[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4571-4574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01521]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
SUMMARY: On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
(Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and assign OMB control numbers 
to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or 
sponsored by the Board under conditions set forth in 5 CFR part 1320 
Appendix A.1. Board-approved collections of information are 
incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved 
collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of 
information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The 
Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection that has been 
extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless 
it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Regulation B, 
Regulation BB, or Regulation M, by any of the following methods:
     Agency Web site: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx .
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include OMB 
number in the subject line of the message.
     FAX: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
     Mail: Robert deV. Frierson, 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/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx 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

[[Page 4572]]

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--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, 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: A copy of the PRA OMB submission, 
including the proposed reporting form and instructions, supporting 
statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public 
docket files, once approved. These documents will also be made 
available on the Federal Reserve Board's public Web site at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested 
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Federal Reserve Board Acting Clearance Officer--John Schmidt--
Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551 (202) 452-3829. Telecommunications 
Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact (202) 263-4869, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposal

    The following information collection, which is being handled under 
this delegated authority, has received initial Board approval and is 
hereby published for comment. At the end of the comment period, the 
proposed information collection, along with an analysis of comments and 
recommendations received, will be submitted to the Board for final 
approval under OMB delegated authority. Comments are invited on the 
following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Federal Reserve's functions; including 
whether the information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Federal Reserve's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed information collection, 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 collection 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.
    Proposal to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension for 
three years, with revision, of the following information collection:
    Report title: Information Collection Associated With the 
Recordkeeping and Disclosure Requirements of Regulation B (Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act (ECOA)).
    Agency form number: Regulation B.
    OMB control number: 7100-0201.
    Frequency: Event-generated.
    Reporters: State member banks, branches and agencies of foreign 
banks (other than federal branches, federal agencies, and insured state 
branches of foreign banks), commercial lending companies owned or 
controlled by foreign banks, and organizations operating under section 
25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act.
    Estimated annual reporting hours: Notifications: 76,536 hours; 
Furnishing of credit information: 31,890 hours; Record retention, 
applications, actions, and prescreened solicitations: 8,504 hours; 
Information for monitoring purposes: 3,189 hours; Rules on providing 
appraisal reports, providing appraisal reports: 38,268 hours; Self-
testing record retention, incentives, 400 hours and self-correction, 
400 hours; Rules concerning requests for information, disclosure for 
optional self-test: 8,400 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: Notifications: 6 hours; 
Furnishing of credit information: 2.5 hours; Record retention, 
applications, actions, and prescreened solicitations: 8 hours; 
Information for monitoring purposes: 15 minutes; Rules on providing 
appraisal reports, providing appraisal reports: 3 hours; Self-testing 
record retention, incentives, 2 hours and self-correction, 8 hours; 
Rules concerning requests for information, disclosure for optional 
self-test: 3.5 hours.
    Number of respondents: 1,063.
    General description of report: This information collection is 
authorized by 15 U.S.C. 1691b, which authorizes the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau (CFPB) to prescribe regulations to carry out the 
purposes of ECOA. An institution's recordkeeping and disclosure 
obligations under Regulation B are mandatory. The Federal Reserve does 
not collect any information; therefore, no issue of confidentiality 
normally arises.
    Abstract: ECOA was enacted in 1974 and is implemented by Regulation 
B. ECOA prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction 
because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, 
age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract), or other 
specified bases (receipt of public assistance, or the fact that the 
applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer 
Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.)). To aid in 
implementation of this prohibition, the statute and regulation subject 
creditors to various mandatory disclosure requirements, notification 
provisions informing applicants of action taken on the credit 
application, credit history reporting, monitoring rules, and 
recordkeeping requirements. These requirements are triggered by 
specific events and disclosures must be provided within the time 
periods established by the statute and regulation. There are no 
required reporting forms associated with the CFPB's Regulation B. To 
ease the burden and cost of compliance (particularly for small 
entities), Regulation B provides model disclosure forms.
    Current Actions: On December 21, 2011, the CFPB published an 
interim final rule establishing a new Regulation B, which did not 
impose any new substantive obligations on regulated persons or 
entities.\1\ On January 31, 2013, the CFPB published a final rule 
amending its Regulation B to require creditors to provide applicants 
with a copy of an appraisal or other written valuation developed in 
connection with certain mortgage transactions as matter of course, 
rather than only in response to an applicant's request as previously 
required under Regulation B.\2\ The Board proposes to modify its 
information collection to reflect this new requirement, which became 
effective January 18, 2014.
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    \1\ 76 FR 79441 (Dec. 21, 2011).
    \2\ 78 FR 7216 (Jan. 31, 2013).
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Revisions to the Information Collection Associated With Rules on 
Providing Appraisal Reports (Section 1002.14)

    Previously, an applicant had a right to a copy of any appraisal 
report used in connection with an application for credit to be secured 
by a dwelling. Creditors could elect either to provide a copy of the 
appraisal report to all applicants for covered loans or provide the 
appraisal only upon request. Creditors who choose to provide the 
appraisal only upon request had to notify all applicants for covered 
loans of their right to request a copy of the appraisal. The notice was 
not required to be in any particular format, but the regulation 
contained model language to ease compliance.

[[Page 4573]]

    The CFPB recently amended Regulation B to now require creditors to 
provide to an applicant, as a matter of course, a copy of all 
appraisals and other written valuations developed in connection with an 
application for credit that is to be secured by a first lien on a 
dwelling within specified time periods. Applicants are permitted to 
waive the timing requirements for receipt of the appraisals and other 
written valuations, but in such cases the creditor must generally 
provide the copies to the applicant prior to consummation (if closed-
end credit) or account opening (if open-end credit). Creditors must 
also notify applicants in writing within three business days of 
receiving an application that a copy of all appraisals and other 
written valuations developed in connection with applications for 
covered mortgage credit transactions will be provided to the applicant 
promptly. The notice of an applicant's right to receive a copy of 
appraisals is not required to be in any particular format, but the 
regulation contains model language to ease compliance.
    Proposal to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension for 
three years, without revision, of the following information 
collections:
    1. Report title: Information Collection Associated with the 
Recordkeeping, Reporting, and Disclosure Requirements of Regulation BB 
(Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)).
    Agency form number: Regulation BB.
    OMB control number: 7100-0197.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Reporters: State member banks (SMBs).
    Estimated annual reporting hours: Recordkeeping requirement, small 
business and small farm loan register: 16,863 hours; Optional 
recordkeeping requirements, consumer loan data, 4,238 hours and other 
loan data, 275 hours; Reporting requirements, assessment area 
delineation, 164 hours; loan data: Small business and small farm, 616 
hours, community development, 1,066 hours, and HMDA out of MSA, 17,963 
hours; Optional reporting requirements, data on lending by a consortium 
or third party, 153 hours; affiliate lending data, 152 hours; request 
for strategic plan approval, 275 hours; request for designation as a 
wholesale or limited purpose bank, 4 hours; Disclosure requirement, 
public file, 8,510 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: Recordkeeping requirement, 
small business and small farm loan register: 219 hours; Optional 
recordkeeping requirements, consumer loan data, 326 hours, and other 
loan data, 25 hours; Reporting requirements, assessment area 
delineation, 2 hours; loan data: Small business and small farm, 8 
hours, community development, 13 hours, and HMDA out of MSA, 253 hours; 
Optional reporting requirements, data on lending by a consortium or 
third party, 17 hours; affiliate lending data, 38 hours; request for 
strategic plan approval, 275 hours; request for designation as a 
wholesale or limited purpose bank, 4 hours; Disclosure requirement, 
public file, 10 hours.
    Number of respondents: Recordkeeping requirement, small business 
and small farm loan register, 77; Optional recordkeeping requirements, 
consumer loan data, 13, and other loan data, 11; Reporting 
requirements, assessment area delineation, 82; loan data: Small 
business and small farm, 77, community development, 82, and HMDA out of 
MSA, 71; Optional reporting requirements, data on lending by a 
consortium or third party, 9; affiliate lending data, 4; request for 
strategic plan approval, 1; request for designation as a wholesale or 
limited purpose bank, 1; Disclosure requirement, public file, 851.
    General description of report: This information collection is 
authorized by section 806 of the CRA, which permits the Board to issue 
regulations to carry out the purpose of CRA (12 U.S.C. 2905), Section 
11 of the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), which permits the Board to require 
such statements as reports of SMBs as it deems necessary (12 U.S.C. 
248(a)(1)), and section 9 of the FRA, which permits the Board to 
examine SMBs (12 U.S.C. 325). The obligation to comply with the 
recordkeeping, reporting, and disclosure requirements of Regulation BB 
is generally mandatory and varies depending on whether the bank is a 
large bank. Other parts of the collection--specifically, the request 
for designation as a wholesale or limited purpose bank, the strategic 
plan, and the recordkeeping and reporting requirements associated with 
data regarding consumer loans and lending performance, affiliate 
lending data, data on lending by a consortium or a third party, are 
required to obtain a benefit. The data that are reported to the Federal 
Reserve are not considered confidential.
    Abstract: CRA was enacted in 1977 and is implemented by Regulation 
BB. The CRA directs the federal banking agencies \3\ to evaluate 
financial institutions' records of helping to meet the credit needs of 
their entire communities, including low- and moderate-income areas 
consistent with the safe and sound operation of the institutions. The 
CRA is implemented through regulations issued by the federal banking 
agencies.\4\
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    \3\ In addition to the Board, the federal banking agencies 
currently responsible for CRA rules are the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation (FDIC).
    \4\ The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection 
Act of 2010 transferred from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) 
all authorities (including rulemaking) relating to savings 
associations to the OCC and all authorities (including rulemaking) 
relating to savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs) to the Board 
on July 21, 2011.
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    In 1995, the federal banking agencies issued substantially 
identical regulations under CRA to reduce unnecessary compliance 
burden, promote consistency in CRA assessments, and encourage improved 
performance.\5\ As a result, the current recordkeeping, reporting, and 
disclosure requirements under Regulation BB depend in part on a bank's 
size, and are discussed more fully below in the description of 
information collection.
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    \5\ 60 FR 22156 (May 4, 1995).
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    Under Regulation BB, large banks are defined as those with assets 
of $1.202 billion or more for the past two consecutive year-ends; all 
other banks are considered small or intermediate.\6\ The banking 
agencies amend the definition of a small bank and an intermediate small 
bank in their CRA regulations each year when the asset thresholds are 
adjusted for inflation pursuant to Regulation BB, most recently in 
December 2013.\7\
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    \6\ Beginning January 1, 2014, banks and savings associations 
that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, 
had assets of less than $1.202 billion are small banks or small 
savings associations. Small banks or small savings associations with 
assets of at least $300 million as of December 31 of both of the 
prior two calendar years, and less than $1.202 billion as of 
December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, are 
intermediate small banks or intermediate small savings associations.
    \7\ 78 FR 79283 (December 30, 2013).
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    Other than the information collections pursuant to the CRA, the 
Board has no information collection that supplies data regarding the 
community reinvestment activities of SMBs.
    2. Report title: Information Collections Associated with the 
Recordkeeping and Disclosure requirements of Regulation M (Consumer 
Leasing).
    Agency form number: Regulation M.
    OMB control number: 7100-0202.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Reporters: Consumer lessors.
    Estimated annual reporting hours: Disclosures: 33 hours; 
Advertising: 7 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: Disclosures: 2.08 hours; 
Advertising: 25 minutes.
    Number of respondents: 4.

[[Page 4574]]

    General description of report: This information collection is 
authorized by sections 105(a) and 187 of TILA (15 U.S.C. 1604(a) and 
1667f respectively, which authorize the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau (CFPB) to issue regulations to carry out the provisions of the 
Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The CFPB's Regulation M, 12 CFR part 1013, 
implements these statutory provisions. An institution's recordkeeping 
and disclosure obligations under Regulation M are mandatory. Because 
the Federal Reserve does not collect any information pursuant to the 
CFPB's Regulation M, no issue of confidentiality normally arises. 
Furthermore, the lease information regarding individual leases with 
consumers is confidential between the institution and the consumer. In 
the event the Board were to retain regarding consumer leases during the 
course of an examination, the information regarding the consumer and 
the lease would be kept confidential pursuant to section (b)(8) of the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 522 (b)(8)).
    Abstract: The CLA and Regulation M are intended to provide 
consumers with meaningful disclosures about the costs and terms of 
leases for personal property. The disclosures enable consumers to 
compare the terms for a particular lease with those for other leases 
and, when appropriate, to compare lease terms with those for credit 
transactions. The CLA and Regulation M also contain rules about 
advertising consumer leases and limit the size of balloon payments in 
consumer lease transactions.
    The CFPB's Regulation M applies to all types of lessors of personal 
property (except motor vehicle dealers excluded from the Bureau's 
authority under Dodd-Frank Act section 1029, which are covered by the 
Board's Regulation M \8\). The CLA and Regulation M require lessors to 
disclose to consumers uniformly the costs, liabilities, and terms of 
consumer lease transactions. Disclosures are provided to consumers 
before they enter into lease transactions and in advertisements that 
state the availability of consumer leases on particular terms. The 
regulation generally applies to consumer leases of personal property in 
which the contractual obligation does not exceed $53,500 and has a term 
of more than four months. The CLA does not provide exemptions for small 
entities.
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    \8\ 12 U.S.C. 5519; 12 CFR part 213.
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    In April 2011, shortly before primary rule writing authority for 
the CLA transferred to the CFPB, the Board published a final rule that 
established a new dollar threshold for lease transactions subject to 
Regulation M, implementing an amendment to the CLA by the Dodd-Frank 
Act.\9\ This amendment increased the dollar threshold for lease 
contracts subject to the CLA and Regulation M from $25,000 to $50,000. 
The amendment also required that this threshold be adjusted annually 
for inflation by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price 
Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), as published 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 2014, the Regulation M threshold 
is $53,500,\10\ which will be increased to $54,600 effective January 1, 
2015.\11\
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    \9\ Public Law 111-203, Sec.  1100E, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010), 
amending 15 U.S.C. 1667(1). See 76 FR 18349, Apr. 4, 2011.
    \10\ 78 FR 70193 (Nov. 25, 2013). This threshold adjustment was 
issued jointly by the Board, for its Regulation M at 12 CFR part 
213, and the CFPB, for its Regulation M at 12 CFR 1013.
    \11\ 79 FR 56482 (Sept. 22, 2014).

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 21, 
2015.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2015-01521 Filed 1-27-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P