[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40239-40241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14375]


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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 Notice by Financial Institutions of Government Securities 
Broker or Government Securities Dealer Activities and Notice by 
Financial Institutions of Termination of Activities as a Government 
Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer (Form G-FIN and Form 
G-FINW; OMB No. 7100-0224).

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

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Form G-FIN or Form G-
FINW, 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: Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Attn: Ann E. 
Misback, Secretary of the Board, Mailstop M-4775, 2001 C St 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

[[Page 40240]]

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 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 Collections

    Collection title: Notice by Financial Institutions of Government 
Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer Activities and Notice 
by Financial Institutions of Termination of Activities as a Government 
Securities Broker or Government Securities Dealer.
    Collection identifiers: Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW.
    OMB control number: 7100-0224.
    Frequency: Event-generated.
    Respondents: State member banks, foreign banks, uninsured state 
branches or state agencies of foreign banks, commercial lending 
companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and Edge Act 
corporations (collectively, Board-regulated financial institutions) 
that are required to register as government security brokers or 
government security dealers and those entities that have terminated 
such activities.
    Estimated number of respondents:

Reporting
Form G-FIN: 39; Form G-FINW: 1
Recordkeeping
Form G-FIN: 39; Form G-FINW: 1

    Estimated average hours per response:

Reporting
Form G-FIN: 1; Form G-FINW: 0.25
Recordkeeping
Form G-FIN: 0.25; Form G-FINW: 0.25

    Estimated annual burden hours:

Reporting
Form G-FIN: 39; Form G-FINW: 10
Recordkeeping
Form G-FIN: 0; Form G-FINW: 0 \1\
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    \1\ Due to the mechanics of the RISC/OIRA Consolidated 
Information System (ROCIS), fractional amounts below 0.5 are rounded 
to 0.

    General description of collection: The Securities Exchange Act of 
1934, as amended (the Act), requires financial institutions to notify 
their appropriate regulatory agency (ARA) prior to using the mails or 
any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce to engage in 
government securities broker or dealer activities, and to notify their 
ARA upon terminating such activities. The Board is the ARA for Board-
regulated financial institutions. A Board-regulated financial 
institution must use Form G-FIN to register as a government securities 
broker or dealer or to amend a previously submitted Form G-FIN and must 
use Form G-FINW to notify the Board of its termination of such 
activities.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW 
are authorized under section 15C of the Act,\2\ which requires a 
financial institution that is a broker or dealer of government 
securities to submit a written notice advising its ARA that it is a 
government securities broker or a government securities dealer or that 
it has ceased to act as such. The Act also directs the Board, in 
consultation with the other ARAs (the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 
(OCC)),\3\ as well as with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(SEC), to prescribe the form of and the information collected in these 
notices.\4\ Further support for the creation and collection of these 
notices by the Board is found in Department of Treasury (Treasury) 
regulations, authorized by section 15 of the Act, which state that the 
Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW are promulgated by the Board and that such 
forms are to be used by non-exempt \5\ financial institutions to notify 
their ARA of their status as government securities brokers or dealers 
or the termination of such status.\6\
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    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B).
    \3\ These forms are also collected by the FDIC and the OCC, 
respectively, for government securities brokers and dealers under 
their supervision. A copy of the form filed with each ARA is also 
made available by the ARA to the SEC under the Act. 15 U.S.C. 78o-
5(a)(1)(B)(iii).
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(ii).
    \5\ The Act permits the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt 
certain government securities brokers or dealers, 15 U.S.C. 78o-
5(a)(5), and the Secretary of the Treasury has promulgated 
regulations exempting certain types of firms. See 17 CFR part 401.
    \6\ See 17 CFR 400.1(d), 449.1, and 449.2; see also 17 CFR 
400.5(b) (requiring that any amendments or corrections to the notice 
of status of government securities broker or dealer be filed by the 
financial institution on Form G-FIN within 30 days).
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    Section 15C of the Act also instructs the Secretary of the Treasury 
to promulgate recordkeeping requirements regarding the forms and 
records to be retained by government securities brokers and dealers and 
to specify the time period for which such records shall be preserved. 
Accordingly, the recordkeeping requirement associated with these forms 
is contained in 17 CFR 404.4, which requires state member banks and 
uninsured state branches or state agencies of foreign banks, as well as 
other institutions, to retain these forms for three years after the 
financial institution notifies its ARA that it has ceased to function 
as a government securities broker or dealer. Although Treasury's 
recordkeeping requirement does not explicitly apply to foreign banks, 
to Edge corporations, or to commercial lending companies that are owned 
or controlled by foreign banks, the Board has the authority to ``issue 
such rules and regulations with respect to transactions in government 
securities as may be necessary to prevent fraudulent and manipulative 
acts and practices and to promote just and equitable principles of 
trade.'' \7\ Imposing a recordkeeping requirement on foreign banks, 
Edge corporations, and commercial lending companies owned or controlled 
by foreign banks is necessary for the public interest and protection of 
investors in order to ensure that the proper notification has been 
provided when these institutions are transacting in government 
securities. In addition, the Board is authorized to impose 
recordkeeping requirements on foreign banks,\8\ Edge corporations,\9\ 
and on commercial lending companies that are owned or controlled by 
foreign

[[Page 40241]]

banks.\10\ The obligation to file the Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW with 
the Board, and the obligation for the government securities broker or 
dealer to retain a copy of the Form G-FIN and Form G-FINW, is mandatory 
for those financial institutions for which the Board serves as the ARA, 
unless the financial institution is exempt from the reporting 
requirement under Treasury's regulations. The filing of these forms and 
the records retention period is event-generated.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(b)(3)(A). See 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(1)(B).
    \8\ 12 U.S.C. 3107 and 3108.
    \9\ 12 U.S.C. 625.
    \10\ 12 U.S.C. 3106, as applied through 12 U.S.C. 1844(c).
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    Under the Act, each ARA is instructed to make these forms available 
to the SEC, and the SEC is instructed to make the notices available to 
the public.\11\ Thus, the information collected on Form G-FIN and Form 
G-FINW is ordinarily not treated as confidential.\12\ However, given 
that Item 6 of Form G-FIN instructs the filer to attach copies of the 
confidential Form G-FIN-4, or if applicable, to attach copies of any 
previously filed confidential Form MSD-4 or confidential Form U-4, such 
attachments may be treated as confidential by the Board under 
exemptions 4 and/or 6 of the Freedom of Information Act.\13\
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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-5(a)(l)(B)(iii).
    \12\ The Board's Regulation H provides that any person filing 
any statement, report, or document under the Act may submit written 
objection to the public disclosure of the information when such 
information is filed in accordance with the procedures provided in 
12 CFR 208.36(d). In addition, if a respondent believes that 
information disclosed on these forms constitutes nonpublic 
commercial or financial information, which is both customarily and 
actually treated as private by the respondent, the respondent may 
request confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 4 of the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pursuant to the Board's Rules 
Regarding the Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.15.
    \13\ Generally, information provided on Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-
5 will be kept confidential from the public under exemption 6 of the 
FOIA, which protects information in ``personnel and medical files 
and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly 
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6). In 
addition, other information on Form MSD-4 and Form MSD-5, such as 
the name of the municipal securities dealer that filed the form, may 
be withheld under exemption 4 of the FOIA, if it constitutes 
nonpublic commercial or financial information, which is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by the respondent (e.g., 
if a municipal securities dealer recently hired or terminated a 
number of municipal securities employees, disclosing these forms 
could reveal competitively sensitive commercial information about 
that dealer). 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). We note that FINRA's Form U-4 
collects the social security number and other personally 
identifiable information about an individual, which may be withheld 
under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b. In addition, Treasury's Form 
G-FIN-4 states ``[t]he Department of the Treasury and the 
appropriate regulatory agencies regard the information provided by 
each respondent on this form as confidential.''
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    Consultation outside the agency: The Board consulted with the FDIC, 
OCC, and SEC in confirming that there were no changes needed to the 
collection as part of this clearance.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 30, 2022.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2022-14375 Filed 7-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P