[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9939-9940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03093]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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, without revision, the 
Recordkeeping, Disclosure, and Reporting Requirements Associated with 
Securities Transactions Pursuant to Sections 208.34(c), (d), and (g) of 
Regulation H (FR H-3; OMB No. 7100-0196).

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.

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. The OMB 
inventory, as well as copies of the PRA Submission, supporting 
statements, and approved collection of information instrument(s) are 
available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. These documents 
are also available on

[[Page 9940]]

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.

Final Approval Under OMB Delegated Authority of the Extension for Three 
Years, Without Revision, of the Following Information Collection:

    Report title: Recordkeeping, Disclosure, and Reporting Requirements 
Associated with Securities Transactions Pursuant to Sections 208.34(c), 
(d), and (g) of Regulation H.
    Agency form number: FR H-3.
    OMB control number: 7100-0196.
    Frequency: Event-generated, quarterly.
    Respondents: State member banks (SMBs), SMB officers/employees.
    Estimated number of respondents: SMBs (de novo): 1; SMBs with trust 
departments: 209; SMBs without trust departments: 545; SMB officers/
employees: 2,389.
    Estimated average hours per response: SMBs (de novo): 
recordkeeping, 40 hours. SMBs with trust departments: recordkeeping, 2 
hours; disclosure, 16 hours. SMBs without trust departments: 
recordkeeping, 15 minutes; disclosure, 5 hours. SMB officers/employees: 
reporting, 2 hours.
    Estimated annual burden hours: SMBs (de novo): recordkeeping, 40 
hours. SMBs with trust departments: recordkeeping, 10,032 hours; 
disclosure, 40,128 hours. SMBs without trust departments: 
recordkeeping, 3,815 hours; disclosure, 32,700 hours. SMB officers/
employees: reporting, 19,112 hours.
    General description of report: Section 15C of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act), establishes federal regulation of 
brokers and dealers of government securities, including banks and other 
financial institutions, and directs those brokers and dealers to keep 
certain records.\1\ These requirements are implemented for SMBs by 
sections 208.34(c), (d), and (g) of the Board's Regulation H, which 
require that non-exempt state member banks \2\ effecting securities 
transactions for customers establish and maintain a system of records 
of these transactions, furnish confirmations of transactions to 
customers that disclose certain information, and establish written 
policies and procedures relating to securities trading.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 12 U.S.C. 78o-5(a), (d).
    \2\ The requirements of section 208.34 of Regulation H apply to 
all SMBs that effect more than 500 government securities brokerage 
transactions per year, unless the institution has filed a written 
notice, or is required to file notice, with the Board that it acts 
as a government securities broker or a government securities dealer. 
These requirements also do not apply to activities of foreign 
branches of SMBs; activities of nonmember, non-insured trust company 
subsidiaries of bank holding companies; or activities that are 
subject to regulations promulgated by the Municipal Securities 
Rulemaking Board. In addition, SMBs with an annual average of less 
than 200 securities transactions for customers over the prior three 
calendar years (exclusive of transactions in U.S. government and 
agency obligations) are exempt from these Regulation H 
recordkeeping, disclosure, and reporting requirements. See 12 CFR 
208.34(a)(1)(i)-(iv).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Legal authorization and confidentiality: FR H-3 is authorized 
pursuant to Section 23 of the Act,\3\ which empowers the Board to make 
rules and regulations implementing those portions of the Act for which 
it is responsible. Because these records and disclosures would be 
maintained at each banking organization, the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) would only be implicated if the Board obtained such records as 
part of the examination or supervision of a banking organization. In 
the event the records are obtained by the Board as part of an 
examination or supervision of a financial institution, this information 
may be considered confidential pursuant to exemption 8 of the FOIA, 
which protects information contained in ``examination, operating, or 
condition reports'' obtained in the bank supervisory process.\4\ In 
addition, the information may also be kept confidential under exemption 
4 for the FOIA, which protects commercial or financial information 
obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78w. The Board also has the authority to require 
reports from SMBs (12 U.S.C. 248(a) and 324).
    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8).
    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Current actions: On October 14, 2020, the Board published a notice 
in the Federal Register (85 FR 65047) requesting public comment for 60 
days on the extension, without revision, of FR H-3. The comment period 
for this notice expired on December 14, 2020. The Board did not receive 
any comments.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 10, 
2021.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2021-03093 Filed 2-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P