-0019.
    Abstracts: Forms BC/BC(SA) and BL-1/BL-1(SA) are part of the 
Treasury International Capital (TIC) reporting system, which is 
required by law (22 U.S.C. 286f; 22 U.S.C. 3103; E.O. 10033; 31 CFR 
128) and is designed to collect timely information on international 
portfolio capital movements. Form BC is a monthly report (with a 
semiannual supplement) that covers own U.S. dollar claims of banks, 
other depository institutions, brokers and dealers vis-[aacute]-vis 
foreign residents. Form BL-1 is a monthly report (with a semiannual 
supplement) that covers own U.S. dollar liabilities of banks, other 
depository institutions, brokers and dealers vis-[aacute]vis foreign 
residents. This information is necessary for compiling the U.S. balance 
of payments accounts and the U.S. international investment position, 
and for formulating U.S. international financial and monetary policies.
    Current Actions: (a) The list for reporting the location of foreign 
counterparties on all TIC reporting forms will be increased to a total 
of roughly 245 countries and other areas. This longer list is 
essentially the same as the lists used for years in the TIC benchmark 
and annual reports, and thus will establish a uniform list of 
countries/areas consistent across all TIC reporting forms. Comments 
from TIC respondents indicate that their modern computerized database 
systems can easily produce all TIC reports for this longer list of 
countries/areas. This change will apply to the monthly and quarterly B-
forms, C-forms, Form D and Form S and will allow the semiannual B-forms 
to be eliminated (see action b below). This action is expected to 
result in an overall reduction in burden for TIC respondents as a 
whole, as well as satisfying Treasury's need for more timely 
information on a larger number of countries. Comments from TIC 
respondents indicate that the combination of the longer uniform country 
list and the virtual elimination of rows for ``other countries'' will 
reduce significantly the total burden from all TIC reports, including 
the burdens of cross-checking information, responding to inquiries from 
data compilers, and making revisions to data reports; (b) The 
semiannual reports BC(SA), BL-1(SA) and BL-2(SA) will be eliminated. 
These reports for about 130 countries/areas will be made unnecessary by 
action (a) above; and (c) these changes will be effective beginning 
with the reports as of June 30, 2006.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Form BC/BC(SA) (1505-0017).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 325.
    Estimated Average Time per Respondent: Nine and three/tenths (9.3) 
hours per respondent per filing. This average time varies from 17 hours 
for the approximately 30 major reporters to 8.5 hours for the other 
reporters.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 36,210 hours, based on 12 
reporting periods per year.
    Form BL-1/BL-1(SA) (1505-0019).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 405.
    Estimated Average Time per Respondent: Six and four/tenths (6.4) 
hours per respondent per filing. This average time varies from 12 hours 
for the approximately 30 major reporters to 6 hours for the other 
reporters.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 31,320 hours, based on 12 
reporting periods per year.
    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: (a) Whether Forms BC/BC(SA) and BL-1/BL- 1(SA) are 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Office, 
including whether the information will have practical uses; (b) the 
accuracy of the above estimate of the burdens; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, usefulness and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) 
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 (e) estimates of capital or start-up 
costs of operation, maintenance and purchase of services to provide 
information.

Dwight Wolkow,
Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Systems.
[FR Doc. 05-14467 Filed 7-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-25-P