[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 40 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6788-6789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03484]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board 
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) 
is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, without revision, the 
Domestic Branch Notification (FR 4001; OMB No. 7100-0097).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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.
    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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board authority under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) to approve and assign OMB control 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 Paperwork Reduction Act 
Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of 
information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. 
The Board may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection that has been 
extended,

[[Page 6789]]

revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.
    Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the extension for 
three years, without revision, of the following information collection:
    Report title: Domestic Branch Notification.
    Agency form number: FR 4001.
    OMB control number: 7100-0097.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondents: State member banks (SMBs).
    Estimated number of respondents: 320.
    Estimated average hours per response: Expedited notifications, 1.5 
hours; and nonexpedited notifications, 2 hours.
    Estimated annual burden hours: Expedited notifications, 98 hours; 
and nonexpedited notifications, 510 hours.
    General description of report: The Federal Reserve Act and the 
Board's Regulation H require a state member bank to seek prior approval 
of the Federal Reserve System before establishing or acquiring a 
domestic branch. Such requests for approval must be filed as 
applications at the appropriate Reserve Bank for the state member bank. 
Due to the limited information that a state member bank generally has 
to provide for branch proposals, there is no formal reporting form for 
a domestic branch application. A state member bank is required to 
notify the Federal Reserve by letter of its intent to establish one or 
more new branches and provide with the letter evidence that public 
notice of the proposed branch(es) has been published by the state 
member bank in the appropriate newspaper(s).\1\ The Federal Reserve 
uses the information provided to fulfill its statutory obligation to 
review branch applications before acting on the proposals and otherwise 
to supervise state member banks.
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    \1\ Per Rules of Procedure (12 CFR 262), Board regulations 
require the use of newspaper for public notifications. For the 
purposes of FR 4001, the newspaper used must be in the general 
circulation of the community or communities in which the head office 
of the bank and the proposed branch are located.
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    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The Board's filing 
requirements associated with Domestic Branch Notification are 
authorized under section 9(3) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 
321), which requires state member banks to obtain Board approval before 
establishing a domestic branch (Board's Regulation H (12 CFR 208.6)). 
The obligation of state member banks to request prior approval from the 
Federal Reserve to establish a domestic branch is mandatory. The 
information contained in a state member bank's Domestic Branch 
Notification is considered public. A state member bank's request that 
any portion(s) of a Domestic Branch Notification be kept confidential 
pursuant to exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(4)) must be submitted in accordance with section 261.15 of the 
Board's Rules Regarding Availability of Information (12 CFR 261.15).
    Current actions: On November 30, 2018, the Board published a notice 
in the Federal Register (83 FR 61636) requesting public comment for 60 
days on the extension, without revision, of the Domestic Branch 
Notification. The comment period for this notice expired on January 29, 
2019. The Board did not receive any comments.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 22, 
2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-03484 Filed 2-27-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P