[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 116 (Monday, June 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28051-28052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12692]
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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, 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).
DATES: The revisions are applicable as of June 1, 2019.
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.
Office of Management and Budget (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, 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 PRA 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, 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, With Revision, of 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.
Effective Date: June 1, 2019.
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
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.
Effective Date: June 1, 2019.
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, an SMB, a BHC, an 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 an 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.
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 an MSD that is, or is the subsidiary of, an SLHC, SMB
(including its divisions or departments), or BHC (including a
subsidiary bank of
[[Page 28052]]
the BHC 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)).
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 may 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.
Current actions: On March 5, 2019 the Board published a notice in
the Federal Register (84 FR 7902) requesting public comment for 60 days
on the extension, with revision, of the Uniform Application for
Municipal Securities Principal or Municipal Securities Representative
Associated with a Bank Municipal Securities Dealer and the Uniform
Termination Notice for Municipal Securities Principal or Municipal
Securities Representative Associated with a Bank Municipal Securities
Dealer. 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 are effective as of June
1, 2019. The comment period for this notice expired on May 6, 2019. The
Board did not receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented
as proposed.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 12, 2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-12692 Filed 6-14-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P