[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65681-65682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20679]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

[No. 2023-N-11]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.

ACTION: Members of Federal Home Loan Banks--30-day notice of submission 
of information collection for approval from Office of Management and 
Budget.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking 
public comments concerning an information collection known as ``Members 
of the Banks,'' which has been assigned control number 2590-0003 by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). FHFA intends to submit the 
information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three-year 
extension of the control number, which is due to expire on September 
30, 2023.

DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before October 25, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC 20503, Fax: 
(202) 395-3047, Email: [email protected]. Please also submit 
comments to FHFA, identified by ``Proposed Collection; Comment Request: 
`Members of the Banks, (No. 2023-N-11)' '' by any of the following 
methods:
     Agency Website: www.fhfa.gov/open-for-comment-or-input.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your 
comment to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by email 
to FHFA at [email protected] to ensure timely receipt by the agency.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office 
of General Counsel, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20219, 
ATTENTION: Proposed Collection; Comment Request: ``Members of the 
Banks, (No. 2023-N-11).''
    We will post all public comments we receive without change, 
including any personal information you provide, such as your name and 
address, email address, and telephone number, on the FHFA website at 
http://www.fhfa.gov.
    Copies of all comments received will be available for examination 
by the public through the electronic comment docket for this PRA Notice 
also located on the FHFA website.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lindsay Spadoni, Assistant General 
Counsel, [email protected], (202) 649-3634 or Angela 
Supervielle, Senior Counsel, [email protected], (202) 649-
3973 (these are not toll-free numbers). For TTY/TRS users with hearing 
and speech disabilities, dial 711 and ask to be connected to any of the 
contact numbers above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain 
approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or 
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) 
and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to include agency requests or requirements that ten 
or more persons submit information to a third party. FHFA's collection 
of information set forth in this document is titled ``Members of the 
Banks'' (assigned control number 2590-0003 by OMB). To comply with the 
PRA requirement, FHFA is publishing notice of a proposed three-year 
extension of this collection of information and renewal of the control 
number, which is due to expire on September 30, 2023.

A. Background

    The Federal Home Loan Bank System consists of eleven regional 
Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) and the Office of Finance (a joint 
office of the Banks that issues and services the Banks' debt 
securities). The Banks are wholesale financial institutions, organized 
under the authority of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to 
serve the public interest by enhancing the availability of residential 
housing finance and community lending credit through their member 
institutions and, to a limited extent, through certain eligible 
nonmembers. Each Bank is structured as a regional cooperative that is 
owned and controlled by member institutions located within its 
district, which are also its primary customers. The Banks carry out 
their public policy functions primarily by providing low cost loans, 
known as advances, to their members. With limited exceptions, an 
institution may obtain advances and access other products and services 
provided by a Bank only if it is a member of that Bank.
    The Bank Act limits membership in any Bank to specific types of 
financial institutions located within the Bank's district that meet 
specific eligibility requirements. Section 4 of the Bank Act specifies 
the types of institutions that may be eligible for membership and 
establishes eligibility requirements that each type of applicant must 
meet in order to become a Bank member.\1\ That provision also specifies 
that (with limited exceptions) an eligible institution may become a 
member only of the Bank of the district in which the institution's 
``principal place of business'' is located.\2\ With respect to the 
termination of Bank membership, section 6(d) of the Bank Act sets forth 
requirements pursuant to which an institution may voluntarily withdraw 
from membership or a Bank may terminate an institution's membership for 
cause.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1424(a).
    \2\ See 12 U.S.C. 1424(b).
    \3\ See 12 U.S.C. 1426(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Need For and Use of the Information Collection

    FHFA's regulation entitled ``Members of the Banks,'' located at 12 
CFR part 1263, implements the statutory provisions on Bank membership 
and otherwise establishes substantive and procedural requirements 
relating to the initiation and termination of membership. Many of the 
provisions in the membership regulation require that an institution 
submit information to a Bank or to FHFA, in most cases to demonstrate 
compliance with statutory or regulatory requirements or to request 
action by the Bank or Agency.
    There are four types of information collections that may occur 
under part 1263. First, the regulation provides that (with limited 
exceptions) no institution may become a member of a Bank unless it has 
submitted to that Bank an application that documents the applicant's 
compliance with the

[[Page 65682]]

statutory and regulatory membership eligibility requirements and that 
otherwise includes all required information and materials.\4\ Second, 
the regulation provides applicants that have been denied membership by 
a Bank the option of appealing the decision to FHFA. To file such an 
appeal, an applicant must submit to FHFA a copy of the Bank's decision 
resolution denying its membership application and a statement of the 
basis for the appeal containing sufficient facts, information, and 
analysis to support the applicant's position.\5\ Third, the regulation 
provides that, in order to initiate a voluntary withdrawal from Bank 
membership, a member must submit to its Bank a written notice of intent 
to withdraw.\6\ Fourth, under certain circumstances, the regulation 
permits a member of one Bank to transfer its membership to a second 
Bank ``automatically'' without either initiating a voluntary withdrawal 
from the first Bank or submitting a membership application to the 
second Bank. Despite the regulatory reference to such a transfer as 
being ``automatic,'' a member meeting the criteria for an automatic 
transfer must initiate the transfer process by filing a request with 
its current Bank, which will then arrange the details of the transfer 
with the second Bank.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See 12 CFR 1263.2(a), 1263.6-1263.9, 1263.11-1263.18.
    \5\ See 12 CFR 1263.5.
    \6\ See 12 CFR 1263.26.
    \7\ See 12 CFR 1263.4(b), 1263.18(d), (e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Banks use most of the information collected under part 1263 to 
determine whether an applicant satisfies the statutory and regulatory 
requirements for Bank membership and should be approved as a Bank 
member. The Banks may use some of the information collected under part 
1263 as a means of learning that a member wishes to withdraw or to 
transfer its membership to a different Bank so that the Bank can begin 
to process those requests. In rare cases, FHFA may use the collected 
information to determine whether an institution that has been denied 
membership by a Bank should be permitted to become a member of that 
Bank.
    The OMB control number for this information collection is 2590-
0003, which is due to expire on September 30, 2023. The likely 
respondents are financial institutions that are, or are applying to 
become, Bank members.

C. Burden Estimate

    FHFA has analyzed the time burden imposed on respondents by the 
four collections under this control number and estimates that the 
average annual burden imposed on all respondents by those collections 
over the next three years will be 2,181 hours. This estimate is derived 
from the following calculations:

1. Membership Applications

    FHFA estimates that the average number of applications for Bank 
membership submitted annually will be 141 and that the average time to 
prepare and submit an application and supporting materials will be 15 
hours. Accordingly, the estimate for the annual hour burden associated 
with preparation and submission of applications for Bank membership is 
(141 applications x 15 hours per application) = 2,115 hours.

2. Appeals of Membership Denials

    FHFA estimates that the average number of applicants that have been 
denied membership by a Bank that will appeal such a denial to FHFA will 
be 1 and that the average time to prepare and submit an application for 
appeal will be 50 hours. Accordingly, the estimate for the annual hour 
burden associated with the preparation and submission of membership 
appeals is (1 appellant x 50 hours per application) = 50 hours.

3. Notices of Intent To Withdraw From Membership

    FHFA estimates that the average number of Bank members submitting a 
notice of intent to withdraw from membership annually will be 4 and 
that the average time to prepare and submit a notice will be 1.5 hours. 
Accordingly, the estimate for the annual hour burden associated with 
preparation and submission of notices of intent to withdraw is (4 
withdrawing members x 1.5 hours per application) = 6 hours.

4. Requests for Transfer of Membership to Another Bank District

    FHFA estimates that the average number of Bank members submitting a 
request for transfer to another Bank will be 5 and that the average 
time to prepare and submit a request will be 2 hours. Accordingly, the 
estimate for the annual hour burden associated with preparation and 
submission of requests for automatic transfer is (5 transferring 
members x 2 hours per request) = 10 hours.

D. Comment Request

    In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA 
published an initial notice and request for public comments regarding 
this information collection in the Federal Register on June 12, 
2023.\8\ The 60-day comment period closed on August 11, 2023. FHFA 
received no comments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See 88 FR 38051 (June 12, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FHFA requests written comments on the following: (1) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
FHFA functions, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of FHFA's estimates of the burdens of the 
collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

Shawn Bucholtz,
Chief Data Officer, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2023-20679 Filed 9-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P