[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 47 (Friday, March 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14367-14368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5714]



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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice of information collection to be submitted to OMB for 
review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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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, and the Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency (the ``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.
    On November 23, 2011, the Board, under the auspices of the Federal 
Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and on behalf of the 
agencies, published a notice in the Federal Register (76 FR 72410) 
requesting public comment on the extension, with revision, of 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 comment period for this notice 
expired on January 23, 2012. No comments were received on the proposed 
revisions. However, the agencies received eight comments on proposed 
revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call 
Report) (FFIEC 031 and 041; OMB No. 7100-0036). Inasmuch as the Call 
Report revisions parallel certain of the proposed revisions to the 
FFIEC 002, these comments are being taken into consideration for the 
FFIEC 002 proposal.
    After consideration of these comments, the FFIEC and the agencies 
will proceed with the reporting change to Schedule RAL, Assets and 
Liabilities, proposed for implementation as of June 30, 2012. With 
respect to the new loan origination activity schedule that had been 
proposed to be added to the FFIEC 002, the FFIEC and the agencies are 
continuing to evaluate this proposed schedule in light of the comments 
received on the comparable change proposed to the Call Report. The 
FFIEC's and the agencies' decisions regarding this proposed schedule 
will be the subject of a separate Federal Register notice, and any 
resulting new reporting requirements will not take effect before the 
September 30, 2012, report date.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 9, 2012.

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, which should refer to ``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.
     Email: [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 
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 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 Cynthia M. Ayouch, 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 request approval from OMB of the 
extension for three years, with revision, of the following reports:
    Title: 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 annual reporting hours: FFIEC 002--24,108 hours; FFIEC 
002S--1,416 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: FFIEC 002--25.43 hours; FFIEC 
002S--6.0 hours.
    Number of respondents: FFIEC 002--237; FFIEC 002S--59.
    General Description of Report: 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.

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markets; (4) understanding flows of banking funds and indebtedness of 
developing countries in connection with data collected by the 
International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements 
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 proposed to implement a limited 
number of revisions to the FFIEC 002 reporting requirements in 2012. 
These changes are intended to provide data needed for reasons of safety 
and soundness and other public purposes. The proposed changes would 
also help achieve consistency with revisions the agencies are proposing 
to make to the Call Report filed by insured banks and savings 
institutions. The FFIEC 002 reporting changes in the agencies' November 
2011 proposal, which were proposed for implementation in June 2012, 
included:
     A new item on Schedule RAL, for ``other securities'' held 
for trading purposes (new Schedule RAL, item 1.f.(4)). Current Schedule 
RAL, item 1.f.(4), Other trading assets, would be renumbered as item 
1.f.(5) and would be defined to exclude all securities held for 
trading; and
     A new Schedule U, Loan Origination Activity, in which 
institutions with total assets of $300 million or more would report, 
separately for several loan categories, the quarter-end amount of loans 
reported in Schedule C, Loans and Lease Financing Receivables, that was 
originated during the quarter, and institutions with total assets of $1 
billion or more would also report for these loan categories the 
portions of the quarter-end amount of loans originated during the 
quarter that were (a) originated under a newly established loan 
commitment and (b) not originated under a loan commitment.
    Further details concerning the preceding proposed FFIEC 002 
reporting changes may be found in Sections A and B of the agencies' 
November 2011 Federal Register notice.\1\
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    \1\ See 76 FR 72411-72412, November 23, 2011.
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    Although no comments were received on the November 2011 Federal 
Register notice for the FFIEC 002, the agencies did collectively 
receive comments on their November 2011 Call Report Federal Register 
notice \2\ from eight entities: Four banking organizations, two 
bankers' associations, a commercial lending software company, and a 
news organization. All eight entities commented on the proposed new 
Call Report Schedule RC-U, Loan Origination Activity (in Domestic 
Offices), which is comparable to but more detailed than proposed FFIEC 
002 Schedule U.
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    \2\ See 76 FR 72035, November 21, 2011.
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    The FFIEC and the agencies are proceeding with the revision 
proposed to Schedule RAL for implementation as of the June 30, 2012, 
report date. With respect to the new schedule for selected loan 
origination data proposed for implementation as of June 30, 2012, the 
FFIEC and the agencies are continuing to evaluate this proposed 
schedule in light of the comments received. When the FFIEC and the 
agencies have decided whether and how to proceed with this proposed new 
schedule, a separate Federal Register notice will be published and, if 
applicable, a submission by the Board will be made to OMB. Because of 
the additional time necessary for the FFIEC and the agencies to 
determine the outcome of the proposed new FFIEC 002 Schedule U and to 
allow sufficient lead time for affected institutions to prepare for any 
resulting new reporting requirements, the collection of selected loan 
origination data would not take effect before the September 30, 2012, 
report date.

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' 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;
    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; 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.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 5, 2012.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2012-5714 Filed 3-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P