[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 53 (Monday, March 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12010-12011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05548]


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FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT COUNCIL


Hearing Procedures; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Financial Stability Oversight Council.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Financial Stability Oversight Council (Council) has 
adopted amendments to its procedures for hearings conducted by the 
Council under Title I and Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 
Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).\1\ The amendments 
were adopted primarily in order to add hearings conducted under section 
117 of the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the procedures.
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    \1\ Public Law 111-203 (Jul. 21, 2010).

DATES: The amendments to the hearing procedures were effective on March 
13, 2018. Written comments on the amendments must be received on or 
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before April 18, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric A. Froman, Executive Director, 
Financial Stability Oversight Council, U.S. Treasury Department, (202) 
622-1942; Stephen T. Milligan, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Treasury 
Department, (202) 622-4051.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the 
procedures according to the instructions below. All submissions must 
refer to the document title.
    Electronic submission of comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. Electronic submission of comments allows 
the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures 
timely receipt, and enables the Council to make them available to the 
public. Comments submitted electronically through the http://www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and 
interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
    Mail. Send comments to Financial Stability Oversight Council, 1500 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220.
    Public inspection of comments. All properly submitted comments will 
be available for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Additional instructions. In general, comments received, including 
attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public 
record and are available to the public. Do not submit any information 
in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential 
or inappropriate for public disclosure.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On May 22, 2012, the Council approved hearing procedures relating 
to the conduct of hearings before the Council in connection with 
proposed determinations regarding nonbank financial companies and 
financial market utilities and related emergency waivers or 
modifications under sections 113 and 804 of the Dodd-Frank Act.\2\ At 
the time, the Council sought public comment on all aspects of the 
hearing procedures, in order to further consider whether any provision 
should be modified. On April 4, 2013, the Council approved certain 
amendments to the hearing procedures to expand their scope to include 
hearings for financial institutions engaged in payment, clearing, or 
settlement activities that are the subject of a proposed designation by 
the Council under Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Act.\3\
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    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 5323, 5463; 77 FR 31,855 (May 30, 2012).
    \3\ 78 FR 22,546 (April 16, 2013).

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[[Page 12011]]

Amendments to Hearing Procedures

    On March 13, 2018, the Council adopted amendments to the hearing 
procedures, primarily to add hearings conducted under section 117 of 
the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the procedures. The Council has 
posted the amended hearing procedures on its website at https://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fsoc/designations/Pages/Hearing-Procedures.aspx and on http://www.regulations.gov. Although the 
amendments were effective when adopted, the Council is requesting 
comments on the procedures and may make further amendments to reflect 
any comments received.
    Section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act applies to an entity that was a 
bank holding company having total consolidated assets equal to or 
greater than $50 billion as of January 1, 2010, that received financial 
assistance under or participated in the Capital Purchase Plan 
established under the Troubled Asset Relief Program authorized by the 
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and to any successor 
entity (as defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System (Board of Governors) in consultation with the Council) to such a 
bank holding company.\4\ Section 117(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act provides 
that such an entity shall, if it ceases to be a bank holding company, 
be treated as a nonbank financial company subject to supervision by the 
Board of Governors as if the Council had made a determination under 
section 113 of the Dodd-Frank Act with respect to that entity.\5\ 
Section 117(c) of the Dodd-Frank Act provides that an entity may 
request, in writing, an opportunity for a written or oral hearing 
before the Council to appeal its treatment as a nonbank financial 
company supervised by the Board of Governors.\6\
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    \4\ 12 U.S.C. 5327.
    \5\ 12 U.S.C. 5327(b).
    \6\ 12 U.S.C. 5327(c).
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    The Council amended the hearing procedures to add hearings 
conducted under section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the 
procedures. Specifically, the Council amended the definition of 
``petitioner'' in section 2 of the hearing procedures to add a 
reference to entities that are appealing their treatment pursuant to 
section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 3(b) of the hearing 
procedures was amended to provide that a petitioner that is appealing 
its treatment pursuant to section 117 may request a hearing by 
submitting a written request to the Chairperson of the Council. Section 
5(b)(3)(ii) of the hearing procedures was amended to provide that any 
petitioner, including a petitioner appealing its treatment pursuant to 
section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act, may submit additional written 
materials to supplement any materials presented during an oral hearing 
not later than 7 days after the date of that hearing. A new paragraph 
(4) was added to section 5(b) to provide that, in cases where an oral 
hearing is held under section 113 or 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the 
date of the hearing shall be deemed to be the date on which the Council 
has received any supplemental materials that are timely submitted after 
the oral hearing. The definition of ``hearing date'' in section 2 was 
accordingly deleted as unnecessary.
    To reflect the addition of hearings conducted under section 117 of 
the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the procedures, conforming changes 
were made to sections 1(a) and (b) (regarding the authority for and 
scope of the procedures); section 4(b) (regarding the submission of 
written materials); section 7 (regarding the denial and dismissal of a 
hearing); and section 8(a) (providing that the substantive standards 
for Council review of petitions is not affected by the hearing 
procedures).
    Finally, the Council made certain non-substantive or technical 
changes to update the hearing procedures. Specifically, the definitions 
of ``hearing'' and ``oral hearing'' in section 2 were deleted as 
unnecessary. Section 5(c)(2) was amended to clarify that, even when the 
Council determines to conduct an oral hearing through representatives, 
each member of the Council is entitled to participate in the oral 
hearing in lieu of appointing a representative. The former section 
5(d)(1), providing that if the Council grants a request for an oral 
hearing, the hearing shall be conducted through both the submission of 
written materials and an oral hearing, was omitted from the hearing 
procedures as redundant with other provisions in the procedures. The 
former section 5(d)(2), providing for the conduct of an oral hearing, 
was redesignated as section 5(c)(3) and amended to add, consistent with 
the Council's past practice, that the Chairperson of the Council, his 
representative, or the Hearing Clerk (as defined in the procedures) 
will preside at an oral hearing. Section 5(e), regarding transcripts of 
oral hearings, was redesignated as section 5(d) and amended to remove 
the reference to the petitioner's right to ``inspect'' a transcript or 
other recording of the oral argument, leaving the reference to the 
petitioner's right to receive a copy of the transcript or other 
recording and to submit corrections.

    Dated: March 13, 2018.
Eric A. Froman,
Executive Director, Financial Stability Oversight Council.
[FR Doc. 2018-05548 Filed 3-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-25-P-P