[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51888-51891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7271]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury; 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board); Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Office of Thrift Supervision 
(OTS), Treasury; National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); and 
Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Joint notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, the OTS, the NCUA, and the 
FTC (Agencies) may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. 
Pursuant to section 214(e) of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions 
Act of 2003 (FACT Act or Act), the Agencies are requesting public 
comment on a proposed information collection concerning the ``Survey of 
Information Sharing Practices with Affiliates'' (Survey).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 30, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to 
any or all of the Agencies. All comments, which should refer to the OMB 
control number, will be shared among the Agencies.
    OCC: You may submit comments, identified by ``Survey of Information 
Sharing Practices with Affiliates (1557-NEW),'' by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     OCC Web site: http://www.occ.treas.gov. Click on ``Contact 
the OCC,'' scroll down and click on ``Comments on Proposed 
Regulations.''
     Mail: Communications Division, Office of the Comptroller 
of the Currency, Public Information Room, Mailstop 1-5, Attention: 
1557-NEW, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.
     Fax: (202) 874-4448
     E-mail: [email protected].
    You may review comments by any of the following methods:
     Viewing Comments Personally: You can inspect and photocopy 
the comments at the OCC's Public Information Room, 250 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20219. You can make an appointment to inspect the 
comments by calling (202) 874-5043.
     Viewing Comments Electronically: You may request that we 
send you an electronic copy of comments via e-mail or mail you a CD-ROM 
containing electronic copies by contacting the OCC at 
[email protected].
    A copy of the comments may also be submitted to the OMB desk 
officer: OCC Desk Officer, by mail to U.S. Office of Management and 
Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., 10235, Washington, DC 20503, or 
by fax to (202) 395-6974.
    Board: You may submit comments, identified by ``Survey of 
Information Sharing Practices with Affiliates,'' by any of the 
following methods:
     Agency Web Site: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on the http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include docket 
number in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 202-452-3819 or 202-452-3102.
     Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available from the Board's Web site at 
http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as 
submitted,

[[Page 51889]]

except as necessary for technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments 
will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. 
Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 
MP-500 of the Board's Martin Building (20th and C Streets, NW.) between 
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.
    FDIC: Written comments should identify ``Survey of Information 
Sharing Practices with Affiliates,'' as the subject and be submitted by 
any of the following methods:
     Agency Web site: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/propose.html.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary, Attention: 
Comments, FDIC, 550 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard station at the rear of the 
550 17th Street Building (located on F Street) on business days between 
7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
    Comments may be inspected and photocopied in the FDIC Public 
Information Center, Room E-1002, 3502 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, 
VA 22226, between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on business days.
    OTS: You may submit comments, identified by ``Survey of Information 
Sharing Practices with Affiliates (1550-NEW),'' by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Please 
include ``Survey of Information Sharing Practices with Affiliates 
(1550-NEW)'' in the subject line of the message and include your name 
and telephone number in the message.
     Fax: (202) 906-6518.
     Mail: Information Collection Comments, Chief Counsel's 
Office, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20552, Attention: ``Survey of Information Sharing Practices with 
Affiliates (1550-NEW).''
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard's Desk, East Lobby Entrance, 
1700 G Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on business days, Attention: 
Information Collection Comments, Chief Counsel's Office, ``Survey of 
Information Sharing Practices with Affiliates (1550-NEW).''
    Instructions: All comments received will be posted without change 
to http://www.ots.treas.gov/pagehtml.cfm?catNumber=67&an=1, including 
any personal information provided. Docket: For access to the docket to 
read comments received, go to http://www.ots.treas.gov/pagehtml.cfm?catNumber=67&an=1. In addition, you may inspect comments 
at the Public Reading Room, 1700 G Street, NW., by appointment. To make 
an appointment for access, call (202) 906-5922, send an e-mail to 
public.info@ots.treas.gov">public.info@ots.treas.gov, or send a facsimile transmission to (202) 
906-7755. (Prior notice identifying the materials you will be 
requesting will assist us in serving you.) We schedule appointments on 
business days between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In most cases, appointments 
will be available the next business day following the date we receive a 
request.
    NCUA: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(please send comments by one method only):
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     NCUA Web Site: http://www.ncua.gov/RegulationsOpinionsLaws/proposedregs/proposedregs.html. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: Address to [email protected]. Include ``[Your 
name] Comments on FACT Act 214(e) Study,'' in the e-mail subject line.
     Fax: (703) 518-6319. Use the subject line described above 
for e-mail.
     Mail: Address to Neil McNamara, Deputy Chief Information 
Officer, National Credit Union Administration, 1775 Duke Street, 
Alexandria, VA 22314-3428.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as mail address.
    FTC: Comments should refer to ``Affiliate Sharing Study: FTC File 
No. P064802'' and may be submitted by any of the following methods. 
However, if a given comment contains any material for which 
confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper form, 
and the first page of the document must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential.''\1\ A copy of each comment should additionally be 
submitted--via facsimile, to (202) 395-6974--and addressed to: Office 
of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade 
Commission.
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    \1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be 
accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment, 
including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must 
identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from 
the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the 
Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the 
public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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     E-mail: Comments filed in electronic form should be 
submitted as part of or as an attachment to e-mail messages directed to 
the following e-mail box: [email protected]. To ensure that the 
Commission considers an electronic comment, you must send it to the 
above e-mail box.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: If this notice appears at 
http://www.regulations.gov, you may also file an electronic comment 
through that Web site. The Commission will consider all comments that 
regulations.gov forwards to it.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: A comment filed in paper form 
should include ``Affiliate Sharing Study: FTC File No. P064802'' both 
in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered, 
with two complete copies, to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex J), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because paper mail in 
the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay, please 
consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as prescribed 
above. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be 
sent by courier or overnight service, if possible.
    The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the 
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as 
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments, whether filed 
in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and 
will be available to the public on the FTC Web site, to the extent 
practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.htm. As a matter 
of discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home contact 
information for individuals from the public comments it receives before 
placing those comments on the FTC Web site. More information, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's 
privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information may be 
requested from:
    OCC: Karen Furst, Policy Analyst, (202) 874-4509, Policy Analysis 
Division; Mary Gottlieb, OCC Clearance Officer or Camille Dickerson, 
Legal Technician, (202) 874-5090, Legislative and Regulatory Activities 
Division.
    Board: Kathleen Conley, Supervisory Consumer Financial Services 
Analyst, (202) 452-2389; or Michelle Long,

[[Page 51890]]

Clearance Office, (202) 452-3829, Division of Research and Statistics. 
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may call (202) 263-
4869.
    FDIC: Richard M. Schwartz, Counsel, (202) 898-7424; or Leneta G. 
Gregorie, Counsel, (202) 898-3719.
    OTS: Marilyn K. Burton, OTS Clearance Officer, (202) 906-6467; or 
Donna Deale, Director of Holding Companies and Affiliates, (202) 906-
7488.
    NCUA: Regina M. Metz, Staff Attorney, Office of General Counsel, 
(703) 518-6540; or Matthew Biliouris, Program Officer, Examination and 
Insurance, (703) 518-6394.
    FTC: Sandra Farrington, Attorney, Division of Privacy and Identity 
Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 326-2531; or Margaret 
Patterson, Economist, Bureau of Economics, (202) 326-3472.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposal for Approval of the Following New Collections of Information

    Title: Survey of Information Sharing Practices with Affiliates.
    Frequency of Response: Every three years.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit.
    Type of Review: New collection.

OCC

    OMB Number: 1557-NEW.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 40.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 10 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 400 hours.

Board

    OMB Number: 7100-NEW.
    Form Number: FR 3214e.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 60.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 10 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 600 hours.

FDIC

    OMB Number: 3064-NEW.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 100.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 10 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1,000 hours.

OTS

    OMB Number: 1550-NEW.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 30.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 10 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 300 hours.

NCUA

    OMB Number: 3133-NEW.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 50.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 10.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 500.

FTC

    OMB Number: 3084-NEW.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 20.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 10 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 200 hours.

General Description of Report

    This information collection is voluntary for financial institution 
respondents and authorized pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 481 and 484 (national 
banks); 12 U.S.C. 248(a)(1) (state member banks); 12 U.S.C. 1463 and 
1464 (savings associations); and 12 U.S.C. 1819(a)(Eighth) (state non-
member banks and state branches of any foreign bank). Confidentiality 
would be determined on a case-by-case basis. In gathering information 
from respondents under its jurisdiction, the FTC may use the compulsory 
authority granted to it in Section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(b). Confidentiality will be protected in accordance 
with the FTC Act and the Commission's Rules of Practice.

Abstract

    The study the Agencies propose will use a written Survey to be 
completed by financial institutions and other persons that are 
creditors or users of consumer reports (``respondents'').\2\ The 
Agencies will use the responses to the Survey to prepare an initial 
report to the Congress on information sharing practices by financial 
institutions, creditors, or users of consumer reports with their 
affiliates. The Agencies are required jointly to submit this report to 
the Congress together with any recommendations for legislative or 
regulatory action, pursuant to Section 214(e) of the FACT Act. A copy 
of the Board's draft survey of information sharing practices with 
affiliates will be made available, within seven days after publication 
of this notice, on the Board's public Web site at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/reportforms/review.cfm under 
``Information Collections Out for Public Comment.''
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    \2\ Each respondent will provide information about more than one 
financial institution or other person that is a creditor or user of 
consumer reports. At a minimum, each respondent will be providing 
information about itself and at least one affiliate.
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Background

    The FACT Act became law on December 4, 2003. Pub. L. 108-159, 117 
Stat. 1952. In general, the FACT Act amends the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act (``FCRA'') to enhance the ability of consumers to combat identity 
theft, increase the accuracy of consumer reports, and allow consumers 
to exercise greater control regarding the type and amount of marketing 
solicitations they receive. To promote increasingly efficient national 
credit markets, the FACT Act also establishes uniform national 
standards in key areas of regulation regarding consumer report 
information. The Act contains a number of provisions intended to combat 
consumer fraud and related crimes, including identity theft, and to 
assist victims of these crimes. Finally, the Act requires the Agencies 
to conduct a number of studies.
    Section 214(e) of the FACT Act requires the Agencies jointly to 
conduct regular studies of the consumer information sharing practices 
by financial institutions, and other persons that are creditors or 
users of consumer reports, with their affiliates. In that regard, 
Section 214(e) requires the Agencies to identify: (i) The purposes for 
which financial institutions and other creditors and users of consumer 
reports share consumer information; (ii) the types of information 
shared by such entities; (iii) the number of choices provided to 
consumers with respect to the control of such sharing, and the degree 
to which and manner in which consumers exercise such choices, if at 
all; and (iv) whether such entities share or may share personally 
identifiable transaction or experience information with affiliates for 
purposes--(I) That are related to employment or hiring including 
whether the person that is the subject of such information is given 
notice of such sharing, and the specific uses of such shared 
information; or (II) of general publication of such information.
    The statute also requires the Agencies specifically to examine the 
information sharing practices that financial institutions and other 
creditors or users of consumer reports and their affiliates employ to 
make underwriting decisions or credit evaluations of consumers. The 
Agencies must jointly submit a report to the Congress on the results of 
the initial study together with any

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recommendations for legislative or regulatory action. After the initial 
report, the Agencies must jointly submit follow-up reports to the 
Congress at least once every three years.

Proposed Survey Panel

    The Agencies will select the survey panel based on whether the 
prospective respondent has affiliates with which it can share 
information, whether the prospective respondent is likely to be a user 
of consumer reports, and other factors.

Estimated Annual Burden Hours

    Each respondent will complete a written Survey. In order to 
complete the Survey, the individual completing the form for the 
respondent will most likely need to consult staff in other parts of the 
organization and obtain data from recordkeeping systems. Based on the 
Agencies' expertise and experience, we estimate the consultations and 
the collection of data will take between four and eight hours per 
respondent. The Agencies estimate it will then take less than two hours 
for each respondent to complete the Survey. However, numerous factors 
are likely to influence the amount of time it will take a respondent to 
complete the Survey, including the number and type of affiliates, as 
well as the diversity of information sharing practices among 
affiliates. Based on the methodology proposed, the total burden imposed 
by the initial study, for all six agencies, will be approximately 3,000 
hours.

Request for Comment

    The Agencies invite comment on:
    a. Whether the information collections are necessary for the proper 
performance of the Agencies' functions, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Agencies' estimates of the burden of the 
information collections, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
    c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collections on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    In addition, the OCC invites comments on the following:
    aa. The specific data the Agencies should collect to prepare the 
report required by Section 214(e) of the Fact Act and the terminology 
that will best describe and correctly specify the data to be collected;
    bb. If any data the Agencies should collect are not available, the 
type of proxy data the Agencies should request;
    cc. The extent to which depository institutions currently track and 
are able to report on the methods (e.g., telephone, online) used by 
consumers to opt-out of affiliate information sharing; and
    dd. Information related to recordkeeping practices or other aspects 
of the data specification and survey development process.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be shared among 
the Agencies. Unless otherwise afforded confidential treatment pursuant 
to Federal law, all comments will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: August 22, 2006.
Stuart Feldstein,
Assistant Director, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, August 25, 
2006.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
    Dated at Washington, DC, this 22nd day of August, 2006.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Robert E. Feldman,
Executive Secretary.
    Dated: August 21, 2006.
Deborah Dakin,
Senior Deputy Chief Counsel, Regulations and Legislation Division, 
Office of Thrift Supervision.
    Dated at Washington, DC, this 24th day of August, 2006.

    By the National Credit Union Administration.
John Ianno,
Acting Secretary of the Board.
    Dated at Washington, DC, this twenty-first day of August, 2006.

Federal Trade Commission.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 06-7271 Filed 8-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P, 6210-01-P, 6714-01-P, 6720-01-P, 7335-01-P, 
6750-01-P