[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7902-7904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03874]
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment
Request
AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
ACTION: Notice, request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board)
invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision,
the Uniform Application for Municipal Securities Principal or Municipal
Securities Representative Associated with a Bank Municipal Securities
Dealer (Form MSD-4; OMB No. 7100-0100) and the Uniform Termination
Notice for Municipal Securities Principal or Municipal Securities
Representative Associated with a Bank Municipal Securities Dealer (Form
MSD-5; OMB No. 7100-0101). The Board proposes to revise Form MSD-4 and
Form MSD-5 to (1) remove the date of birth and place of birth items
from the `Personal History of Applicant' section on Form MSD-4 and
instructions; (2) make minor revisions to the Privacy Act statements on
Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5; and (3) remove the Privacy Act notice from
the respective instructions for Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 (but leave
the Privacy Act notice on the forms). The proposed revisions would be
effective June 1, 2019.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 6, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by MSD-4 or MSD-5, by
any of the following methods:
Agency website: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
Email: [email protected]. Include OMB
number in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
Mail: Ann E. Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20551.
All public comments are available on the Board's website at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as submitted, unless
modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments will not be
edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Public
comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 146,
1709 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, between 9:00 a.m. and
5:00 p.m. on weekdays. For security reasons, the Board requires that
visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by
calling (202) 452-3684. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to
present valid government-issued photo identification and to submit to
security screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments.
Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the PRA OMB submission,
including the proposed reporting form and instructions, supporting
statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public
docket files, if approved. These documents will also be made available
on the Board's public website at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested from the agency clearance
officer, whose name appears below.
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.
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. In exercising this delegated authority, the
Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In
determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board
will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.
Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposals
The Board invites public comment on the following information
collections, which are being reviewed under authority delegated by the
OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:
a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the Board's functions, including whether the
information has practical utility;
b. The accuracy of the Board's estimate of the burden of the
proposed information collection, 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 collection on
respondents, including through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology; and
e. Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation,
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations
received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Board
should modify the proposal.
Proposal Under OMB Delegated Authority To Extend for Three Years, With
Revision, the Following Information Collections
Report title: The Uniform Application for Municipal Securities
Principal or Municipal Securities Representative Associated with a Bank
Municipal Securities Dealer.
Agency form number: Form MSD-4.
OMB control number: 7100-0100.
Frequency: On occasion; a municipal securities dealer (MSD) that is
regulated by the Board is required to file Form MSD-4 within ten days
of a municipal securities principal's or representative's association
with that MSD.
Respondents: MSDs regulated by the Board that are, or are the
subsidiary of, a state member bank (SMB), a bank holding company (BHC),
a savings and loan holding company (SLHC) or a foreign dealer bank.
Estimated number of respondents: 18.
Estimated average hours per response: 1.
Estimated annual burden hours: 18.
General description of report: The Municipal Securities Rulemaking
Board (MSRB) rule G-7, Information Concerning Associated Persons,
requires persons who are or seek to be associated with an MSD as a
municipal securities principal (a person performing supervisory
functions) or representative (a person engaged in underwriting,
trading, or sales of municipal securities or furnishing financial
advice to issuers in connection with the issuance of municipal
securities) to provide certain background information to the MSD. The
rule also requires MSDs to obtain and report this information to the
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appropriate regulatory agency (ARA). Board-regulated MSDs must report
to the Board information required by MSRB rule G-7 using Form MSD-4.
Generally, the information required by Form MSD-4 relates to employment
history and professional background, including any disciplinary
sanctions, as well as any claimed basis for exemption from MSRB
examination requirements.
MSDs must retain copies of Form MSD-4 for each associated principal
or representative during the entire term of employment and three years
from the date of termination of employment. Completed reporting forms
are sent as a Portable Document Format (PDF) directly to the Board via
email.
Report title: The Uniform Termination Notice for Municipal
Securities Principal or Municipal Securities Representative Associated
with a Bank Municipal Securities Dealer.
Agency form number: Form MSD-5.
OMB control number: 7100-0101.
Frequency: On occasion; an MSD that is regulated by the Board is
required to file Form MSD-5 within 30 calendar days after a principal
or representative terminates association with that MSD.
Respondents: MSDs regulated by the Board that are, or are the
subsidiary of, a state member bank (SMB), a bank holding company (BHC),
a savings and loan holding company (SLHC) or a foreign dealer bank.
Estimated number of respondents: 19.
Estimated average hours per response: 0.25.
Estimated annual burden hours: 5.
General description of report: Form MSD-5 is filed by a Board-
regulated MSD when any employee previously registered as a municipal
securities principal or representative is terminated for any reason.
Form MSD-5 requires information such as the reason for termination and
whether any investigations or actions by agencies or self-regulatory
organizations (SROs) involving the associated person occurred during
the period of employment.
Any SMB, BHC, SLHC, or foreign dealer bank registered as a MSD will
continue to be required to file this event-generated report form for
any employees that are terminated. MSDs must retain copies of the Form
MSD-5 reports for three years from the date of termination of
employment. Completed reporting forms are sent as a PDF directly to the
Board via email.
Proposed revisions: The Board proposes to revise Form MSD-4 and
Form MSD-5 to (1) remove the date of birth and place of birth items
from the `Personal History of Applicant' section on Form MSD-4 and
instructions; (2) make minor revisions to the Privacy Act statements on
Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5; and (3) remove the Privacy Act notice from
the respective instructions for Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 (but leave
the Privacy Act notice on the forms). The proposed revisions would be
effective June 1, 2019.
The date of birth and place of birth data fields on Form MSD-4
report are considered personally identifiable information (PII), and
the Board generally does not need these fields in order to perform its
supervisory responsibilities regarding applications to become municipal
securities principals or representatives but could obtain this
information on a case-by-case basis when needed. The Board is making an
effort to remove PII from its supervisory reports if that PII is not
critical to fulfilling its supervisory responsibilities.
The Board also proposes to update the Privacy Act notices that
appear on Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5, respectively. The Privacy Act
governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of
information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records
by federal agencies. A system of records is a group of records under
the control of the agency from which information about individuals is
retrieved by name of the individual or some identifier assigned to the
individual. Under the Privacy Act, an agency that maintains a system of
records must provide notice to individuals, at the point of collection
of information maintained in the system of records, of: (1) The
authority which authorizes the collection and whether the collection is
mandatory or voluntary; (2) the purpose of the collection; (3) the
routine uses which may be made of the information; and (4) the effects
of not disclosing the information.
The proposed revisions to the Privacy Act notice would include an
updated website URL for the relevant system of records. The revisions
to the notice also would reflect that Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 are
interagency and would add the applicable Privacy Act notices from the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Finally, the Board would remove the
Privacy Act notice from the instructions to Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5,
respectively, as a Privacy Act notice on the form collecting the
information is sufficient and the Privacy Act notice on the
instructions is duplicative.
Legal authorization and confidentiality: Sections 15B(a)-(b) and 17
of the Securities Exchange Act (the Act) authorize the SEC and MSRB to
promulgate rules requiring MSDs to file reports about associated
persons with the SEC and the ARA (15 U.S.C. 78o-4(a)-(b) and (q)). In
addition, section 15B(c) of the Act provides that ARAs may enforce
compliance with the SEC's and MSRB's rules (15 U.S.C. 78o-4(c)).
Section 23(a) of the Act also authorizes the SEC, the Board, and the
other ARAs to make rules and regulations in order to implement the
provisions of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78w(a)). Under the Act, the Board is
the ARA for a MSD that is, or is the subsidiary of, a SLHC, SMB
(including its divisions or departments), or BHC (including a
subsidiary bank of the bank holding company, if the subsidiary does not
already report to another ARA or to the SEC, and any divisions,
departments or subsidiaries of that subsidiary) (15 U.S.C.
78c(a)(34)(A)(ii)). Although the Act does not specify the ARA for MSD
activities of foreign banks, uninsured state branches or state agencies
of foreign banks, commercial lending companies owned or controlled by a
foreign bank, or Edge Act corporations (collectively referred to as
``foreign dealer banks''), the Division of Market Regulation of the SEC
has agreed that the Federal Reserve should examine the MSD activities
of foreign dealer banks.\1\ Accordingly, the Board's collection of Form
MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 for these institutions is authorized pursuant to
the Act.\2\
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\1\ See Letter from Catherine McGuire, Chief Counsel, SEC's
Division of Market Regulation, to Laura M. Homer, Assistant Director
of Board S&R, June 14, 1994.
\2\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-4, 78q, and 78w.
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In addition, the Board is authorized to require that SMBs and their
departments file reports with the Board pursuant to section 11(a)(1) of
the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248(a)(1)). Branches and agencies of
foreign banks are subject to the reporting requirements of section
11(a)(1) of the Federal Reserve Act pursuant to Section 7(c)(2) of the
International Banking Act (12 U.S.C. 3105(c)(2)). BHCs and their
subsidiaries are required to submit reports to the Board to ensure
compliance with ``federal laws that the Board has specific jurisdiction
to enforce'' (12 U.S.C. 1844(c)(1)(ii)(II)). Section 10(b)(2) of the
Home Owners Loan Act authorizes the Board to require SLHCs to file
``such reports as may be required by the Board'' and instructs that
such reports ``shall contain such information concerning the operations
of such savings and loan holding company and its subsidiaries as the
Board may require'' (12 U.S.C. 1467a(b)(2)).
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The obligation to file the forms with the Board is mandatory for
those financial institutions for which the Board serves as the ARA, and
the filing of both forms is event generated.
Generally, information provided on Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 will
be kept confidential from the public under exemption 6 of the Freedom
of Information Act (``FOIA''), which protects information in
``personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which
would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy''
(5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6)). In addition, other information on Form MSD-4 and
Form MSD-5, such as the name of the MSD that filed the form, may be
withheld under exemption 4 of the FOIA, if disclosure is reasonably
likely to result in substantial competitive harm to the MSD (e.g., if a
MSD recently hired or terminated a number of municipal securities
employees, disclosing these forms could reveal competitively sensitive
commercial information about that dealer) (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).
The information collected on Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 is
maintained in a ``system of records'' within the meaning of the Privacy
Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(5)). As required under the Privacy Act, the Board
formally designated a system of records notice (``SORN'') for this
information collection, which is the ``BGFRS-17, FRB--Municipal or
Government Securities Principals and Representatives,'' located here:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-17-municipal-or-government-securities-principals-and-representatives.pdf. Pursuant to the Privacy
Act, disclosure of information that must be released under the FOIA
does not violate the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(2)). However,
disclosure of any confidential information that is considered exempt
under the FOIA must be made in accordance with the Privacy Act (5
U.S.C. 552a(b)). Thus, the Board may make disclosures of information
collected on Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 in accordance with the Privacy
Act's ``routine use'' disclosure provision, which permits the
disclosure of a record for a purpose that is compatible with the
purpose for which the record was collected (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7) and
(b)(3)). The routine uses that apply to this information collection are
listed in the SORN, which is available on the Board's website at the
above hyperlink. Both Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5 are being revised to
include updated Privacy Act notices.
Consultation outside the agency: The Board has coordinated and
consulted with the FDIC, OCC, and SEC in proposing these revisions.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 27,
2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-03874 Filed 3-4-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P