[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20074-20075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08498]


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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 15, 2015.

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 
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: Mary H. Gottlieb, OCC Clearance 
Officer, (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.
    OMB granted the OCC a six-month approval for the information 
collection requirements contained in the interim final rule entitled 
``Subordinated Debt Issued by a National Bank.'' (December 2014 Interim 
Final Rule).\1\ The OCC obtained this approval under existing OMB 
Control No. 1557-0320, which contained the information collection 
requirements in the interim final rule entitled ``Basel III Conforming 
Amendments Related to Cross-References, Subordinated Debt and Limits 
Based on Regulatory Capital.'' (February 2014 Interim Final Rule).\2\ 
The OCC proposes to extend OMB approval of the entire information 
collection for the standard three years.
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    \1\ 79 FR 75417 (December 18, 2014).
    \2\ 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.
    Burden Estimates:
    Prepayment of Subordinated Debt in Form of Call Option: 184 
Respondents; 1.30 burden hours per respondent; 239 total burden hours.
    Authority to Limit Distributions: 42 Respondents; 0.5 hours per 
respondent; 21 total burden hours.
    Total Burden: 260 hours.
    Description: The OCC amended its rules governing subordinated debt 
twice in 2014. The first set of revisions, contained in the February 
2014 Interim Final Rule, amended the rules applicable to both national 
banks and Federal savings associations (12 CFR 5.47 and 163.81, 
respectively). The second revisions, in the December 2014 Interim Final 
Rule, amended only the rules application to national banks.
    The February 2014 Interim Final Rule revised the requirements of 12 
CFR 5.47 applicable to national banks. Specifically, those revisions 
require that all national banks must receive prior OCC approval in 
order to prepay subordinated debt that is included in tier 2 capital 
and certain banks must receive prior OCC approval to prepay 
subordinated debt that is not included in tier 2 capital. If the 
prepayment is in the form of a call option and the subordinated debt is 
included in tier 2 capital, a national bank must submit the

[[Page 20075]]

information required for general prepayment requests under 12 CFR 
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(A) \3\ and also must comply with 12 CFR 
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(B)(2) \4\, 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.
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    \3\ Appeared as Sec.  5.47(n)(1)(ii)(B) in the February 2014 
Interim Final Rule and subsequently redesignated as Sec.  
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(B).
    \4\ Appeared as Sec.  5.47(n)(1)(ii)(A) in the February 2014 
Interim Final Rule and subsequently redesignated as Sec.  
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(A).
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    The February 2014 Interim Final Rule also revised the requirements 
of 12 CFR 163.81 \5\ applicable to Federal savings associations. 
Specifically, those revisions require a Federal savings association to 
obtain prior OCC approval to prepay subordinated debt securities or 
mandatorily redeemable preferred stock (covered securities) included in 
tier 2 capital. In addition, 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 12 CFR 163.81(j)(2)(i) 
and also comply with 12 CFR 163.81(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 Federal 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.
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    \5\ The OCC proposed to renumber this section as new Sec.  5.56 
in its proposed rule entitled ``Integration of National Bank and 
Federal Savings Association Regulations: Licensing Rules,'' 79 FR 
33260 (June 10, 2014).
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    The December 2014 Interim Final Rule revised 12 CFR 5.47 to add a 
disclosure requirement in 12 CFR 5.47(d)(3)(ii)(C). A national bank 
must describe in the subordinated debt note the OCC's authority under 
12 CFR 3.11 to limit distributions, including interest payments on any 
tier 2 capital instrument, if the national bank has full discretion to 
permanently or temporarily suspend such payments without triggering an 
event of default.
    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 8, 2015.
Mary H. Gottlieb,
Regulatory Specialist, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division.
[FR Doc. 2015-08498 Filed 4-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-33-P