[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 50 (Thursday, March 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14108-14109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05266]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection 
Renewal; Submission for OMB Review; Financial Management Policies--
Interest Rate Risk

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, ``Financial Management Policies--Interest Rate 
Risk.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection 
to OMB for review.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 17, 2017.

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: 1557-0299, 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 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, 1557-0299, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th 
Street NW., #10235, Washington, DC 20503 or by email to oira 
[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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information that they conduct or sponsor. The term ``collection of 
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and 
includes agency requests or requirements that members of the public 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 
The OCC requests that OMB extend approval of the following information 
collection.
    Title: Financial Management Policies--Interest Rate Risk.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0299.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Burden Estimate:
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 372.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 14,880.
    Description: This information collection covers the recordkeeping 
burden for maintaining data in accordance with OCC's regulation on 
interest rate risk procedures for Federal savings associations, 12 CFR 
163.176. The purpose of the regulation is to ensure that Federal 
savings associations are managing their exposure to interest rate risk 
appropriately. To comply with this reporting requirement, institutions 
need to maintain sufficient records to document how their interest rate 
risk exposure is monitored and managed internally.
    Comments: The OCC issued a notice for 60 days of comment on 
December 27, 2016, 81 FR 95302. The OCC received one comment from an 
individual. The commenter stated that the OCC should rescind 12 CFR 
163.176 or, if the OCC determines that it is important and should not 
be removed, it should be amended to also apply to national banks. The 
commenter stated that, while interest rate risk exposure at one time 
was different for savings associations and commercial banks, today 
there is no difference and the two charter types should be subject to 
similar regulation. The commenter also stated that the regulation is 
outdated and unnecessary and should be rescinded, citing several OCC 
bulletins that the commenter claims state expectations for interest 
rate risk

[[Page 14109]]

management at federal savings associations and national banks. The 
commenter also stated that 12 CFR part 30, appendix A, also requires 
federal savings associations to manage interest rate risk and requires 
periodic reporting to the board of directors, making 12 CFR 163.176 
redundant and unnecessary. The commenter concluded by suggesting that 
the OCC should discuss 12 CFR 563.176, a provision the commenter 
asserts is duplicative of 12 CFR 163.176, in it its final rulemaking.
    The OCC, pursuant to section 2222 of the Economic Growth and 
Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996,\1\ published several 
notices (EGRPRA) to identify outdated or otherwise unnecessary 
regulatory requirements imposed on insured depository institutions, one 
of which included 12 CFR 163.176.\2\ No comments were received 
regarding this regulation during that process and, as a result, no 
changes were made in the final rule.\3\ In addition, the change 
requested by the commenter cannot be made in this PRA notice as it 
would require a rulemaking. The OCC bulletins cited by the commenter as 
duplicative only provide non-binding guidance, which is legally 
distinct from binding requirements set forth in a rule. Lastly, 12 CFR 
563.176 was adopted by the former Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). 
The OCC adopted the language of that rule as 12 CFR 163.176.\4\ While 
the OCC agrees that 12 CFR 563.176 is unnecessary, authority to revise 
or remove that rule reverted from the OTS to the Department of Treasury 
Departmental Offices, not to the OCC because one bureau may not amend 
the regulations of another bureau.\5\ The OCC communicated the 
commenter's concern regarding 12 CFR 563.176 to the Department of the 
Treasury Departmental Offices.
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    \1\ Public Law 104-208 (1996), codified at 12 U.S.C. 3311(b).
    \2\ 80 FR 79729, at 79729 (December 23, 2015).
    \3\ 82 FR 8082 (January 23, 2017).
    \4\ 75 FR 48949, at 49058 (August 9, 2011).
    \5\ The Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. 1510) gives the Director 
of the Office of the Federal Register (Director) the authority to 
create and the responsibility to maintain the CFR. The Office of the 
Federal Register's regulations at 1 CFR 8.1 and 8.2 give the 
Director the authority to make CFR assignments within each title and 
the responsibility for orderly codification and 1 CFR 2.4 gives the 
Director the authority to administer the regulations of the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (1 CFR chapter I). 
Based on this, the Director has always interpreted the regulations 
to require that only the agency assigned to the chapter or, in the 
case of a Department component, the Department itself, can amend 
regulations in that chapter.
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    Comments continue to be 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;
    (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.

    Dated: March 9, 2017.
Karen Solomon,
Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2017-05266 Filed 3-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-33-P