[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63204-63205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-24734]


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FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

[No. 2013-N-12]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.

ACTION: 30-day Notice of Submission of Information Collection for 
Approval from the Office of Management and Budget.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking 
public comments concerning the information collection known as 
``Capital Requirements for the Federal Home Loan Banks,'' which has 
been assigned control number 2590-0002 by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB). FHFA will submit the information collection to OMB for 
review and approval of a three-year extension of the control number, 
which is due to expire on October 31, 2013.

DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before November 22, 
2013.
    Comments: Submit comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: 
Desk Officer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC 
20503, Fax: 202-395-6974, Email: [email protected]. Please 
also submit comments to FHFA using any one of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Please include Proposed 
Collection; Comment Request: ``Capital Requirements for the Federal 
Home Loan Banks, (No. 2013-N-12)'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your 
comment to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by email 
to FHFA at [email protected] to ensure timely receipt by the agency.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Eighth 
Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20024, ATTENTION: Public 
Comments/Proposed Collection; Comment Request: ``Capital Requirements 
for the Federal Home Loan Banks, (No. 2013-N-12).''
    We will post all public comments we receive without change, 
including any personal information you provide, such as your name, 
address, email address, and telephone number, on the FHFA Web site at 
http://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will 
be available for examination by the public on business days between the 
hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, 
Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20024. To make an 
appointment to inspect comments, please call the Office of General 
Counsel at 202-649-3804.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan F. Curtis, Financial Analyst, 
Division of Federal Home Loan Bank Regulation, at 202-649-3321 (not a 
toll free number), [email protected], or by regular mail at the 
Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 
20024. The telephone number for the Telecommunications Device for the 
Deaf is 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Need For and Use of the Information Collection

    Each of the twelve regional Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) is 
structured as a member-owned cooperative. An institution that is 
eligible for membership in a particular Bank must purchase and hold a 
prescribed minimum amount of the Bank's capital stock in order to 
become and remain a member of that Bank.\1\ With few exceptions, only 
an institution that is a member of a Bank may obtain access to secured 
loans, known as advances, or other products provided by that Bank.
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    \1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1426(c)(1); 12 CFR 931.3, 1263.20.
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    Section 6 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) establishes 
the capital structure for the Banks and requires FHFA to issue 
regulations prescribing uniform capital standards applicable to all of 
the Banks.\2\ These implementing regulations are set forth in 12 CFR 
parts 930, 931, 932, and 933: part 930 contains definitions applicable 
to the capital regulations; part 931 establishes the requirements for 
the Banks' capital stock; part 932 establishes risk-based and total 
capital requirements for the Banks; and part 933 sets forth the 
requirements for the Banks' ``capital structure plans'' under which 
each Bank establishes its own capital structure within the parameters 
of the statute and FHFA's implementing regulations.
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    \2\ See 12 U.S.C. 1426.
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    Both the Bank Act and FHFA's regulations state that a Bank's 
capital structure plan must require its members to maintain a minimum 
investment in the Bank's capital stock, which is to be determined for 
each member in a manner prescribed by the board of directors of the 
Bank and reflected in the Bank's capital structure plan.\3\ Although 
each Bank's capital structure plan establishes a slightly different 
method for calculating the required minimum stock investment for its 
members, each Bank's method is tied to some degree to both the level of 
assets held by the member institution (typically referred to as a 
``membership stock purchase requirement'') and the amount of advances 
or other business engaged in between the member and the Bank (typically 
referred to as an ``activity-based stock purchase requirement'').
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    \3\ See 12 U.S.C. 1426(c)(1); 12 CFR 933.2(a).
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    The Banks use this information collection to determine the amount 
of capital stock a member must purchase to maintain membership in and 
to obtain services from the Bank under its capital structure plan, and 
to confirm that its members are complying with the

[[Page 63205]]

Bank's stock purchase requirements. Although the required information 
and the precise method through which it is collected differ from Bank 
to Bank, there are for each Bank typically two components to the 
information collection. First, in order to calculate and monitor 
compliance with its membership stock purchase requirement, a Bank 
typically requires each member to provide and/or confirm a quarterly or 
annual report on the amount and types of assets held by that 
institution. Second, at the time it engages in a business transaction 
with a member, each Bank typically confirms with the member the amount 
of additional Bank capital stock, if any, the member must acquire in 
order to satisfy the Bank's activity-based stock purchase requirement 
and the method through which the member will acquire that stock.
    The OMB number for the information collection is 2590-0002, which 
is due to expire on October 31, 2013. The likely respondents include 
Bank members.

B. Burden Estimate

    FHFA has analyzed the cost and hour burden for the two facets of 
this information collection: the membership stock purchase requirement 
and the activity-based stock purchase requirement.
    FHFA estimates the total annual average number of ``membership 
stock purchase requirement'' respondents at 30,416 (7,604 respondents x 
4 quarterly responses per respondent). The estimate for the average 
hours per response is 0.71 hours. The estimate for the annual hour 
burden for ``membership stock purchase requirement'' respondents is 
21,595 hours (7,604 respondents x 4 responses per respondent x 0.71 
hours per response). The estimate for the annual cost burden is 
$1,390,924.
    FHFA estimates the total annual average number of ``activity-based 
stock purchase requirement'' respondents at 81,120 (312 daily 
transactions x 260 working days), with 1 response per respondent. The 
estimate for the average hours per response is 0.16 hours. The estimate 
for the annual hour burden for ``activity-based stock purchase 
requirement'' respondents is 12,979 hours (81,120 average daily 
borrower responses x 0.16 average hours per response). The estimate for 
the annual cost burden for member respondents is $856,627.
    The estimated total annual hour burden on Bank members from this 
information collection is 34,574 hours. The aggregate total annual cost 
to Bank members is $2,247,551. The estimated total annual number of 
submissions is 111,536.

C. Comment Request

    In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA 
published a request for public comments regarding this information 
collection in the Federal Register on July 1, 2013. See 78 FR 39293 
(July 1, 2013). The 60-day comment period closed on August 30, 2013. No 
public comments were received.
    FHFA requests written comments on the following: (1) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
FHFA functions, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of FHFA's estimates of the burdens of the 
collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Dated: September 30, 2013.
Kevin Winkler,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2013-24734 Filed 10-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P