[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 180 (Friday, September 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57020-57023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23231]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board)

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the Board, the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency (the ``agencies'') may not

[[Page 57021]]

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. The Federal Financial 
Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are 
members, has approved the agencies' publication for public comment of a 
proposal to extend, with revision, the Report of Assets and Liabilities 
of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002) and the 
Report of Assets and Liabilities of a Non-U.S. Branch that is Managed 
or Controlled by a U.S. Branch or Agency of a Foreign (Non-U.S.) Bank 
(FFIEC 002S), which are currently approved information collections. The 
Board is publishing this proposal on behalf of the agencies. At the end 
of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will 
be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC and the agencies 
should modify the reports. The Board will then submit the reports to 
OMB for review and approval.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 16, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to 
the agency listed below. All comments will be shared among the 
agencies. You may submit comments, identified by FFIEC 002 (7100-0032), 
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 the OMB 
control 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, unless modified 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 form 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.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
OMB desk officer for the agencies by mail to the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to 202-395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information or a copy of 
the collections may be requested from Michelle E. Shore, Federal 
Reserve Board Clearance Officer, 202-452-3829, Division of Research and 
Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and 
C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551. Telecommunications Device for the 
Deaf (TDD) users may call 202-263-4869.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Proposal to extend for three years with revision the following 
currently approved collections of information:
    Report Titles: Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches 
and Agencies of Foreign Banks; Report of Assets and Liabilities of a 
Non-U.S. Branch that is Managed or Controlled by a U.S. Branch or 
Agency of a Foreign (Non-U.S.) Bank.
    Form Numbers: FFIEC 002; FFIEC 002S.
    OMB Number: 7100-0032.
    Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
    Affected Public: U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: FFIEC 002-240; FFIEC 002S-59.
    Estimated Time per Response: FFIEC 002-25.42 hours; FFIEC 002S-6.0 
hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: FFIEC 002-24,403 hours; FFIEC 002S-
1,416 hours.
    General Description of Reports: These information collections are 
mandatory: 12 U.S.C. 3105(c)(2), 1817(a)(1) and (3), and 3102(b). 
Except for select sensitive items, the FFIEC 002 is not given 
confidential treatment; the FFIEC 002S is given confidential treatment 
[5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and (8)].
    Abstract: On a quarterly basis, all U.S. branches and agencies of 
foreign banks are required to file the FFIEC 002, which is a detailed 
report of condition with a variety of supporting schedules. This 
information is used to fulfill the supervisory and regulatory 
requirements of the International Banking Act of 1978. The data are 
also used to augment the bank credit, loan, and deposit information 
needed for monetary policy and other public policy purposes. The FFIEC 
002S is a supplement to the FFIEC 002 that collects information on 
assets and liabilities of any non-U.S. branch that is managed or 
controlled by a U.S. branch or agency of the foreign bank. Managed or 
controlled means that a majority of the responsibility for business 
decisions, including but not limited to decisions with regard to 
lending or asset management or funding or liability management, or the 
responsibility for recordkeeping in respect of assets or liabilities 
for that foreign branch resides at the U.S. branch or agency. A 
separate FFIEC 002S must be completed for each managed or controlled 
non-U.S. branch. The FFIEC 002S must be filed quarterly along with the 
U.S. branch or agency's FFIEC 002. The data from both reports are used 
for: (1) Monitoring deposit and credit transactions of U.S. residents; 
(2) monitoring the impact of policy changes; (3) analyzing structural 
issues concerning foreign bank activity in U.S. markets; (4) 
understanding flows of banking funds and indebtedness of developing 
countries in connection with data collected by the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) 
that are used in economic analysis; and (5) assisting in the 
supervision of U.S. offices of foreign banks. The Federal Reserve 
System collects and processes these reports on behalf of all three 
agencies.
    Current Actions: The agencies propose to implement a number of 
revisions to the existing reporting requirements of the FFIEC 002, 
principally to help achieve consistency with the Consolidated Reports 
of Condition and Income (Call Report) (FFIEC 031 and FFIEC 041) filed 
by insured commercial banks and state-chartered savings banks. The 
proposed revisions to the FFIEC 002 summarized below have been approved 
for publication by the FFIEC. The agencies would implement the proposed 
changes for the March 31, 2011, reporting date.

Discussion of Proposed Revisions to the FFIEC 002

A. Additional Detail on Trading Assets

    U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks (branches) currently 
report mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issued or guaranteed by U.S. 
Government agencies that are held for investment in Schedule RAL, item 
1.c.(2)(a), all other MBS that are held for investment in Schedule RAL, 
item 1.c.(2)(b), and other asset-backed securities (other than MBS) 
held for investment in Schedule RAL, item 1.c.(3). However, branches 
currently report only a two-way split of trading assets between U.S. 
Treasury and Agency securities held for trading (Schedule RAL, item 
1.f.(1)) and all

[[Page 57022]]

other trading assets (Schedule RAL, item 1.f.(2)). The agencies propose 
to collect information on Schedule RAL, Assets and Liabilities, for 
mortgage-backed securities (MBS) held for trading, with a split between 
MBS issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies (new Schedule RAL, 
item 1.f.(2)(a)) and all other MBS (new Schedule RAL, item 1.f.(2)(b)), 
and for other asset-backed securities (other than MBS) held for trading 
(new Schedule RAL, item 1.f.(3)). Current Schedule RAL, item 1.f.(2), 
Other trading assets, would be defined to exclude all asset-backed 
securities held for trading and would be renumbered as item 1.f.(4).
    The additional detail would allow the agencies to better monitor 
movements in trading securities over time, and provide for more 
meaningful analysis of the existing categories of trading assets. For 
example, from March 2003 to December 2006 U.S. Treasury and Agency 
securities held for trading by branches fell from $33.0 billion to 
$23.7 billion, and by December 2009 had declined to $19.3 billion. From 
March 2003 to December 2006 other trading assets \1\ held by branches 
rose from $41.5 billion to $120.6 billion, and by December 2009 had 
declined to $52.0 billion.
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    \1\ As reported in Schedule RAL, item 1.f.(2), less the amount 
of trading derivatives with a positive fair value, as such amounts 
are separately disclosed on the FFIEC 002.
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B. Time Deposits of $100,000 or More

    The reporting instructions for Schedule E, Deposit Liabilities and 
Credit Balances, memorandum item 1.a, Time deposits of $100,000 or 
more, indicate that branches should include in this item all brokered 
deposits issued in amounts of $100,000 or more, regardless of whether 
they were participated out in shares of less than $100,000. However, in 
March 2007 the Call Report instructions for a comparable item were 
modified to exclude all brokered deposits issued in amounts of $100,000 
or more that have been participated out by the broker in shares of less 
than $100,000. The agencies propose to revise the reporting 
instructions for Schedule E, memorandum item 1.a, to exclude such 
brokered deposits. Thus the instructions would be amended to state 
``Exclude from this item all time deposits issued to deposit brokers in 
the form of large ($100,000 or more) certificates of deposit that have 
been participated out by the broker in shares of less than $100,000.'' 
This will make the instructions consistent across these reporting 
series and also simplify reporting for those foreign banks that own 
both domestically chartered banks (which file the FFIEC 031 or 041 Call 
Report) and U.S. agencies or branches (which file the FFIEC 002).
    Schedule E, memorandum item 1.c, Time certificates of deposit in 
denominations of $100,000 or more with remaining maturity of more than 
12 months, is currently defined to include those time certificates of 
deposit issued in denominations of $100,000 or more, and to exclude 
open-account time deposits. The agencies propose to revise the caption 
to this item as ``Time deposits of $100,000 or more with remaining 
maturity of more than 12 months included in Memorandum item 1.a, `Time 
deposits of $100,000 or more,' above'' to include both time 
certificates of deposit and open-account time deposits. The agencies 
also propose to revise the reporting instructions for this item to 
report such deposits ``with outstanding balances of $100,000 or more'' 
rather than ``issued in denominations of $100,000 or more'' and to 
indicate that amounts reported in memorandum item 1.c are included in 
memorandum item 1.a. These changes would make the reporting of 
memorandum item 1.c more consistent with the reporting of memorandum 
item 1.a and with the reporting of comparable items collected on the 
bank Call Report.

C. Financial Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

    Effective for the September 30, 2008, report date, the banking 
agencies began collecting information on certain assets and liabilities 
measured at fair value on FFIEC 002 Schedule Q, Financial Assets and 
Liabilities Measured at Fair Value. Currently, this schedule is 
completed by branches with a significant level of trading activity or 
that use a fair value option. The information collected on Schedule Q 
is intended to be consistent with the fair value disclosures and other 
requirements in Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting 
Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and 
Disclosures [formerly FASB Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements 
(FAS 157)]. Based on the agencies' ongoing review of industry reporting 
and disclosure practices since the inception of this standard, and the 
reporting of items at fair value on Schedule RAL, Assets and 
Liabilities, the agencies propose to expand the data collected on 
Schedule Q in two material respects.
    First, to improve the consistency of data collected on Schedule Q 
with the ASC Topic 820 disclosure requirements and industry disclosure 
practices, the agencies propose to expand the detail of the collected 
data. The agencies propose to expand the detail on Schedule Q to 
collect fair value information on all assets and liabilities reported 
at fair value on a recurring basis in a manner consistent with the 
asset and liability breakdowns on Schedule RAL. Thus, the agencies 
propose to change the title of Schedule Q to Assets and Liabilities 
Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis and add items to collect 
fair value information on:
     Available-for-sale securities (new item 1);
     Federal funds sold and securities purchased under 
agreements to resell (new item 2);
     Federal funds purchased and securities sold under 
agreements to repurchase (new item 9);
     Other borrowed money (new item 11); and
     Subordinated notes and debentures (new item 12).

    The agencies also propose to modify the existing collection of loan 
and lease data and trading asset and liability data to collect data 
separately for:

     Loans and leases held for sale (new item 3);
     Loans and leases held for investment (new item 4);
     Trading derivative assets (new item 5.a);
     Other trading assets (new item 5.b);
     Trading derivative liabilities (new item 10.a); and
     Other trading liabilities (new item 10.b).
    The agencies also propose to add totals to capture total assets 
(new item 7) and total liabilities (new item 14) for items reported on 
the schedule. In addition, the agencies propose to modify the existing 
items for ``other financial assets and servicing assets'' and ``other 
financial liabilities and servicing liabilities'' to collect 
information on ``all other assets'' (new item 6) and ``all other 
liabilities'' (new item 14) reported at fair value on a recurring 
basis, including nontrading derivatives. Components of ``all other 
assets'' and ``all other liabilities'' would be separately reported (in 
new memorandum items 1 and 2, respectively) if they are greater than 
$25,000 and exceed 25 percent of the total fair value of ``all other 
assets'' and ``all other liabilities,'' respectively. In conjunction 
with this change, the existing reporting for loan commitments accounted 
for under a fair value option would be revised to include these 
instruments, based on whether their fair values are positive or 
negative, in the items for ``all other assets'' and ``all other 
liabilities'' reported at fair value on a

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recurring basis, with separate disclosure of these commitments if 
significant. Furthermore, current item 2.a, Nontrading securities at 
fair value with changes in fair value reported in current earnings, and 
current item 4, Deposits, would be renumbered as items 5.b.(1) and 8, 
respectively.
    Second, the agencies propose to modify the reporting criteria for 
Schedule Q. The current instructions require all branches that have 
adopted ASC Topic 820 and (1) have elected to account for financial 
instruments or servicing assets and liabilities at fair value under a 
fair value option or (2) have trading assets of $2 million or more in 
any of the four preceding calendar quarters, to complete Schedule Q. 
The agencies propose to maintain this reporting requirement for 
branches that use a fair value option or that have significant trading 
activity. In addition, the agencies propose to extend the requirement 
to complete Schedule Q to all branches that reported $500 million or 
more in total assets as of the preceding December 31, regardless of 
whether they have elected to apply a fair value option to financial or 
servicing assets and liabilities.
    The agencies believe that the proposed information is necessary to 
more accurately assess the impact of fair value accounting and fair 
value measurements for safety and soundness purposes. The collection of 
the information on Schedule Q, as proposed, will facilitate and enhance 
the banking agencies' ability to monitor the extent of fair value 
accounting by branches, including the elective use of fair value 
accounting and the nature of the inputs used in the valuation process, 
pursuant to the disclosure requirements of ASC Topic 820. The 
information collected on Schedule Q is consistent with the disclosures 
required by ASC Topic 820 and consistent with industry practice for 
reporting fair value measurements and should, therefore, not impose 
significant incremental burden on branches.

Paperwork Reduction Act Request for Comment

    Comments are invited 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' estimate 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;
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of the information collections on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and
    e. Estimates of capital or start up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be shared among 
the agencies. All comments will become a matter of public record. 
Written comments should address the accuracy of the burden estimate and 
ways to minimize burden including the use of automated collection 
techniques or the use of other forms of information technology as well 
as other relevant aspects of the information collection request.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 2, 
2010.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2010-23231 Filed 9-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P