[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46977-46978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13321]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund


Comment Request: Community Development Financial Institutions 
Fund: Comment Request on the Release of Transaction Level Report Data 
and Allocation Tracking System Data Provided by New Markets Tax Credit 
Program Allocatees

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions 
Fund (the Fund), a government corporation within the Department of the 
Treasury, is soliciting comments on the release of Transaction Level 
Report Data and Allocation Tracking System Data provided to the Fund by 
New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program allocatees.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 16, 2006 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted in writing and sent to Donna 
Fabiani, Manager for Financial Strategies and Research, as follows: (i) 
By mail to: Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, U.S. 
Department of the Treasury, 601 13th Street, NW., Suite 200 South, 
Washington, DC 20005; (ii) by e-mail to: [email protected]; 
or (iii) by fax to: (202) 622-7754.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Fabiani, Manager for Financial 
Strategies and Research, as noted above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Release of Transaction Level Report Data and Allocation 
Tracking System Data Provided by New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program 
Allocatees.
    Abstract: The Fund's mission is to expand the capacity of financial 
institutions to provide credit, capital and financial services to 
underserved populations and communities in the United States. The 
Fund's strategic goal is to improve the economic conditions of 
underserved communities by providing capital and technical assistance 
to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), capital to 
insured depository institutions, and tax credit allocations to 
Community Development Entities (CDEs), which provide credit, capital, 
financial services, and development services to these markets. The Fund 
certifies entities as CDFIs and/or CDEs.
    In June 2004, the Fund launched a new web-based data collection 
system called the Community Investment Impact System (CIIS). Certified 
CDFIs, CDFIs that have received monetary awards from the Fund through 
its other programs, and CDEs that have received NMTC allocations use 
CIIS to report their annual performance and compliance information to 
the Fund. The data include institution level information on CDFIs and 
CDEs including financial condition, staffing, ownership, markets 
served, loan and investment portfolios, loan sales and purchases, 
financial services provided, technical assistance and training 
provided, and community development impacts. For CDEs and a portion of 
reporting CDFIs, the CIIS data also include detailed transaction level 
data on each loan or investment in the institutions' portfolios. This 
transaction level data includes borrower characteristics, loan terms 
and repayment status, and community development outcomes associated 
with the transaction, such as jobs created, housing units developed, 
and square feet of real estate developed. The CIIS database is the only 
source of standardized transaction level data on CDFI and CDE loans and 
investments.
    The Fund has a second reporting system, called the Allocation 
Tracking System (ATS), that CDEs that have received NMTC allocations 
(allocatees) use to report on their Qualified Equity Investments 
(QEIs). Through the ATS, an allocatee reports to the Fund timely 
information regarding the issuance of QEIs by the allocatee or any of 
the subsidiary CDEs to which the allocatee transfers its NMTC 
allocation (i.e., subsidiary allocatees). ATS data include the amount 
and date of each QEI as well as various investor characteristics, 
including investor type.
    The Fund intends to make the Transaction Level Report data and the 
ATS data available to the public within the parameters of all 
applicable Federal information protection, privacy and confidentiality 
laws. The Fund expects that said data could be used by CDFIs, CDEs, 
funders, investors, researchers and others to gain a better 
understanding of the community

[[Page 46978]]

development finance industry. The Fund has developed a draft protocol 
for releasing the Transaction Level Report data and the ATS data 
submitted by NMTC allocatees. Because the data contain information on 
businesses and individuals that may be considered sensitive and/or 
confidential, the Fund seeks public comment on its draft data release 
protocol. This draft protocol seeks to release as much data as possible 
without violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Privacy 
Act, or other applicable Federal law. To that end, the Fund proposes 
not to release data that it has determined to be: (a) Confidential 
financial or business information of allocatees, investors, or the 
businesses that allocatees are lending to or investing in, the 
disclosure of which would cause substantial harm to the competitive 
position of the person from whom the information was obtained; or (b) 
confidential information about individuals, such as name, address, 
gender, race, and income.
    To view the Proposed Data Release Protocol (providing a description 
of each data field and whether the Fund proposes that the field be 
displayed, suppressed, or modified in the public release), a sample 
data release, and definitions of each data point, visit the Fund's Web 
site http://www.cdfifund.gov and click on the links under ``Comment 
Request on the Release of TLR Data and ATS Data Provided by NMTC 
Program Allocatees.''
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on all 
aspects of the release of the Transaction Level Report data and ATS 
data, but commentators may wish to focus particular attention on the 
following questions:
    (a) Are any of the identified data points proposed for release 
trade secrets or commercial financial information that is privileged or 
confidential?
    (b) Would the release of any such information cause substantial 
harm to the competitive position of NMTC Program allocatees, 
allocatees' investors, or the businesses that allocatees are lending to 
or investing in?
    (c) Would the release of any of the data points not currently 
proposed for release be useful to the public?
    (d) Are any of the data points not currently proposed for release, 
but potentially of interest to the public, trade secrets or commercial 
or financial information that is privileged or confidential? Would the 
release of any such information cause substantive harm to the 
competitive position of NMTC Program allocatees, their investors, or 
the businesses that allocatees are lending to or investing in? Would 
the release of any such information cause the identity of individuals 
to be revealed?
    (e) Is the proposed Excel spreadsheet format for releasing these 
data acceptable to a wide range of users? If not, what is a better 
alternative?

    Authority: 26 U.S.C. 45D; 31 U.S.C. 321; 26 CFR 1.45D-1T.

    Dated: August 8, 2006.
Arthur A. Garcia,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
 [FR Doc. E6-13321 Filed 8-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P