[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 24 (Friday, February 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6340-6342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02206]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection 
Renewal; Submission for OMB Review; Identity Theft Red Flags and 
Address Discrepancies Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions 
Act of 2003

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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).
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.
    The OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its 
information collection titled, ``Identity Theft Red Flags and Address 
Discrepancies under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 
2003.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection 
to OMB for review.

DATES: Comments must be received by March 7, 2016.

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: 1557-0237, 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.

[[Page 6341]]

For security reasons, the OCC requires that visitors make an 
appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by calling (202) 649-
6700 or, for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, TTY, (202) 649-
5597. 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.
    Comments received, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, are part of the public record and subject to public 
disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or 
supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate 
for public disclosure.
    Additionally, please send a copy of your comments by mail to: OCC 
Desk Officer, 1557-0237, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th 
Street NW., #10235, Washington, DC 20503, or by email to: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaquita Merritt, Clearance Officer, 
(202) 649-5490 or, 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., Washington, DC 
20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), 
the OCC is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the following 
information collection:
    Title: Identity Theft Red Flags and Address Discrepancies under the 
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0237.
    Description: Section 114 of the FACT Act amended section 615 of the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to require the Agencies \1\ to issue 
jointly:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Section 114 required the guidelines and regulations to be 
issued jointly by the Federal banking agencies (OCC, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation), the National Credit Union Administration, 
and the Federal Trade Commission. Therefore, for purposes of this 
filing, ``Agencies'' refers to these entities. Note that Section 
1088(a)(8) of the Dodd-Frank Act further amended section 615 of FCRA 
to also require the Securities and Exchange Commission and the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission to issue Red Flags guidelines 
and regulations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Guidelines for financial institutions and creditors 
regarding identity theft with respect to their account holders and 
customers; (in developing the guidelines, the Agencies are required to 
identify patterns, practices, and specific forms of activity that 
indicate the possible existence of identity theft; the guidelines must 
be updated as often as necessary and must be consistent with the 
policies and procedures required under section 326 of the USA PATRIOT 
Act, 31 U.S.C. 5318(l));
     Regulations that require each financial institution and 
each creditor to establish reasonable policies and procedures for 
implementing the guidelines in order to identify possible risks to 
account holders or customers or to the safety and soundness of the 
institution or creditor; and
     Regulations generally requiring credit and debit card 
issuers to assess the validity of change of address requests under 
certain circumstances.
    Section 315 of the FACT Act also amended section 605 of the FCRA to 
require the Agencies to issue regulations providing guidance regarding 
what reasonable policies and procedures a user of consumer reports must 
have in place and employ when a user receives a notice of address 
discrepancy from a consumer reporting agency (CRA).\2\ These 
regulations are required to describe reasonable policies and procedures 
for users of consumer reports to:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ These regulations have been transferred to the Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Enable a user to form a reasonable belief that it knows 
the identity of the person for whom it has obtained a consumer report; 
and
     Reconcile the address of the consumer with the CRA, if the 
user establishes a continuing relationship with the consumer and 
regularly and, in the ordinary course of business, furnishes 
information to the CRA.
    As required by section 114 of the FACT Act, appendix J to 12 CFR 
part 41 contains guidelines for financial institutions and creditors to 
use in identifying patterns, practices, and specific forms of activity 
that may indicate the existence of identity theft. In addition, 12 CFR 
41.90 requires each financial institution or creditor that is a 
national bank, Federal savings association, Federal branch or agency of 
a foreign bank, and any of their operating subsidiaries that are not 
functionally regulated, to establish an Identity Theft Prevention 
Program (Program) designed to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity 
theft in connection with accounts. Pursuant to Sec.  41.91, credit card 
and debit card issuers must implement reasonable policies and 
procedures to assess the validity of a request for a change of address 
under certain circumstances.
    Section 41.90 requires each OCC-regulated financial institution or 
creditor that offers or maintains one or more covered accounts to 
develop and implement a Program. In developing the Program, financial 
institutions and creditors are required to consider the guidelines in 
appendix J and include the suggested provisions, as appropriate. The 
initial Program must be approved by the institution's board of 
directors or by an appropriate committee thereof. The board, an 
appropriate committee thereof, or a designated employee at the level of 
senior management must be involved in the oversight of the Program. In 
addition, staff members must be trained to carry out the Program. 
Pursuant to Sec.  41.91, each credit and debit card issuer is required 
to establish and implement policies and procedures to assess the 
validity of a change of address request if it is followed by a request 
for an additional or replacement card. Before issuing the additional or 
replacement card, the card issuer must notify the cardholder of the 
request and provide the cardholder a reasonable means to report 
incorrect address changes or use another means to assess the validity 
of the change of address.
    As required by section 315 of the FACT Act, Sec.  1022.82 requires 
users of consumer reports to have in place reasonable policies and 
procedures that must be followed when a user receives a notice of 
address discrepancy from a credit reporting agency (CRA).
    Section 1022.82 requires each user of consumer reports to develop 
and implement reasonable policies and procedures designed to enable the 
user to form a reasonable belief that a consumer report relates to the 
consumer about whom it requested the report when it receives a notice 
of address discrepancy from a CRA. A user of consumer reports also must 
develop and implement reasonable policies and procedures for furnishing 
a customer address that the user has reasonably confirmed to be 
accurate to the CRA from which it receives a notice of address 
discrepancy when the user can: (1) Form a reasonable belief that the 
consumer report relates to the consumer about whom the user has 
requested the report; (2) establish a continuing relationship with the 
consumer; and (3) establish that it regularly and, in the ordinary 
course of business, furnishes information to the CRA from which it 
received the notice of address discrepancy.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,444.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 161,034 hours.

[[Page 6342]]

    The OCC published a notice concerning this collection for 60 days 
of comment on November 20, 2015, 80 FR72783. No comments were received. 
Comments continue to be invited on:
    (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the OCC, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    (b) The accuracy of the OCC's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information;
    (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the 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.

    Dated: February 1, 2016.
Mary H. Gottlieb,
Regulatory Specialist, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division.
[FR Doc. 2016-02206 Filed 2-4-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P