[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 86 (Friday, May 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21300-21301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09049]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency


Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection 
Revision; Request for Comment; Uniform Interagency Transfer Agent 
Registration and Deregistration Forms

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 Interagency Transfer Agent Registration and 
Deregistration Forms.''

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 5, 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 ``1557-0124, Forms TA-1 and TA-W,'' 400 7th Street 
SW., Suite 3E-218, 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.

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: The OCC is proposing to revise the following 
information collection:
    Report Title: Uniform Interagency Transfer Agent Registration and 
Deregistration Forms.
    Form Numbers: Form TA-1 & TA-W.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Affected Public: National banks and their subsidiaries, federal 
savings associations and their subsidiaries.
    OMB Control No.: 1557-0124.

Form TA-1

    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.

Form TA-W

    Estimated Number of Respondents: Deregistrations: 2.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: Registrations: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1 hour.
    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 qualifying security is 
required to register with its appropriate regulatory agency (``ARA''). 
The OCC's regulations at 12 CFR 9.20 implement these provisions of the 
Act.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-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 
. . . .'' In addition, when a national bank or federal savings 
association no longer acts as a transfer

[[Page 21301]]

agent for covered corporate securities or when the national bank or 
federal savings association is no longer supervised by the OCC, i.e., 
liquidates or converts to another form of financial institution, the 
national bank or federal savings association must file Form TA-W with 
the OCC requesting withdrawal from registration as a transfer agent. In 
2007, the OCC removed Form TA-W from this information collection and 
began use of the SEC's Form TA-W (OMB Control No. 3235-0151). The OCC 
is now reinstituting use of Form TA-W by national banks and federal 
savings associations to alleviate any confusion created by the use of 
the SEC form.
    The OCC has determined that Forms TA-1 and TA-W are mandatory and 
that their 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 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.''

Request for Comment

    All comments received are part of the public record and subject to 
public disclosure. Comments are 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.

    Dated: April 27, 2017.
Karen Solomon,
Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2017-09049 Filed 5-4-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-33-P