[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45491-45494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18606]


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 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``Board'') 
and

[[Page 45492]]

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), (collectively, the 
``Agencies'').

ACTION: Joint notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Agencies invite comment on a proposal to extend for three 
years, with revision, the Notice by Financial Institutions of 
Government Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer Activities 
and the Notice by Financial Institutions of Termination of Activities 
as a Government Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer (Form 
G-FIN and Form G-FINW; OMB Nos. 7100-0224 (Board), 3064-0093 (FDIC)).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 28, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to 
either or both of the Agencies. All comments, which should refer to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control numbers, will be shared 
between the Agencies. Direct all written comments as follows:
    Board: You may submit comments, identified by OMB control no. 7100-
0224 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 the 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 from the Board's website at 
http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as submitted, 
unless modified for technical reasons or to remove personally 
identifiable information at the commenter's request. Accordingly, 
comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact 
information. Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in 
paper form 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.
    FDIC: You may submit comments, which should refer to ``3064-0093'' 
by any of the following methods:
     Agency website: https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the FDIC's 
website.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``3064-0093'' in the 
subject line of the message.
     Mail: Manuel E. Cabeza, Counsel, Attn: Comments, Room MB-
3128, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20429.
     Hand Delivery: Comments may be hand delivered to the guard 
station at the rear of the 550 17th Street Building (located on F 
Street) on business days between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
    Public Inspection: All comments received will be posted without 
change to https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/ including any 
personal information provided. Paper copies of public comments may be 
requested from the FDIC Public Information Center by telephone at (877) 
275-3342 or (703) 562-2200.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA) OMB submission, including the 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 Federal Reserve 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. Requests for additional information or a copy of the 
collection may be obtained by contacting:
    Board: 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.
    FDIC: Manuel E. Cabeza, Counsel, (202) 898-3767, Legal Division, 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, 
DC 20429.

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 
collections of information 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 Proposal

    The Agencies invite public comment on the following information 
collection. Comments are invited on the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Agencies' functions, including whether 
the information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the 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.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be shared 
between the Agencies. All comments received, including attachments and 
other supporting materials, are part of the public record and will be 
included in the submission to OMB. At the end of the comment period, 
the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine 
the extent to which the Agencies should modify the proposal.
    Title: Notice by Financial Institutions of Government Securities 
Broker or Government Securities Dealer Activities; Notice by Financial 
Institutions of Termination of Activities as a Government Securities 
Broker or Government Securities Dealer (Form G-FIN).
    OMB Control Numbers: Board: 7100-0224. FDIC: 3064-0093.
    General Description of Report: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 
as amended (the Act),\1\ requires financial institutions to notify 
their appropriate regulatory agency (ARA) prior to using

[[Page 45493]]

the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce to 
engage in government securities broker or dealer activities. The Board 
is the ARA for state member banks, foreign banks, uninsured state 
branches or state agencies of foreign banks, commercial lending 
companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge corporations 
(collectively, ``Board-regulated financial institutions''). The FDIC is 
the ARA for state nonmember banks and insured branches of foreign banks 
(collectively, ``FDIC-regulated financial institutions''). A Board- or 
FDIC-regulated financial institution must use Form G-FIN to register as 
a government securities broker or dealer or to amend a previously 
submitted G-FIN.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C 78o-5.
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    Form G-FIN report collects such information as the company name, 
all business addresses, names and titles of managers of government 
securities activities, and the names of any persons involved in 
disciplinary proceedings related to the sale of securities. The Board 
uses the information collected by Form G-FIN to measure compliance with 
the Act. For the FDIC, the Form G-FIN is used by insured State 
nonmember banks that are government securities brokers or dealers to 
notify the FDIC of their status.
    An important function of the Form G-FIN is to help financial 
institutions determine whether they must file notices pursuant to the 
Act. The definitions of government securities broker and government 
securities dealer in the Act are very broad and, if read literally, 
would encompass most banks and many thrift institutions. The Treasury 
has the authority to exempt institutions from this requirement if it is 
consistent with the intent of the Act. When the Treasury regulations 
were first drafted to implement the reporting requirements of the Act, 
the appropriate regulatory agencies (ARAs) worked closely to narrow the 
class of financial institution required to file the Form G-FIN report 
(reflected in Part B of the instructions, Who Must File).
    In addition to incorporating the Treasury's exemptions from the 
notice requirement in the reporting instructions, these exemptions are 
prominently summarized on the cover sheet of the Form G-FIN report in 
order to provide a simpler and easier means for financial institutions 
to determine if they are exempt.
    Respondents: State member banks, insured state nonmember banks, 
foreign banks, insured branches of foreign banks, uninsured state 
branches or state agencies of foreign banks, commercial lending 
companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge corporations.
    Respondent burden:

Board:

Estimated number of respondents: Reporting, 34; Recordkeeping, 2.
Estimated average hours per response: Reporting, 1; Recordkeeping, 
0.25.
Estimated frequency: 1.
Estimated total annual burden hours: 35.

FDIC:

Estimated number of respondents: 1.
Estimated average hours per response: 1.
Estimated frequency: 1.
Estimated total annual burden hours: 1.

    Title: Notice by Financial Institutions of Termination of 
Activities as a Government Securities Broker or Government Securities 
Dealer (Form G-FINW).
    OMB Control Numbers: Board: 7100-0224. FDIC: 3064-0093.
    General Description of Report: The Act requires financial 
institution to notify their ARA upon terminating government securities 
broker or dealer activities. A Board- or FDIC-regulated financial 
institution must use Form G-FINW to notify the Board or FDIC, 
respectively, of its termination of such activities. Form G-FINW 
collects information such as the company name, address, and contact 
person responsible for the records associated with the government 
securities broker or dealer activities. The Board and FDIC use the 
information collected by Form G-FINW to measure compliance with the 
Act. The information collected by Forms G-FINW is not available from 
other sources.
    The instructions for Form G-FINW state that a notificant should 
retain one exact copy of the each completed Form G-FINW for the 
notificant's records. These records must be kept until at least three 
years after the financial institution has notified the Board or FDIC, 
as appropriate, that it has ceased to function as a government 
securities broker or dealer.
    Respondent: State member banks, insured state nonmember banks, 
foreign banks, insured branches of foreign banks, uninsured state 
branches or state agencies of foreign banks, commercial lending 
companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge corporations.
    Respondent burden:

Board:

Estimated number of respondents: Reporting, 2; Recordkeeping, 1.
Estimated average hours per response: Reporting, 0.25; Recordkeeping, 
0.25.
Estimated frequency: 1.
Estimated total annual burden hours: 1.

FDIC:

Estimated number of respondents: 1.
Estimated average hours per response: 0.25.
Estimated frequency: 1.
Estimated total annual burden hours: 0.25.

    Proposed Revisions: The Agencies propose to revise Form G-FIN and 
Form GINW to (1) require respondents to submit PDF versions of the 
forms and any attachments to a designated email address, and (2) to 
correct cross-references on the following forms: G-FIN-4, Form MSD-4, 
and Form U-4, which are incorporated by reference in Item 7 of the Form 
G-FIN.
    In addition, the Board proposes to revise the Form G-FIN and Form 
G-FINW collections to account for a requirement in the Form G-FIN 
forms' instructions that respondents retain a signed copy of the form 
and data submitted. Currently, only respondents that are state member 
banks or uninsured state branches or state agencies of a foreign bank 
must comply with this recordkeeping requirement, which is imposed on 
such respondents by regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of 
the Treasury (``Treasury'').\2\ Pursuant to those regulations, such 
respondents must retain Forms G-FIN and G-FINW until at least three 
years after the financial institution has notified the Board that it 
has ceased to function as a government securities broker or dealer. The 
Board proposes to revise the Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW information 
collections to impose identical recordkeeping requirements on 
respondents that are foreign banks, commercial lending companies owned 
or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge corporations. The retention 
period with respect to forms filed by those respondents would be 
identical to the period imposed by the Treasury Department regulations 
in order to maintain parity among respondent institutions. The proposal 
also would revise the instructions to Forms G-FIN and G-FINW so that 
they state the required retention period for these forms.
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    \2\ See 17 CFR 404.4.
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    For the FDIC, the Form G-FIN4 and Form G-FIN5 are also information 
collections cleared under the OMB control number 3064-0093. Form G-FIN-
4 is used by associated persons of insured state nonmember banks that 
are government securities brokers or dealers to provide certain 
information to the bank and to the FDIC concerning employment, 
residence, and statutory disqualification. Form G-FIN-5 is used

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by insured state nonmember banks that are government securities brokers 
or dealers to notify the FDIC that an associated person is no longer 
associated with the government securities broker or dealer function of 
the bank. These revisions incur no change in the method or substance of 
any information collections under OMB control number 3064-0093 and 
there is no subsequent change in burden.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: Forms G-FIN and G-FINW are 
authorized under 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(i), which requires a 
financial institution that is a broker or dealer of government 
securities to submit a written notice advising its appropriate 
regulatory agency (ARA) that it is a government securities broker or a 
government securities dealer or that it has ceased to act as such. The 
Act also directs the Board, in consultation with the other ARAs (the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller 
of the Currency),\3\ as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(SEC), to prescribe the form of and the information collected in these 
notices (15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(ii)). Further support for the 
creation and collection of these notices by the Board is found in the 
Treasury regulations, authorized by 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(b)(l), which 
instruct that the Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW are promulgated by the 
Board and that such forms are to be used by non-exempt \4\ financial 
institutions to notify the ARA of their status as government securities 
brokers or dealers or the termination of such status.\5\
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    \3\ A copy of the form filed with each ARA is also made 
available by the ARA to the SEC under the Act (15 U.S.C. 78o-
5(a)(1)(B)(iii)).
    \4\ The Act permits the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt 
certain government securities brokers or dealers, 15 U.S.C. 78o-
5(a)(5), and the Secretary of the Treasury has promulgated 
regulations exempting certain types of firms. See 17 CFR part 401.
    \5\ See 17 CFR 400.1(d), 449.1, and 449.2; see also 17 CFR 
400.5(b); requiring that any amendments or corrections to the notice 
of status of government securities broker or dealer be filed by the 
financial institution on Form G-FIN within 30 days).
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    Section 15C of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(b)(1)(C), also instructs 
the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate recordkeeping requirements 
regarding the forms and records to be retained by government securities 
brokers and dealers and to specify the time period for which such 
records shall be preserved. Accordingly, the recordkeeping requirement 
associated with these forms is contained in 17 CFR 404.4, which 
requires state member banks and uninsured state branches or state 
agencies of foreign banks, as well as other institutions, to retain 
these forms for three years after the financial institution notifies 
its ARA that it has ceased to function as a government securities 
broker or dealer. Although Treasury's recordkeeping requirement does 
not explicitly apply to foreign banks, to Edge corporations, or to 
commercial lending companies that are owned or controlled by foreign 
banks, the Board has the authority to ``issue such rules and 
regulations with respect to transactions in government securities as 
may be necessary to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and 
practices and to promote just and equitable principles of trade.'' 15 
U.S.C. 78o-5(b)(3)(A). Imposing a recordkeeping requirement on foreign 
banks, Edge corporations, and commercial lending companies owned or 
controlled by foreign banks is necessary for the public interest and 
protection of investors in order to ensure that the proper notification 
has been provided when these institutions are transacting in government 
securities (15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(1)(B)). In addition, the Board is 
authorized to impose a recordkeeping requirement on foreign banking 
organizations \6\ (12 U.S.C. 3108), on Edge corporations (12 U.S.C. 
625), and on commercial lending companies that are owned or controlled 
by foreign banks (12 U.S.C. 3106, as applied through 12 U.S.C. 
1844(c)).
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    \6\ A foreign banking organization is a foreign bank that 
operates a branch, agency, or commercial lending company subsidiary 
in the United States; controls a bank in the United States; or 
controls an Edge corporation acquired after March 5, 1987; and any 
company of which the foreign bank is a subsidiary.
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    The obligation to file the Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW with the 
Board, and the obligation for the government securities broker or 
dealer to retain a copy of the Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW, is mandatory 
for those financial institutions for which the Board serves as the ARA, 
unless the financial institution is exempt from the reporting 
requirement under Treasury's regulations. The filing of these forms and 
the records retention period is event-generated.
    Under the Act, each ARA is instructed to make these forms available 
to the SEC, and the SEC is instructed to make the notices available to 
the public (15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(iii)). Thus, the information 
collected on Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW is ordinarily not treated as 
confidential.\7\ However, given that Item 6 of Form G-FIN instructs the 
filer to attach copies of the confidential Form G-FIN-4, or if 
applicable, to attach copies of any previously filed confidential Form 
MSD-4 or confidential Form U-4, these attachments will be treated as 
confidential under exemptions 4 and/or 6 of the FOIA.
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    \7\ The Board's Regulation H provides that any person filing any 
statement, report, or document under the Act may submit written 
objection to the public disclosure of the information when such 
information is filed in accordance with the procedures provided in 
12 CFR 208.36(d). In addition, if a respondent believes that 
disclosing the information on these forms is reasonably likely to 
result in substantial harm to its competitive position, then 
consistent with exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act 
(``FOIA''), the respondent may request confidential treatment for 
such information pursuant to the Board's Rules Regarding the 
Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.15.
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    Consultation outside the agency: The Board consulted with the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of 
Currency, and the Securities Exchange Commission in reviewing the form 
and instructions for this submission.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on August 15, 
2019.
Yao-Chin Chao,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
    Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

    Dated at Washington, DC, on August 14, 2019.
Valerie J. Best
Assistant Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-18606 Filed 8-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P 6714-01-P