[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 78 (Wednesday, April 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22762-22763]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09255]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection 
Renewal; Comment Request; Subordinated Debt

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork 
and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal 
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing 
information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (PRA).
    In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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.
    The OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information 
collection titled, ``Subordinated Debt.''

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 23, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the OCC 
is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments by 
email if possible. Comments may be sent to: Legislative and Regulatory 
Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 
Attention: 1557-0320, 400 7th Street SW., Suite 3E-218, Mail Stop 9W-
11, Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to 
(571) 465-4326 or by electronic mail to [email protected]. 
You may personally inspect and photocopy comments at the OCC, 400 7th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC 
requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may 
do so by calling (202) 649-6700. Upon arrival, visitors will be 
required to present valid government-issued photo identification and to 
submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy 
comments.
    All comments received, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, are part of the public record and subject to public 
disclosure. Do not enclose any information in your comment or 
supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate 
for public disclosure.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Johnny Vilela or Mary H. Gottlieb, OCC 
Clearance Officers, (202) 649-5490, for persons who are deaf or hard of 
hearing, TTY, (202) 649-5597, Legislative and Regulatory Activities 
Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street 
SW., Suite 3E-218, Mail Stop 9W-11, Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is 
defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to include agency 
requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, 
keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal 
agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning 
each proposed collection of information, including each proposed 
extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting 
the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, 
the OCC is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information 
set forth in this document.
    In connection with issuance of the interim final rule entitled 
``Basel III Conforming Amendments Related to Cross-References, 
Subordinated Debt and Limits Based on Regulatory Capital,'' \1\ OMB 
provided a six-month approval for this information collection. The OCC 
is proposing to extend OMB approval of the collection for the standard 
three years.
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    \1\ 79 FR 11300 (February 28, 2014).
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    Title: Subordinated Debt.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0320.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 184.
    Burden per Respondent: 1.3 hours.
    Total Burden: 239 hours.
    Description: Federal law and OCC regulations require that, under 
certain circumstances, a national bank or Federal savings association 
(collectively, ``institution'') must receive OCC approval to issue or 
prepay subordinated debt and include subordinated debt in tier 2 
capital. The OCC uses information contained in various applications 
submitted by institutions to decide whether to grant approval for 
requests to issue or prepay subordinated debt and/or include 
subordinated debt in tier 2 capital.
    The OCC uses the request for approval to issue or prepay 
subordinated debt or include subordinated debt in tier 2 capital, 
outlined in 12 CFR 5.47 and 163.81, to determine whether to grant or 
deny an institution's request. In addition, when the prepayment is in 
the form of a call option, the OCC uses the information provided to 
determine whether to require the institution to replace the instrument 
with an instrument that meets the criteria for tier 1 or tier 2 
capital, and if so, whether the replacement instrument would qualify as 
tier 1 or tier 2 capital. The information collected is used to ensure 
compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. In the case of a 
prepayment in the form of a call option, the OCC uses the additional 
information collected to implement a requirement in the OCC's Basel III 
regulations, as described below.
    Through the interim final rule, the OCC revised the requirements of 
Sec.  5.47. Specifically, all national banks now must receive prior OCC 
approval in order to prepay subordinated debt that is included in tier 
2 capital, and certain banks must receive prior approval to prepay 
subordinated debt that is not included in tier 2 capital. If the 
prepayment is in the form of a call option, a national bank must submit 
the information required for general prepayment requests under 
paragraph (n)(1)(ii)(A) and also comply with paragraph 
(n)(1)(ii)(B)(2), which requires a national bank to submit either: (1) 
A statement explaining why the bank believes that following the 
proposed prepayment the bank would continue to hold an amount of 
capital commensurate with its risk; or (2) a description of the 
replacement capital instrument that meets the criteria for tier 1 or 
tier 2 capital under 12 CFR 3.20, including the amount of such 
instrument and the time frame for issuance. The OCC may require the 
bank

[[Page 22763]]

to replace the subordinated debt instrument with an instrument of an 
equivalent amount that satisfies the requirements for a tier 1 or tier 
2 capital instrument.
    The OCC also revised the requirements of Sec.  163.81 in the 
interim rule. Specifically, the prepayment of subordinated debt 
securities or mandatorily redeemable preferred stock (``covered 
securities'') included in tier 2 capital now requires prior OCC 
approval. If the prepayment is in the form of a call option, a Federal 
savings association must submit the information required for general 
prepayment requests under paragraph (j)(2)(i) and also comply with 
paragraph (j)(2)(ii)(A), which requires a Federal savings association 
to submit either: (1) a statement explaining why the Federal savings 
association believes that following the proposed prepayment the savings 
association would continue to hold an amount of capital commensurate 
with its risk; or (2) a description of the replacement capital 
instrument that meets the criteria for tier 1 or tier 2 capital under 
12 CFR 3.20, including the amount of such instrument and the time frame 
for issuance. The OCC may require the Federal savings association to 
replace the subordinated debt instrument with an instrument of an 
equivalent amount that satisfies the requirements for a tier 1 or tier 
2 capital instrument.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become 
a matter of public record. Comments are invited on:
    (a) Whether the collections of information are necessary for the 
proper performance of the OCC's functions, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    (b) The accuracy of the OCC's 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; and
    (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.

    Dated: April 17, 2014.
Stuart E. Feldstein,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-09255 Filed 4-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P