[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43946-43947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15014]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


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 the revision of an information 
collection that is 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 Form S, Purchases and Sales of Long-term 
Securities by Foreigners.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before September 27, 
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. Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Mr. Wolkow.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Treasury International Capital Form S, Purchases and Sales 
of Long-term Securities by Foreigners.
    OMB Control Number: 1505-0001.
    Abstract: Form S is 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 S is a 
monthly report used to cover transactions in long-term marketable 
securities undertaken DIRECTLY with foreigners by banks, other 
depository institutions, brokers, dealers, underwriting groups and 
other individuals and institutions. This information is necessary for 
compiling the U.S. balance of payments accounts, for calculating 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 three TIC forms 
BC(SA), BL-1(SA) and BL-(SA) to be eliminated. 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; and (b) 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 S (1505-0001).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 240.
    Estimated Average Time per Respondent: Five and six/tenths (5.6) 
hours per respondent per filing. The estimated average time per 
respondent varies from 10 hours for the approximately 30 major 
reporters to 5 hours for the other reporters.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 16,200 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 Form S is 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,

[[Page 43947]]

maintenance and purchase of services to provide information.

Dwight Wolkow,
Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Systems.
[FR Doc. 05-15014 Filed 7-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4811-33-P