[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65814-65815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25842]


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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 
Report of Selected Balance Sheet Items for Discount Window Borrowers 
(FR 2046; OMB No. 7100-0289). The revisions are applicable immediately.

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.
    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.
    A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) OMB submission, 
including the reporting form and instructions, supporting statement, 
and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public docket files. 
These documents also are available on the Federal Reserve Board's 
public website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested from the agency clearance officer, 
whose name appears above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the PRA to approve and assign OMB control numbers to 
collections of information 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.

Final Approval Under OMB Delegated Authority of the Extension for Three 
Years, With Revision, of the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Report of Selected Balance Sheet Items for Discount 
Window Borrowers.
    Agency form number: FR 2046.
    OMB control number: 7100-0289.
    Effective Date: Immediately.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondents: Depository institutions.
    Estimated number of respondents: Primary and Secondary Credit, 1; 
Seasonal Credit, 83; Seasonal Credit, borrower in questionable 
financial condition, 1.
    Estimated average hours per response: Primary and Secondary Credit, 
0.75 hours; Seasonal Credit, 0.25 hours; Seasonal Credit, borrower in 
questionable financial condition, 0.75 hours.
    Estimated annual burden hours: Primary and Secondary Credit, 1 
hour; Seasonal Credit, 376 hours; Seasonal Credit, borrower in 
questionable financial condition, 1 hour.
    General description of report: The balance sheet data collected on 
the FR 2046 report from certain institutions that borrow from the 
discount window are used to monitor discount window borrowing. The 
Board's Regulation A, Extensions of Credit by Federal Reserve Banks (12 
CFR 201), requires that Reserve Banks review balance sheet data in 
determining whether to extend credit and to help ascertain whether 
undue use is made of such credit. The FR 2046 report is primarily used 
to assess appropriate use of seasonal credit. Certain depository 
institutions that borrow from the discount window report on the FR 2046 
certain balance sheet data for a period that encompasses the dates of 
borrowing.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The FR 2046 report is 
authorized pursuant to sections 4(8), 10B, and 19(b)(7) of the Federal 
Reserve Act (``FRA''), 12 U.S.C. 301, 347b, and 461(b)(7), 
respectively, which authorize Federal Reserve Banks to provide 
discounts or advances to a member bank or other depository institution 
and to demand notes secured to the satisfaction of each Reserve Bank, 
and authorize the Board to establish rules and regulations under which 
a Reserve Bank may extend such credit. Specifically, section 4(8) of 
the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 301, requires each Reserve Bank to keep itself 
informed of the general character and amount of the loans and 
investments of a depository institution ``with a view to ascertaining 
whether undue use is being made of bank credit,'' and instructs that, 
``in determining whether to grant or refuse advances, rediscounts, or 
other credit accommodations, the Federal Reserve Bank shall give 
consideration to such information.'' Section 4(8) of the FRA also 
authorizes the Board to ``prescribe regulations further defining . . . 
the conditions under which discounts, advancements, and the 
accommodations may be extended to member banks.'' Section 10B of the 
FRA, 12 U.S.C. 347b, permits Federal Reserve Banks to make advances to 
member banks ``under rules and regulations prescribed by the Board.'' 
Section 19(b)(7) of the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 461(b)(7), provides that any 
depository institutions that hold reservable deposits are entitled to 
the same discount and borrowing privileges as member banks.
    In addition, section 9(6) of the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 324, which requires 
state member banks to file reports of condition and of the payment of 
dividends with the Federal Reserve, provides authority to collect 
balance sheet information from state member banks. Sections 2A and 11 
of the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 225a and 248(a)(2) and (i), respectively, as well 
as section 7(c)(2) of the International Banking Act, 12 U.S.C. 
3105(c)(2), authorize the Board to collect balance sheet data from 
domestically chartered commercial banks and U.S. branches and agencies 
of foreign banks.
    The Federal Reserve publishes aggregate data on discount window 
lending, which does not identify individual borrowers. In addition, the 
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the 
Board to publish certain information on individual discount window 
borrowers and transactions (i.e., the identity of the borrower, the 
amount that was borrowed, the interest rate, and the

[[Page 65815]]

types and amounts of collateral or assets pledged) after approximately 
a two year lag.\1\ The FR 2046 report is considered confidential until 
the fact that the institution borrowed from the discount window is 
disclosed. Until this point, the release of this report would reveal 
confidential commercial information about the borrower (i.e., the fact 
that the institution borrowed from the discount window, as only 
borrowers are required to file this form), which is reasonably likely 
to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the 
institution that submitted the report if the institution is prematurely 
identified. Thus, the report is kept confidential under exemption 4 of 
the Freedom of Information Act (``FOIA''), 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), which 
protects from disclosure ``trade secrets and commercial or financial 
information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or 
confidential.'' Once the fact that an institution borrowed from the 
discount window is disclosed, the FR 2046 report is no longer 
considered confidential in the event a FOIA request is received.
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    \1\ See 12 U.S.C. 248(s).
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    Current actions: On July 19, 2019, the Board published a notice in 
the Federal Register (84 FR 34890) requesting public comment for 60 
days on the extension, with revision, of the FR 2046. The Board 
proposed to update data element definitions to account for the 
introduction of the FFIEC 051 reporting form. In addition, the face of 
the FR 2046 report will be updated to (1) reflect all of the legal 
statutes that authorize the collection of the report; (2) indicate that 
the report is ``authorized'' (not ``required'') by law; and (3) clarify 
that, if the report is requested under the FOIA, the report will be 
treated as confidential unless the borrower's identity has already been 
disclosed pursuant to the two year lag provided under the Dodd-Frank 
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.\2\ The comment period 
for this notice expired on September 17, 2019. The Board did not 
receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented as proposed.
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    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 248(s).

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 22, 
2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-25842 Filed 11-27-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P