[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19933-19934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07225]


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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 three years, without 
revision, the Recordkeeping Provisions Associated with Guidance on 
Leveraged Lending (FR 4203; OMB No. 7100-0354).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 6, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 4203, 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 the OMB 
number or FR 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. 
Accordingly, comments will not be edited to remove any confidential 
business information, identifying information, or contact information. 
Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 
M-4365A, 2001 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20551, 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 for the Federal 
Reserve Board, 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: 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, 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.
    During the comment period for this proposal, a copy of the proposed 
PRA OMB submission, including the draft reporting form and 
instructions, supporting statement, and other documentation, will be 
made available on the 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 
versions of these documents will be made available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, if approved.

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

[[Page 19934]]

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, 
Without Revision, the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Recordkeeping Provisions Associated with Guidance on 
Leveraged Lending.
    Agency form number: FR 4203.
    OMB control number: 7100-0354.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondents: The FR 4203 panel comprises all bank holding 
companies, savings and loan holding companies, state member banks, and 
state-chartered branches and agencies of foreign banks that engage in 
leveraged lending activities.
    Many community banks are not subject to the FR 4203 because they do 
not engage in leveraged lending. The limited number of community and 
smaller institutions that are involved in leveraged lending activities 
may discuss with the Federal Reserve System whether and, if so, how to 
implement these collections of information in a cost-effective manner 
that is appropriate for the complexity of their exposures and 
activities.
    Estimated number of respondents: 37.
    Estimated average hours per response: 755.
    Estimated annual burden hours: 27,935.
    General description of report: The guidance on leveraged lending 
(Guidance) \1\ outlines high-level principles related to safe-and-sound 
leveraged lending activities. The Guidance includes a number of 
voluntary recordkeeping provisions that apply to financial institutions 
that are engaged in leveraged lending activities and for which the 
Board is the primary federal supervisor, including bank holding 
companies, savings and loan holding companies, state member banks, and 
state-chartered branches and agencies of foreign banks that engage in 
these activities.
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    \1\ ``Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending,'' March 21, 
2013, available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/srletters/sr1303a1.pdf. The Guidance was published jointly by the 
Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
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    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The recordkeeping 
provisions of the Guidance are authorized pursuant to sections 9(6), 
25, and 25A of the Federal Reserve Act \2\ (for state member banks, 
agreement corporations, and Edge corporations, respectively); section 
5(c) of the Bank Holding Company Act \3\ (for bank holding companies); 
sections 10(b)(2) and 10(b)(3) of the Home Owners' Loan Act \4\ 
(savings and loan holding companies), and section 7(c)(2) of the 
International Banking Act \5\ (state-licensed branches and agencies of 
foreign banks, other than insured branches). The recordkeeping 
provisions contained in the FR 4203 are voluntary.
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    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 324, 602, and 625, respectively.
    \3\ 12 U.S.C. 1844(c).
    \4\ 12 U.S.C. 1467a(b)(2) and (b)(3).
    \5\ 12 U.S.C. 3105(c)(2).
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    Because these records 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. If the records 
were 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.\6\ In addition, to 
the extent that information contained in these records constitutes 
nonpublic commercial or financial information, which is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by a banking organization, 
it may be kept confidential under exemption 4 of the FOIA, which 
exempts ``trade secrets and commercial or financial information 
obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.'' \7\
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    \6\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8).
    \7\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, April 1, 2022.
Ann Misback,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2022-07225 Filed 4-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P