[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 8, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26711-26712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10821]


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FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 652

RIN 3052-AC83


Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Funding and Fiscal 
Affairs; Farmer Mac Liquidity Management

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) Board reopens the comment 
period for 30 days on the proposed rule that would amend its liquidity 
management regulations for the Federal Agricultural Mortgage 
Corporation (Farmer Mac). Reopening the comment period will afford 
interested parties a new opportunity to comment on the proposed 
liquidity regulations.

[[Page 26712]]


DATES: Please send your comments to us on or before June 7, 2013.

ADDRESSES: We offer a variety of methods for you to submit comments on 
this proposed rule. For accuracy and efficiency reasons, commenters are 
encouraged to submit comments by email or through the Agency's Web 
site. As facsimiles (fax) are difficult for us to process and achieve 
compliance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, we are no longer 
accepting comments submitted by fax. Regardless of the method you use, 
please do not submit your comment multiple times via different methods. 
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: Send us an email at [email protected].
     FCA Web site: http://www.fca.gov. Select ``Public 
Commenters,'' then ``Public Comments,'' and follow the directions for 
``Submitting a Comment.''
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Laurie A. Rea, Director, Office of Secondary Market 
Oversight, Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, 
VA 22102-5090.
    You may review copies of all comments we receive at our office in 
McLean, Virginia, or on our Web site at http://www.fca.gov. Once you 
are in the Web site, select ``Public Commenters,'' then ``Public 
Comments,'' and follow the directions for ``Reading Submitted Public 
Comments.'' We will show your comments as submitted, but for technical 
reasons we may omit items such as logos and special characters. 
Identifying information that you provide, such as phone numbers and 
addresses, will be publicly available. However, we will attempt to 
remove email addresses to help reduce Internet spam.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joseph T. Connor, Associate Director for Policy and Analysis, Office of 
Secondary Market Oversight, Farm Credit Administration, McLean, VA 
22102-5090, (703) 883-4280, TTY (703) 883-4434;

Or

Richard Katz, Senior Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Farm 
Credit Administration, McLean, VA 22102-5090, (703) 883-4020, TTY (703) 
883-4020.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 18, 2011, we published a notice 
of proposed rulemaking to revise Farmer Mac's non-program investment 
and liquidity requirements.\1\ The 60-day comment period ended on 
January 17, 2012. The proposed rulemaking covered several topics. The 
FCA decided to finalize several of the proposed regulations separately 
in different phases of this rulemaking.\2\ This phase of the rulemaking 
focuses on Farmer Mac's liquidity by addressing four definitions in 
Sec.  652.5,\3\ liquidity management in Sec.  652.35, and the liquidity 
reserve and the supplemental liquidity buffer in Sec.  652.40.
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    \1\ 76 FR 71798 (Nov. 18, 2011).
    \2\ On November 5, 2012, the FCA enacted final regulations 
governing investment management at Farmer Mac. This final rule 
amended Sec. Sec.  652.10, 652.15, 652.25, 652.30, and 652.45. See 
77 FR 66375. In a later phase of this rulemaking, we plan to enact a 
final rule pertaining to eligible investments that Farmer Mac may 
purchase and hold.
    \3\ The four definitions pertaining to liquidity are ``Cash,'' 
``Contingency Funding Plan,'' ``Liquidity Maturity Management 
Plan,'' and ``Liquidity reserve.''
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    We received a letter dated April 17, 2013 from Farmer Mac that 
asked us to reopen the comment period for 30 days on proposed Sec.  
652.40. Farmer Mac informed us that after the final investment 
management rule became effective, it ``commenced an evaluation and 
rebalancing of its investment portfolio in the context of the proposed 
liquidity requirements'' set forth in proposed Sec.  652.40. Farmer Mac 
believes that this evaluation process exposed possible concerns 
regarding the liquidity requirements in the proposed regulation, which 
in its opinion, may merit further consideration by the FCA before a 
final rule is enacted.
    In response to this request, we are reopening the comment period 
for all of the above-referenced liquidity regulations for an additional 
30 days. Based on the circumstances that Farmer Mac identified in its 
April 17, 2013 letter, reopening the comment period ensures the 
transparency and fairness of the rulemaking process in accordance with 
the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. In addition, 
because the proposed rule would increase Farmer Mac's minimum liquidity 
reserve requirement from 60 days to 90 days, FCA believes it is 
important to receive thorough comment on the impact of the proposal. 
The FCA invites all interested parties to provide additional comments 
about proposed Sec. Sec.  652.35 and 652.40, and the four liquidity-
related definitions in proposed Sec.  652.5.

    Dated: May 1, 2013.
Dale L. Aultman,
Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board.
[FR Doc. 2013-10821 Filed 5-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6705-01-P