Notice2023-20679
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 25, 2023
Issuing agencies
Federal Housing Finance Agency
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65681-65682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20679]
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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.
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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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9dd2d4cfdcc2eee8fff0f4eeeef4f2f3ddf2f0ffb3f8f2edb3faf2eb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e9a6a0bba8b69a9c8b84809a9a808687a986848bc78c8699c78e869f">[email protected]</span></a>. 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:
<bullet> Agency Website: <a href="http://www.fhfa.gov/open-for-comment-or-input">www.fhfa.gov/open-for-comment-or-input</a>.
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a8facdcfebc7c5c5cdc6dcdbe8cec0cec986cfc7de"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="580a3d3f1b3735353d362c2b183e303e39763f372e">[email protected]</span></a> to ensure timely receipt by the agency.
<bullet> 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
<a href="http://www.fhfa.gov">http://www.fhfa.gov</a>.
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, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0c406562687f6d75225f7c6d686362654c6a646a6d226b637a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d113433392e3c24730e2d3c393233341d3b353b3c733a322b">[email protected]</span></a>, (202) 649-3634 or Angela
Supervielle, Senior Counsel, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a6e7c8c1c3cac788f5d3d6c3d4d0cfc3cacac3e6c0cec0c788c1c9d0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c786a9a0a2aba6e994b2b7a2b5b1aea2ababa287a1afa1a6e9a0a8b1">[email protected]</span></a>, (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\
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\1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1424(a).
\2\ See 12 U.S.C. 1424(b).
\3\ See 12 U.S.C. 1426(d).
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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\
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\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).
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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.
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\8\ See 88 FR 38051 (June 12, 2023).
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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
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