[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32743-32745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14499]


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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, without 
revision, the Disclosure and Reporting Requirements of the Community 
Reinvestment Act (CRA)-Related Agreements (Regulation G) (FR G; OMB No. 
7100-0299).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR G, 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 https://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 
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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the 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

[[Page 32744]]

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 proposal: The Board 
invites public comment on the following information collection, which 
is 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 to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension for 
three years, without revision, of the following report:
    Report title: Disclosure and Reporting Requirements of the CRA-
Related Agreements (Regulation G).
    Agency form number: FR G.
    OMB control number: 7100-0299.
    Frequency: Quarterly, annually, and on occasion.
    Respondents: State member banks and their subsidiaries, bank 
holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies (Insured 
Depository Institutions (IDIs)); affiliates of bank holding companies 
and savings and loan holding companies, other than banks, savings 
associations, and subsidiaries of banks and savings associations; and 
nongovernmental entities or persons (NGEP) that enter into covered 
agreements with any of the aforementioned companies.
    Estimated number of respondents: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates--
Copy of agreements to agency, 2 respondents; List of agreements to 
agency, 2 respondents; Annual report, 2 respondents; and Filing NGEP 
annual report, 2 respondents; Reporting: NGEP--Copy of agreements to 
agency, 6 respondents; and Annual Report, 6 respondents; Disclosure: 
IDIs and affiliates--Covered agreements to public, 2 respondents; and 
Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 2 respondents; and 
Disclosure: NGEP--Covered agreements to public, 6 respondents.
    Estimated average hours per response: Reporting: IDIs and 
affiliates--Copy of agreements to agency, 1 hour; List of agreements to 
agency, 1 hour; Annual report, 4 hours; and Filing NGEP annual report, 
1 hour; Reporting: NGEP--Copy of agreements to agency, 1 hour; and 
Annual Report, 4 hours; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates--Covered 
agreements to public, 1 hour; and Agreements relating to activities of 
CRA affiliates, 1 hour; and Disclosure: NGEP--Covered agreements to 
public, 1 hour.
    Estimated annual burden hours: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates--Copy 
of agreements to agency, 8 hours; List of agreements to agency, 8 
hours; Annual report, 8 hours; and Filing NGEP annual report, 6 hours; 
Reporting: NGEP--Copy of agreements to agency, 6 hours; and Annual 
Report, 24 hours; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates--Covered agreements 
to public, 6 hours; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA 
affiliates, 6 hours; and Disclosure: NGEP--Covered agreements to 
public, 6 hours.
    General description of report: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) 
amended the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) by adding a new 
section 48, entitled ``CRA Sunshine Requirements.'' Section 48 imposes 
disclosure and reporting requirements on IDIs, their affiliates, and 
NGEPs that enter into written agreements that (1) are made in 
fulfillment of the CRA and (2) involve funds or other resources of an 
IDI or affiliate with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 in a 
year, or loans with an aggregate principal value of more than $50,000 
in a year. Section 48 excludes from the disclosure and reporting 
requirements any CRA-related agreement between an IDI or its affiliate, 
on the one hand, and an NGEP, on the other hand, if the NGEP has not 
contacted the IDI, its affiliate, or a federal banking agency 
concerning the CRA performance of the IDI.
    The GLBA directed the Board, as well as the other federal banking 
agencies, to issue consistent and comparable regulations to implement 
the requirements of section 48 of the FDI Act. In 2001, the agencies 
promulgated substantially identical regulations, which interpret the 
scope of written agreements that are subject to the statute and 
implement the disclosure and reporting requirements of section 48.\1\ 
The Board's Regulation G implements the provisions of the GLBA 
requiring both IDIs and NGEP to make a copy of any covered agreement 
available to the public and the appropriate federal banking agency, and 
to file an annual report with each appropriate federal banking agency 
regarding the use of funds under such agreement for that fiscal year. 
In addition, each calendar quarter, an IDI and its affiliates must 
provide to the appropriate federal banking agency a list of all covered 
agreements entered into during that quarter or a copy of the covered 
agreements.
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    \1\ 12 CFR part 35 (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency); 
12 CFR part 207 (Board); 12 CFR part 346 (Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation).
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    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The disclosure and 
reporting requirements of Regulation G are authorized pursuant to the 
authority of the Board to prescribe regulations to carry out the 
purposes of section 711 of GLBA.\2\ The obligation to comply with the 
disclosure and reporting requirements of Regulation G is mandatory. 
Because the disclosure and reporting requirements of section 711 and 
Regulation G require relevant parties to disclose covered agreements to 
the public, an entity subject to Regulation G would likely be unable to 
prevent the Board from releasing a covered agreement to the public.\3\ 
However, in the preamble to Regulation G, the Board stated that an 
entity subject to Regulation G may submit a public version of its 
covered agreements to the Board with a request for confidential 
treatment. The Board further stated that it would release this version 
to the public unless it received a request under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) for the entirety of the CRA-related agreement. 
In such case, information in the agreement may be protected from 
disclosure by FOIA exemptions (b)(4) (which protects ``trade secrets 
and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that 
is] privileged and confidential'') \4\ and (b)(8) (which protects 
information contained in ``examination, operating,

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or condition reports'' obtained in the bank supervisory process).\5\
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    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 1831y(h)(1).
    \3\ The Board noted in the preamble to Regulation G that section 
711 would require disclosure of some types of information that an 
agency might normally withhold from disclosure under the FOIA and 
that the Board would not keep information confidential under the 
FOIA that a party would be required to disclose under section 711. 
Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements, 66 FR 2052, 
2066-2067 (Jan. 10, 2001).
    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).
    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8).

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, July 2, 2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-14499 Filed 7-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P