[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 41 (Monday, March 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12296-12298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04197]


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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

[[Page 12297]]

three years, with revision, the Joint Standards for Assessing the 
Diversity Policies and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies 
(FR 2100; OMB No. 7100-0368).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 1, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 2100, by any of 
the following methods:
     Agency Website: https://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at https://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 from the Board's website at 
https://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. 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, once 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, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the PRA to approve of 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 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 Under OMB Delegated Authority To Extend for Three Years, With 
Revision, the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity Policies 
and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies (Policy Statement).
    Agency form number: FR 2100.
    OMB control number: 7100-0368.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Respondents: All financial institutions regulated by the Board.
    Estimated number of respondents: 125.
    Estimated average hours per response: Reporting: 7 hours; 
Disclosure: 1 hour.
    Estimated annual burden hours: 1,000 hours.
    General description of report: Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall 
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) 
requires the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board, 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union 
Administration (NCUA), Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), 
and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (the Agencies) each to 
establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) to be 
responsible for all matters of the Agency relating to diversity in 
management, employment, and business activities. Section 342 requires 
each OMWI director to develop standards for ``assessing the diversity 
policies and practices of entities regulated by the agency.'' The 
Policy Statement, published jointly by the Agencies in June 2015, 
contains those standards.
    Proposed revisions: With respect to the reporting template, the 
Board proposes to clarify the confidentiality language in the ``Use of 
Information'' section by stating that if a regulated entity submits 
confidential commercial information that is both customarily and 
actually treated as private by the entity, the entity should separately 
designate such information as ``confidential commercial information,'' 
as appropriate, and that the Board will treat such designated 
information as confidential to the extent permitted by law, including 
the Freedom of Information Act.\1\ The Board also proposes to delete 
the Yes/No boxes in Section 5 (``Institution's Self-Assessment'') and 
to ask the institution to describe its practices during the assessment 
year. The Yes/No boxes are not necessary as Section 5 of the reporting 
template already requests a description of the programs that are 
proving successful as well as the challenges institutions are facing 
with their diversity programs. Additionally, the FR 2100 includes a 
disclosure provision for respondent institutions. The Board has revised 
the FR 2100

[[Page 12298]]

information collection to account for this disclosure provision.
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    \1\ 5 U.S.C. 552.
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    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The information 
collections contained within the Policy Statement, as well as the self-
assessment reporting template, are authorized by section 342 of the 
Dodd-Frank Act,\2\ which requires the Board's OMWI director to develop 
standards for assessing regulated entities' diversity policies and 
practices. The information collections associated with the Policy 
Statement are voluntary, as is the use of the self-assessment reporting 
template. The Transparency Standard, and a portion of the Self-
Assessment Standard, call for regulated entities to provide information 
to the public, so confidentiality is not an issue with respect to those 
aspects of the Policy Statement. A regulated entity may provide self-
assessment material to the Board (including through use of the 
reporting template) containing confidential commercial information that 
is protectable under exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act.\3\ 
If a regulated entity submits confidential commercial information that 
is both customarily and actually treated as private by the entity, the 
entity should separately designate such information as ``confidential 
commercial information,'' as appropriate, and the Board will treat such 
designated information as confidential to the extent permitted by law, 
including the Freedom of Information Act.\4\ As noted in the Policy 
Statement, an entity's primary federal regulator may share information 
obtained from regulated entities with other Agencies, but the Agencies 
will only publish information disclosed to them in a form that does not 
identify a particular entity or individual or disclose confidential 
business information.
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    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 5452.
    \3\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).
    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 552.
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    Consultation outside the agency: The Agencies worked together to 
develop standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of 
their regulated entities. The Board will continue to reach out to the 
regulated entities and other interested parties to discuss diversity 
and inclusion in the financial services industry and share leading 
practices. The primary federal financial regulator will share 
information with other agencies, when appropriate, to support 
coordination of efforts and to avoid duplication.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 25, 
2020.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2020-04197 Filed 2-28-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P