[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 39 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10248-10249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04282]


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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), 
to approve of and assign OMB numbers to collection of information 
requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board. Board-
approved collections of information are incorporated into the official 
OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies 
of the PRA 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 number.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Form G-FIN or Form G-
FINW, 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 paper form in Room 
3515, 1801 K Street (between 18th and 19th Streets NW.), Washington, DC 
20006 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 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 Clearance Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--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 Proposals

    The following information collections, which are being handled 
under this delegated authority, have received initial Board approval 
and are hereby published for comment. At the end of the comment period, 
the proposed information collections, 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, Without Revision, of the Following Report

    Report title: Notice By Financial Institutions of Government 
Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer Activities; Notice By 
Financial Institutions of Termination of Activities as a Government 
Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer.
    Agency form number: Form G-FIN; Form G-FINW.
    OMB control number: 7100-0224.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Reporters: State member banks, foreign banks, uninsured state 
branches or state agencies of foreign banks, commercial lending 
companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge corporations.
    Estimated average hours per response: Form G-FIN, 1 hour; Form G-
FINW, 0.25 hour.
    Estimated Number of respondents: Form G-FIN, 4; Form G-FINW, 2.
    Estimated annual reporting hours: 5 hours.
    Estimated cost to public: $259.

[[Page 10249]]

    General description of report: The notices are authorized under the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended \1\ (the Act), which 
requires a financial institution that is a broker or dealer of 
government securities dealer to notify the appropriate regulatory 
agency (ARA) that it is a government securities broker or a government 
securities dealer (Form G-FIN notice), or that it has ceased to act as 
such (Form G-FINW notice). In addition, 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(b)(1) directs 
the Treasury to adopt rules requiring every government securities 
broker and government securities dealer to collect information and to 
provide reports to the applicable ARA. The Board is an ARA. 15 U.S.C. 
78c(a)(34)(G)(ii). Further support for the creation and collection of 
these notices by the Board is found in Treasury regulations, authorized 
by 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(b)(l), instructing that any amendments or 
corrections to a financial institution's status as a government 
securities broker or dealer also be filed with the ARA on the Form GFIN 
notice. 17 CFR 400.5(b).
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(i).
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    Under the Act, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to 
exempt any government securities broker or dealer, or class thereof, 
from the notice requirement of section 78o-5(a)(1)(B). See 15 U.S.C. 
78o-5(a)(5). Thus, the obligation to file the notices with the Board is 
mandatory for those financial institutions for which the Board serves 
as the ARA, unless the financial institution is exempted from the 
notice filing requirement by Treasury regulations (17 CFR part 401). If 
an exemption no longer applies, the institution must immediately file a 
notice. The filing of these notices is event generated.
    Respondents file two copies of the notices directly with the Board. 
Under the statute, the Board forwards one copy to the Securities and 
Exchange Commission (SEC), and the notices are then made public by the 
SEC. 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(iii). While the statute only requires the 
SEC to produce the notices to the public, the notices are also 
available to the public upon request made to the Board. Accordingly, 
the Board does not consider these data to be confidential.
    Abstract: The Act requires financial institutions to notify their 
ARA of their intent to engage in government securities broker or dealer 
activity, to amend information submitted previously, and to record 
their termination of such activity. The Federal Reserve is the ARA for 
state member banks, foreign banks, uninsured state branches or state 
agencies of foreign banks, commercial lending companies owned or 
controlled by foreign banks, and Edge corporations. The Federal Reserve 
uses the information in its supervisory capacity to measure compliance 
with the Act.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 24, 
2016.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2016-04282 Filed 2-26-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P