Notice2021-21595
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
Primary source
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Published
October 5, 2021
Issuing agencies
Federal Reserve System
Abstract
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the Weekly Report of Selected Assets and Liabilities of Domestically Chartered Commercial Banks and U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FR 2644; OMB No. 7100-0075).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 190 (Tuesday, October 5, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54975-54977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21595]
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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, with revision,
the Weekly Report of Selected Assets and Liabilities of Domestically
Chartered Commercial Banks and U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign
Banks (FR 2644; OMB No. 7100-0075).
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 6, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 2644, by any of
the following methods:
<bullet> Agency Website: <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/">https://www.federalreserve.gov/</a>. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments at <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx">https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx</a>.
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#95e7f0f2e6bbf6faf8f8f0fbe1e6d5f3f0f1f0e7f4f9e7f0e6f0e7e3f0bbf2fae3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="34465153471a575b5959515a40477452515051465558465147514642511a535b42">[email protected]</span></a>. Include the OMB
number or FR number in the subject line of the message.
<bullet> Fax: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
<bullet> 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
<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx">https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx</a> 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
146, 1709 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, 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 <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx">https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx</a> or may be requested
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears above. Final
versions of these documents will be made available at <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>, 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, With
Revision, the Following Information Collection
Report title: Weekly Report of Selected Assets and Liabilities of
Domestically Chartered Commercial Banks and U.S. Branches and Agencies
of Foreign Banks.
Agency form number: FR 2644.
OMB control number: 7100-0075.
Frequency: Weekly.
Respondents: Domestically chartered commercial banks and U.S.
branches and agencies of foreign banks.
Estimated number of respondents: 850.
Estimated average hours per response: 2.19.
Estimated annual burden hours: 96,798.
General description of report: The FR 2644 is a balance sheet
report that is collected as of each Wednesday from an authorized
stratified sample of 875 domestically chartered commercial banks and
U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. The FR 2644 is the only
source of high-frequency data used in the analysis of current banking
developments. The FR 2644 collects sample data that are used to
estimate universe levels for the entire commercial banking sector in
conjunction with data from the quarterly commercial bank Consolidated
Reports of Condition and Income (FFIEC 031, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 051;
OMB No. 7100-0036) and the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S.
Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002;
[[Page 54976]]
OMB No. 7100-0032) (Call Reports). Data from the FR 2644 and the Call
Reports are utilized in construction of weekly estimates of U.S. bank
credit, balance sheet data for the U.S. commercial banking sector, and
sources and uses of banks' funds, and to analyze current banking
developments, including the monitoring of broad credit and funding
conditions. The Board publishes the data in aggregate form in the
weekly H.8 statistical release, Assets and Liabilities of Commercial
Banks in the United States, which is followed closely by other
government agencies, the banking industry, financial press, and other
users.\1\ The H.8 release provides a balance sheet for the commercial
banking industry as a whole as well as data disaggregated by its large
domestic, small domestic and foreign-related bank components.
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\1\ The H.8 release is available on the Board's website, <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h8/current/default.htm">http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h8/current/default.htm</a>.
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Proposed revisions: The Board proposes four revisions to simplify
and reduce the overall reporting burden associated with the FR 2644
report. The proposed FR 2644 reporting form would consist of 29
balance-sheet items and no memoranda items, an overall reduction of two
data items, and be collected from fewer respondents.
Proposed Elimination of Two Data Items
Data item M.1, Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale
securities, has been included on the FR 2644 reporting form since July
1, 2009, when this report was first used to collect data for all bank
groups (large, small, and foreign-related). Before that, this item
appeared on the FR 2416 reporting form (Weekly Report of Assets and
Liabilities for Large Banks) beginning October 2, 1996. Data item M.1
was added to the FR2416 form, and included in the subsequent single
FR2644 form, to better understand how changing interest rates and
market valuations affect the fair value of banks' available-for-sale
securities.
Data item M.1.a, Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-
sale securities, U.S. Treasury and U.S. government agency obligations,
mortgage-backed securities, was added to the FR2644 as of January 7,
2015. Since M.1.a was the largest component of M.1, its addition
enabled staff to split the residual (M.1 less M.1.a) into estimates of
the effects on the fair value of the remaining two categories of
securities included on the FR2644 reporting form.
The recommendation to discontinue the collection of these two data
items is based on the following two factors:
(1) There is insufficient additional information available from the
weekly data relative to the corresponding Call Report data. The
reporting instructions for these items state that banks that do not
revalue daily or weekly should report the most recent value available.
In reviewing the weekly data, the Board's experience has been that many
banks, including some large banks, revalue only quarterly, when filing
Call Reports. For these banks, the weekly data add no more value than
the corresponding Call Report data.
(2) Banks that do not report item M.1 on the Call Report are being
asked to report the item weekly on the FR 2644. Beginning March 31,
2015, only banks that use the accumulated other comprehensive income
(AOCI) opt-out election on Call Report Schedule RC-R, Regulatory
Capital Components and Ratios, report net unrealized gains (losses) on
the Call Reports. (Banks that do not report these values on the Call
Reports, which includes all advanced approaches institutions, include
net unrealized gains (losses) in the AOCI component.) In addition, item
M.1.a, net unrealized gains (losses) related to mortgage-backed
securities, was never included on the Call Reports. The Board generally
seeks to collect data items on the FR 2644 that are comparable, if not
identical, to items appearing on the Call Reports. This standard
simplifies reporting for weekly respondents, allows the Board to
perform interseries edits of the FR 2644 data with corresponding Call
Report data, and enables estimation, based on Call Report data, of the
universe of banks. Currently, data items M.1 and M.1.a do not meet this
standard.
Proposed Definitional Changes for FFIEC 002 Filers
Currently, all respondents on the FR 2644 panel are instructed to
include loans to individuals in one of the three consumer loan
categories on the reporting form. However, for FFIEC 002 filers (U.S.
agencies and branches of foreign banks), this instruction does not
match the reporting of these data on their Call Report. U.S. branches
and agencies of foreign banks are instructed to combine any consumer
loans they might hold with other, non-segregated loans on the FFIEC
002,\2\ unlike their domestically chartered counterparts who have
comparable consumer loan items on their Call Reports. Thus, these FFIEC
002 reporters have been asked to report weekly data on the FR 2644 that
are not required on their quarterly Call Reports. For respondents to
the FR 2644 that file the FFIEC 002, the Board proposes to revise the
instructions for the FR 2644 to match those of the FFIEC 002--to
instruct FFIEC 002 filers to include consumer loans in all other loans
and leases on the FR 2644.
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\2\ Prior to July 2009, foreign-related institutions filed the
FR 2069 report, which was tailored to that bank group and did not
include consumer loan items; on that report, consumer loans were
included in ``all other loans.''
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Likewise, all respondents to the FR 2644 panel report loans and
leases gross of any allowances for loan and lease losses, with a
separate entry for these allowances. However, the FFIEC 002 instructs
U.S. agencies and branches of foreign banks to net loans and leases of
any specific reserves. The Board recommends amending the FR 2644
instructions for these reporters to match those for the FFIEC 002.
Thus, U.S. agencies and branches of foreign banks would net any
specific reserves from the loan items and leave the allowance for loan
and lease losses (item 4.g) blank.
The reasons for these proposed changes are the same as those listed
in bullet item 2 above: Simplification of reporting, performance of
interseries edits, and ability to create universe estimates. Both
changes in reporting instruction will only affect a handful of U.S.
branches and agencies of foreign banks, as most of these institutions
do not issue consumer loans or establish accounts for loan and lease
losses.
Proposed Definitional Change for Small Domestically Chartered
Commercial Banks
The FR 2644 reporting form captures loans to, and acceptances of,
commercial banks in the U.S. (item 4.b) to isolate interbank lending
which is not considered a true measure of bank credit and their
willingness to lend. However, the smallest respondents (those FFIEC 041
filers with less than $300 million in assets and all FFIEC 051 filers)
only report loans to depository institutions and acceptances of other
banks on their respective Call Reports and therefore, their data for
this item frequently fails comparisons to Call Report data (interseries
edits). Therefore, the Board proposes to revise the reporting
instructions for these two bank groups--FFIEC 041 filers with less than
$300 million in assets and FFIEC 051 filers would report loans to
depository institutions--to minimize reporting discrepancies and to
align reporting with the Call Reports.
Reduce the Authorized Sample
The FR 2644 panel has an authorized maximum respondent panel size
of 875 domestically chartered commercial banks and U.S. branches and
agencies of foreign banks. Currently, the panel
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consists of 792 total reporters--727 domestically chartered banks and
65 foreign-related institutions \3\--covering all 12 Federal Reserve
Districts. The panel accounts for about 89 percent of the total assets
of U.S. commercial banks, as well as a high level of coverage for most
reported items. While the number of panel respondents tends to run
below the authorized size due to mergers among reporters and loss of
respondents due to the voluntary nature of the collection, the current
number of respondents is unusually low relative to the authorized size
because the recruitment of new respondents was temporarily paused with
the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
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\3\ As of March 31, 2021. Two branches in the Second District
file combined reports on the FR 2644.
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Quarterly Call Reports are used to benchmark the universe estimates
of small domestically chartered banks \4\ and foreign-related
institutions. Average revisions to the estimates of small banks over
the last 16 benchmarks--from March 2017 to December 2020--were somewhat
larger than those over the previous renewal cycle, while those for the
foreign-related institutions shrank considerably. While the average
revisions are not overly large, they are still significant. Even so,
the Board proposes reducing the authorized panel size from 875 to 850
in light of the continuing consolidation in the commercial bank
universe as well as the ongoing difficulty in attracting and
maintaining respondents due to the voluntary nature of this collection.
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\4\ Small domestic banks are those not in the top 25 in asset
size as of each quarterly Call Report.
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Legal authorization and confidentiality: The FR 2644 is authorized
by section 2A of the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), which states that the
Board ``shall 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.) and by section 11(a)(2) of the FRA, which authorizes the
Board to require a depository institution to provide ``reports of its
liabilities and assets as the Board may determine to be necessary or
desirable to enable the Board to discharge its responsibility to
monitor and control monetary and credit aggregates'' (12 U.S.C.
248(a)(2)). Section 7(c)(2) of the International Banking Act of 1978
makes U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks subject to the
reporting requirements of section 11(a)(2) of the FRA (12 U.S.C.
3105(c)(2)). The FR 2644 is voluntary, although the Board would have
the authority to require depository institutions to file these reports.
Although the Board releases aggregate data derived from the FR 2644
in the weekly H.8 Statistical Release, individual bank information
provided by each respondent is treated as confidential because that
information constitutes nonpublic commercial or financial information,
which is both customarily and actually treated as private by the
respondent, and thus may be kept confidential by the Board pursuant to
exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 29,
2021.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2021-21595 Filed 10-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P
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