[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27319-27321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13412]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board 
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB

Summary: Background. Notice is hereby given of the final approval of 
proposed information collections by the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 
CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the 
Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated 
into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of 
information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, 
supporting statements and approved collection of information 
instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal 
Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required 
to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, 
revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Acting Federal Reserve Board Clearance 
Officer--Cynthia Ayouch--Division of Research and Statistics, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551 (202-452-
3829).
    OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.
    Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the extension for 
three years, without revision, of the following reports:
    1. Report Title: Studies To Develop and Test Consumer Regulatory 
Disclosures.
    Agency Form Number: FR 1380.
    OMB Control Number: 7100-0312.
    Frequency: Consumer surveys: qualitative testing, 4; quantitative 
testing, 4; Institution or Stakeholder surveys: qualitative survey, 50; 
quantitative survey, 2.
    Reporters: Consumers, financial institutions, or stakeholders that 
engage in consumer lending and provide other financial products and 
services.
    Estimated Annual Reporting Hours: 20,884 hours.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: Consumer surveys: qualitative 
testing, 2 hours; quantitative testing, 0.33 hours; and Institution or 
Stakeholder surveys: qualitative survey, 10 hours; quantitative survey, 
15 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Consumer surveys: qualitative 
testing, 225; quantitative testing, 1,200; and Institution or 
Stakeholder surveys: qualitative survey, 20; quantitative survey, 250.
    General Description of Report: This information collection is 
authorized pursuant to the: Home Mortgage Act, Section 806 (12 U.S.C. 
2804(a)); Community Reinvestment Act, Section 806 (12 U.S.C. 2905); 
Competitive Equality Banking Act, Section 1204 (12 U.S.C. 3806) 
(adjustable rate mortgage caps); Expedited Funds Availability Act, 
Section 609 (12 U.S.C. 4008); Truth in Saving Act, Section 269 (12 
U.S.C. 4308); Federal Trade Commission Act, Section 18(f) (15 U.S.C. 
57a(f)); Truth in Lending Act, Section 105 (15 U.S.C. 1604); Mortgage 
Disclosure Improvement Act, Sections 2501 through 2503 of the Housing 
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 1638(b)(2)) (early 
disclosures for home refinance loans and home equity loans) Higher 
Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Section 1021(a) (15 U.S.C. 
1638(e)(5)) (private student loan disclosures), Fair Credit Reporting 
Act, Section 621 (15 U.S.C. 1681s(e)); Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 
Section 703 (15 U.S.C. 1691b(a)); Electronic Funds

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Transfer Act, Section 904 (15 U.S.C. 1693b); and Gramm-Leach-Bliley 
Act, Section 504 (15 U.S.C. 6804. Respondent participation in the 
survey is voluntary. If the Federal Reserve contracts with an outside 
firm that retains the respondent identifying data and, pursuant to a 
contractual agreement, that data cannot be reported to the Federal 
Reserve, then the respondent identifying data cannot be considered an 
agency record and would not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom 
of Information Act (FOIA). However, if there is no contractual 
agreement between the Federal Reserve and an outside firm regarding the 
reporting of respondent identifying data, or if the Federal Reserve 
conducted the survey itself, the information could be considered an 
agency record subject to subsection (b)(6) of the FOIA. The 
confidentiality of the information obtained from financial institutions 
and other stakeholders will be determined on a case-by-case basis when 
the specific questions to be asked on each particular survey are 
formulated, but before respondents are contacted. Depending upon the 
survey questions, confidential treatment could be warranted under 
subsection (b)(4) of the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and (6).
    Abstract: The FR 1380 is used to gather qualitative and 
quantitative information directly from consumers (consumer studies), 
and also to gather qualitative and quantitative information from 
financial institutions offering consumer financial products and 
services and from other stakeholders, such as brokers, appraisers, 
settlement agents, software vendors, and consumer groups (stakeholder 
studies). This information collection is specifically targeted to the 
development of consumer regulations. The consumer studies gather 
information about individual consumers' knowledge of, and attitudes 
toward, consumer disclosures used by financial institutions in 
compliance with Federal Reserve regulations. The consumer studies may 
also enable the Federal Reserve to develop and test consumer education 
resources. The stakeholder studies gather information from the 
institutions offering financial products and services and other third 
parties regarding products, disclosure, marketing, advertising, and 
sales practices.
    Current Actions: On March 30, 2009, the Federal Reserve published a 
notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 14126) requesting public comment 
for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of this information 
collection. The comment period for this notice expired on May 29, 2009. 
The Federal Reserve did not receive any comments.
    2. Report Title: Recordkeeping Requirements Associated With the 
Interagency Statement on Complex Structured Finance Activities.
    Agency Form Number: FR 4022.
    OMB Control Number: 7100-0311.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Reporters: State member banks, bank holding companies, and U.S. 
branches and agencies of foreign banks supervised by the Federal 
Reserve.
    Estimated Annual Reporting Hours: 230 hours.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: New respondents, 25 hours; 
existing respondents, 10 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: New respondents, 2; existing 
respondents, 18.
    General Description of Report: This information collection is 
authorized pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 248(a), 248(i), 483, and 602, 12 
U.S.C. 1844, and 12 U.S.C. 3108(a). Respondent participation in the 
statement is voluntary. However, the Federal Reserve expects to use the 
statement in reviewing the internal controls and risk management 
systems of those financial institutions engaged in complex structured 
finance transactions (CSFTs) as part of the Federal Reserve's 
supervisory process. Since the Federal Reserve does not collect any 
information, no issue of confidentiality normally arises. However, in 
the event records generated under the statement are obtained by the 
Board during an examination of a State member bank or U.S. branch or 
agency of a foreign bank, or during an inspection of a bank holding 
company, confidential treatment may be afforded to the records under 
exemption 8 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(8). FOIA exemption 8 exempts from disclosure matters that are 
contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports 
prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for 
the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.
    Abstract: The Interagency Statement on Complex Structured Finance 
Activities provides that State member banks, bank holding companies, 
and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks supervised by the 
Federal Reserve should establish and maintain policies and procedures 
for identifying, evaluating, assessing, documenting, and controlling 
risks associated with certain CSFTs.
    A financial institution engaged in CSFTs should maintain a set of 
formal, firm-wide policies and procedures that are designed to allow 
the institution to identify, evaluate, assess, document, and control 
the full range of credit, market, operational, legal, and reputational 
risks associated with these transactions. These policies may be 
developed specifically for CSFTs, or included in the set of broader 
policies governing the institution generally. A financial institution 
operating in foreign jurisdictions may tailor its policies and 
procedures as appropriate to account for, and comply with, the 
applicable laws, regulations and standards of those jurisdictions.
    A financial institution's policies and procedures should establish 
a clear framework for the review and approval of individual CSFTs. 
These policies and procedures should set forth the responsibilities of 
the personnel involved in the origination, structuring, trading, 
review, approval, documentation, verification, and execution of CSFTs. 
A financial institution should define what constitutes a new complex 
structured finance product and establish a control process for the 
approval of such new products. An institution's policies also should 
provide for new complex structured finance products to receive the 
approval of all relevant control areas that are independent of the 
profit center before the product is offered to customers.
    Current Actions: On April 2, 2009, the Federal Reserve published a 
notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 14988) requesting public comment 
for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of this information 
collection. The comment period for this notice expired on June 1, 2009. 
The Federal Reserve did not receive any comments.
    Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the implementation 
of the following report:
    Report Title: Microeconomic Survey.
    Agency Form Number: FR 3051.
    OMB Control Number: 7100-0321.
    Frequency: Annually and monthly, as needed.
    Reporters: Individuals, households, and financial and non-financial 
businesses.
    Estimated Annual Reporting Hours: Annual, 6,000 hours; Monthly, 
18,000 hours.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: Annual, 30 minutes; Monthly, 
60 minutes.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Annual, 6,000; Monthly, 3,000.
    General Description of Report: This information collection is 
voluntary (12 U.S.C. 225A and 263). Generally, when the survey or study 
is conducted by an outside firm, names or other such directly 
identifying characteristics would not be reported to the Federal

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Reserve. In circumstances where identifying information is provided to 
the Federal Reserve, such information could possibly be protected from 
Freedom of Information Act disclosure by FOIA exemptions 4 and 6 (5 
U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and (6)).
    The Federal Reserve Board's Microeconomic Surveys section in the 
Division of Research and Statistics is an official statistical unit, as 
defined under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical 
Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501). When information is 
collected by a private contractor under the oversight of that section, 
there are stringent requirements for protecting the data and 
respondents may be given a legally binding pledge of confidentiality. 
The pledge would disallow any use of the data for a non-statistical 
purpose.\1\\\ When the Federal Reserve collects data directly (that is, 
without the use of a private data collection company or other such 
agent), respondents may also be offered such a pledge if the data are 
intended for a statistical purpose.
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    \1\ ``Non-statistical'' is defined precisely in CIPSEA. Loosely, 
an information collection undertaken for a non-statistical purpose 
would be one intended to support a regulatory action or other action 
specifically targeted to the entity on which data were collected.
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    Abstract: The Federal Reserve would use this event-driven survey to 
obtain information specifically tailored to the Federal Reserve's 
supervisory, regulatory, operational, and other responsibilities. The 
Federal Reserve proposes to conduct the FR 3051 up to 13 times per year 
(including one survey on an annual basis and another on a monthly 
basis). The frequency and content of the questions would depend on 
changing economic, regulatory, or legislative developments.
    Current Actions: On March 30, 2009, the Federal Reserve published a 
notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 14126) requesting public comment 
for 60 days on the implementation of the Microeconomic Survey. The 
comment period for this notice expired on May 29, 2009. The Federal 
Reserve did not receive any comments; the survey will be implemented as 
proposed.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 4, 2009.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. E9-13412 Filed 6-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P