[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 162 (Monday, August 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56753-56754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19956]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection 
Revision; Submission for OMB Review; Uniform Interagency Transfer Agent 
Registration and Amendment Form

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 comment on the revision of an 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
    The OCC is soliciting comment on a revision to its collection 
titled ``Uniform Transfer Agency Registration and Amendment Form.'' The 
OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for 
review.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 21, 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 ``1557-0124, Form TA-1,'' 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 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.
    All 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 comments 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, 1557-0124, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, 
DC 20503; by fax to 202-395-6974; or by email to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaquita Merritt, OCC 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. In addition, copies of the current Form TA-1 
reporting form and instructions can be obtained at the Federal 
Financial Institutions Examination Council Web site (http://www.ffiec.gov/ffiec_report_forms.htm).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OCC is proposing to revise the following 
information collection:
    Report Title: Uniform Interagency Transfer Agent Registration and 
Amendment Form.
    Form Number: Form TA-1.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Affected Public: National banks and their subsidiaries, federal 
savings associations and their subsidiaries.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0124.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: registrations: 1; amendments: 10.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: registrations: 1.25 hours; 
amendments: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 3 hours.

General Description of Report

    Section 17A(c) of the Security Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act) 
requires all transfer agents for securities registered under section 12 
of the Act or, if the security would be required to be registered 
except for the exemption from registration provided by section 
12(g)(2)(B) or section 12(g)(2)(G), to ``fil[e] with the appropriate 
regulatory agency . . . an application for registration in such form 
and containing such information and documents . . . as such appropriate 
regulatory agency may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of this section.'' \1\ In general, an 
entity performing transfer agent functions for a security is required 
to register with its appropriate regulatory agency (``ARA'') if the 
security is registered on a national securities exchange or if the 
issuer of the security has total assets exceeding $10 million and a 
class of equity security held of record by 2,000 persons or, for an 
issuer that is not a bank, BHC, or SLHC, by 500 persons who are not 
accredited investors.\2\ The OCC's 12 CFR 9.20 implements these 
provisions of the Act.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1.
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 78l(g)(1).
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    To accomplish the registration of transfer agents, Form TA-1 was 
developed in 1975 as an interagency effort by the Securities and 
Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal banking agencies (the OCC, 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation). The agencies primarily use the data 
collected on Form TA-1 to determine whether an application for 
registration should be approved, denied, accelerated, or postponed, and 
they use the data in connection with their supervisory 
responsibilities.

Current Actions

    The OCC proposes to revise the reporting instructions for Form TA-
1. The proposed revisions remove outdated references to the OTS, 
clarify the definition of a ``qualifying security'' pursuant to 
statutory changes, alter the number of Form TA-1 copies that 
registrants are required to file with their ARA, and make other minor 
instructional clarifications. The OCC currently requires the filing of 
an original plus two copies of any registration or amendment. The 
proposed change is to require the filing of only the original.
    Pursuant to statutory changes,\3\ the definition of a ``qualifying 
security'' was altered to include securities registered on a national 
securities exchange pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act, as well as 
equity securities registered pursuant to section 12(g)(1) of the Act 
for issuers that have:
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    \3\ See Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act section 
85001, Pub. L. 114-94, 129 Stat. 1312, 1797 (2010), amending 15 
U.S.C. 78a et seq; Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act section 501, 
Pub. L. 112-106, 126 Stat. 306, 325 (2012), amending 15 U.S.C. 
78l(g)(1)(A).
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    (a) Total assets exceeding $10 million and a class of equity 
security (other than an exempted security) held of record by either 
2,000 persons, or 500 persons

[[Page 56754]]

who are not accredited investors (as such term is defined by the SEC); 
and
    (b) In the case of an issuer that is a bank, a savings and loan 
holding company (as defined in section 10 of the Home Owners' Loan 
Act), or a bank holding company, as such term is defined in section 2 
of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841), has total 
assets exceeding $10 million and a class of equity security (other than 
an exempted security) held of record by 2,000 or more persons.

Legal Basis for the Information Collection

    The OCC has determined that Form TA-1 is mandatory and that its 
collection is authorized by sections 17A(c), 17(a)(3), and 23(a)(1) of 
the Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 78q-1(c), 78q(a)(3), and 78w(a)(1)). 
Additionally, section 3(a)(34)(B) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 
78c(a)(34)(B)(ii)) provides that the OCC is the ARA in the case of a 
national banks and insured Federal savings associations and 
subsidiaries of such institutions. The registrations are public filings 
and are not considered confidential.
    The OCC needs the information contained in this collection to 
fulfill its statutory responsibilities. Section 17A(c) of the Act (15 
U.S.C. 78q-1(c)), as amended, provides that all those authorized to 
transfer securities registered under section 12 of the Act (transfer 
agents) shall register ``by filing with the appropriate regulatory 
agency . . . an application for registration in such form and 
containing such information and documents . . . as such appropriate 
regulatory agency may prescribe to be necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of this section.'' Section 9.20 of the 
OCC's regulations (12 CFR 9.20) governs registration of transfer 
agents. Section 9.20(b) provides that SEC rules pursuant to section 17A 
of the Act, prescribing operational and reporting requirements for 
transfer agents, apply to the domestic activities of registered 
national bank transfer agents.

Request for Comment

    On June 10, 2016, the Federal banking agencies published a notice 
concerning the collection for 60 days of comment, 81 FR 37665. No 
comments were received. Comments continue to be invited on:
    (a) Whether the information collections 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;
    (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; and
    (e) Estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Karen Solomon,
Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2016-19956 Filed 8-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-33-P