[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23966-23968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09459]


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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 
Government Securities Dealers Reports (FR 2004; OMB No. 7100-0003). The 
revisions will be effective with the first applicable as of date, 
January 5, 2022.

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

[[Page 23967]]

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 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, With Revision, of the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Government Securities Dealers Reports: Weekly Report 
of Dealer Positions (FR 2004A), Weekly Report of Cumulative Dealer 
Transactions (FR 2004B), Weekly Report of Dealer Financing and Fails 
(FR 2004C), Weekly Report of Specific Issues (FR 2004SI), Daily Report 
of Specific Issues (FR 2004SD), Supplement to the Daily Report of 
Specific Issues (FR 2004SD ad hoc), Daily Report of Dealer Activity in 
Treasury Financing (FR 2004WI), Settlement Cycle Report of Dealer Fails 
and Transaction Volumes: Class A (FR 2004FA), Settlement Cycle Report 
of Dealer Fails and Transaction Volumes: Class B (FR 2004FB), 
Settlement Cycle Report of Dealer Fails and Transaction Volumes: Class 
C (FR 2004FC), and Settlement Cycle Report of Dealer Fails and 
Transaction Volumes (FR 2004FM).
    Agency form number: FR 2004.
    OMB control number: 7100-0003.
    Effective date: The revisions will be effective with the first 
applicable as of date, January 5, 2022.
    Frequency: Weekly, daily, monthly.
    Respondents: Dealers in the U.S. government securities market.
    Estimated number of respondents: 24.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 2004A, 3.0; FR 2004B, 3.7; 
FR 2004C, 4.1; FR 2004SI, 2.2; FR 2004SD, 2.2; FR 2004SD ad hoc, 2.0; 
FR 2004WI, 1.0; FR 2004FA, 1.0; FR 2004FB, 1.0; FR 2004FC, 1.0; and FR 
2004FM, 1.5.
    Estimated annual burden hours: FR 2004A, 3,744; FR 2004B, 4,618; FR 
2004C, 5,117; FR 2004SI, 2,746; FR 2004SD, 2,112; FR 2004SD ad hoc, 
1,248; FR 2004WI, 3,840; FR 2004FA, 288; FR 2004FB, 288; FR 2004FC, 
288; FR 2004FM, 432.
    General description of report: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York 
(FRBNY), on behalf of the Federal Reserve System, collects data from 
primary dealers in the U.S. government securities market. Filing of 
these data is required to obtain the benefit of primary dealer status. 
The Federal Reserve uses these data to (1) monitor the condition of the 
U.S. government securities market in its Treasury market surveillance 
and analysis of the market and (2) assist and support the U.S. 
Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in its role as fiscal agent for 
Treasury financing operations. In addition, these data are used in the 
analysis of broad financial conditions and a range of financial 
stability issues.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The information collected 
on the FR 2004 series of reports is generally authorized under sections 
2A, 12A(c), 14, and 15 of the Federal Reserve Act. Section 2A requires 
that the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee ``maintain long 
run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the 
economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote 
effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and 
moderate long-term interest rates'' (12 U.S.C. 225a). Section 12A(c) 
further provides that the time, character, and volume of open market 
operations ``shall be governed with a view to accommodating commerce 
and business and with regard to their bearing upon the general credit 
situation of the country'' (12 U.S.C. 263(c)). Additionally, section 14 
authorizes the Federal Reserve Banks to engage in open market 
operations (12 U.S.C. 353-359). Finally, section 15 permits the Federal 
Reserve Banks, at the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to 
act as fiscal agents of the United States (12 U.S.C. 391). The Board 
has implicit authority to collect data to carry out the requirements of 
the foregoing statutory provisions.\1\ Filing the FR 2004 series is a 
condition of obtaining and retaining primary dealer status. Thus, the 
obligation to respond is ``required to obtain or retain a benefit'' 
because being a primary dealer allows a firm to act as a trading 
counterparty of the FRBNY in the implementation of its monetary 
policy.\2\
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    \1\ Additionally, depending upon the survey respondent, a more 
precise statute may authorize the data collection. For example, the 
Board is authorized to collect information from bank holding 
companies (and their subsidiaries) under section 5(c) of the Bank 
Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1844(c)) and from depository 
institutions under section 11(a) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 
U.S.C. 248(a)).
    \2\ See 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3)(iv).
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    While aggregate data from certain of the forms in the FR 2004 
series will be published, individually identifying information may be 
kept confidential under exemption 4 and, in certain circumstances, 
exemption 8 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(4) and (b)(8)). Individual respondent data collected through the 
FR 2004 may be considered confidential pursuant to FOIA exemption 4 to 
the extent these responses contain nonpublic commercial or financial 
information, which is both customarily and actually treated as private 
by the respondent. Moreover, to the extent that the information is 
``contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition 
reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of [the Board],'' the 
information may be withheld by the Board under FOIA exemption 8.
    Current actions: On December 14, 2020, the Board published a notice 
in the Federal Register (85 FR 80786) requesting public comment for 60 
days on the extension, with revision, of the FR 2004. The Board 
proposed to revise the FR 2004 with four additions and two 
modifications by:
    (1) Adding a row to the FR 2004A, B, SI, SD, and WI to account for 
the new 20 year Treasury bond,
    (2) adding a row to the FR 2004A and two rows to FR 2004B to 
separately capture Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) To-Be-Announced 
(TBA) and specified pool classifications,
    (3) adding 18 columns to the FR 2004C to capture a split by 
clearing venue, with maturity tenor applied to each venue 
classification,
    (4) adding 5 lines to the FR 2004C to separately capture Federal 
Agency and Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) Residential MBS and 
Federal Agency and GSE Commercial MBS, and to separate Total lines for 
Repo and Other Financing Activities,
    (5) revising the FR 2004FA, FB, and FM to capture Federal National 
Mortgage Association (FNMA) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 
(FHLMC) Uniform MBS (UMBS) and FNMA non-UMBS eligible securities 
settlement fails and transactions, separate from FHLMC non-UMBS 
eligible securities settlement fails and transactions, and
    (6) modifying the instructions to provide additional guidance on 
report consolidation rules for primary dealers when the legal entity 
serving as a primary dealer is a branch or agency of a foreign banking 
organization (FBO) as well as some other minor corrections and edits 
for improved clarity.
    The comment period for this notice expired on February 12, 2021. 
The Board received 2 comment letters from industry trade associations 
related to the changes to the FR 2004 reports. Both commenters 
requested that the effective date of the changes be extended, with one 
commenter requesting a phased approach beginning in the fourth quarter 
2021 and the other commenter

[[Page 23968]]

recommending a January 2022 effective date. The Board agreed and 
clarified that the changes will become effective with the first 
applicable as of date, January 5, 2022. One commenter recommended that 
the FR 2004 report instructions and FAQs be updated to reflect the 
proposed changes. The revised report forms, instructions, and FAQ 
document will be made available in final form on the Board's public 
website. Aside from the changes discussed above, the Board will adopt 
the extension, with revision, of the FR 2004 as originally proposed.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, April 29, 
2021.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2021-09459 Filed 5-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P