FDIC Federal Register Citations

[Federal Register: March 3, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 41)]

[Notices]

[Page 10069-10070]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr03mr03-117]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury;

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board); and Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Notice of information collection to be submitted to OMB for

review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC

(collectively, the ``agencies'') may not conduct or sponsor, and the

respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection

unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) control number.

On November 8, 2002, the agencies requested public comment for 60

days on proposed revisions to the Country Exposure Report and the

Country Exposure Information Report, which are currently approved

collections of information. After considering the two comments the

agencies received, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination

Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, adopted the

proposed revisions.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 2, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to

any or all of the agencies. All comments should refer to the OMB

control number(s) and will be shared among the agencies.

OCC: Comments should be sent to the Public Information Room, Office

of the Comptroller of the Currency, Mailstop 1-5, Attention: 1557-0100,

250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. Due to delays in paper mail

delivery in the Washington area, commenters are encouraged to submit

comments by fax or e-mail. Comments may be sent by fax to (202) 874-

4448, or by e-mail to regs.comments@occ.treas.gov. You can inspect and

photocopy the comments at the OCC's Public Information Room, 250 E

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. You can make an appointment to

inspect the comments by calling (202) 874-5043.

Board: Written comments, which should refer to ``Country Exposure

Report, 7100-0035,'' may be mailed to Ms. Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th

Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551. However,

because paper mail in the Washington area and at the Board of Governors

is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments by e-mail

to regs.comments@federalreserve.gov, or faxing them to the Office of

the Secretary at 202-452-3819 or 202-452-3102. Comments addressed to

Ms. Johnson may also be delivered to the Board's mail facility in the

West Courtyard between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., located on 21st Street

between Constitution Avenue and C Street, NW. Members of the public may

inspect comments in Room MP-500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays

pursuant to 261.12, except as provided in 261.14, of the Board's Rules

Regarding Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.12 and 261.14.

FDIC: Written comments should be addressed to Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary, Attention: Comments/Legal, Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429. All

comments should refer to ``Country Exposure Report, 3064-0017.''

Commenters are encouraged to submit comments by fax or electronic mail

[Fax number: (202) 898-3838; Internet address: comments@fdic.gov].

Comments also may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of

the 550 17th Street Building (located on F Street) on business days

between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Comments may be inspected and photocopied in

the FDIC Public Information Center, Room 100, 801 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on business days.

A copy of the comments may also be submitted to the OMB desk

officer for the agencies: Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., Office of Information

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive

Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503 or electronic mail to

jlackeyj@omb.eop.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information or a copy of

the collection may be requested from:

OCC: Jessie Dunaway, OCC Clearance Officer, or Camille Dixon, (202)

874-5090, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.

Board: Cynthia M. Ayouch, Board Clearance Officer, (202) 452-2204,

Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal

Reserve System, 20th and C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551.

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may call (202) 263-

4869.

FDIC: Tamara R. Manly, Management Analyst, (202) 898-7453, Legal

Division, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW.,

Washington, DC 20429.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Request for OMB approval to extend, with

revision, the following currently approved collections of information:

Report Title: Country Exposure Report/Country Exposure Information

Report.

Form Number: FFIEC 009 and FFIEC 009a.

Frequency of Response: Quarterly.

Affected Public: Business or other for profit.

For OCC

OMB Number: 1557-0100.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 21 (FFIEC 009), 21 (FFIEC 009a).

Estimated Average Time per Response: 30 burden hours (FFIEC 009),

5.25 burden hours (FFIEC 009a).

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 2,520 burden hours (FFIEC 009), 441

burden hours (FFIEC 009a).

For Board

OMB Number: 7100-0035.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 31 (FFIEC 009), 16 (FFIEC 009a).

Estimated Average Time per Response: 30 burden hours (FFIEC 009),

5.25 burden hours (FFIEC 009a).

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 3720 burden hours (FFIEC 009), 336

burden hours (FFIEC 009a).

For FDIC

OMB Number: 3064-0017.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 22 (FFIEC 009), 22 (FFIEC 009a).

Estimated Average Time per Response: 30 burden hours (FFIEC 009),

5.25 burden hours (FFIEC 009a).

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 2,640 burden hours (FFIEC 009), 462

burden hours (FFIEC 009a).

General Description of Reports

These information collections are mandatory: 12 U.S.C. 161 and 1817

(for national banks), 12 U.S.C. 248(a), 1844(c), and 3906 (for state

member banks and bank holding companies); and 12 U.S.C. 1817 and 1820

(for insured state nonmember commercial and savings banks). The FFIEC

009 information collection is given

[[Page 10070]]

confidential treatment (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and (b)(8)). The FFIEC 009a

information collection is not given confidential treatment. Small

businesses (i.e., small banks) are not affected.

Abstract

The Country Exposure Report (FFIEC 009) is filed quarterly with the

agencies and provides information on international claims of U.S. banks

and bank holding companies that is used for supervisory and analytical

purposes. The information is used to monitor country exposure of banks

to determine the degree of risk in their portfolios and the possible

impact on U.S. banks of adverse developments in particular countries.

The Country Exposure Information Report (FFIEC 009a) is a supplement to

the FFIEC 009 and provides publicly available information on material

foreign country exposures (all exposures to a country in excess of one

percent of total assets or 20 percent of capital, whichever is less) of

U.S. banks and bank holding companies that file the FFIEC 009 report.

As part of the Country Exposure Information Report, reporting

institutions must also furnish a list of countries in which they have

lending exposures above 0.75 percent of total assets or 15 percent of

total capital, whichever is less.

Current Action

On November 8, 2002, the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC jointly

published a notice soliciting comments for 60 days on proposed

revisions to the FFIEC 009 and FFIEC 009a (67 FR 68228). The agencies

proposed to require electronic submission of all FFIEC 009 and 009a

reports effective with the March 31, 2003, report date. The agencies

proposed to have the Board collect and process the FFIEC 009 and 009a

reports on their behalf via the Federal Reserve System's Internet

Electronic Submission (IESUB) system. Electronic filing capability via

IESUB is available on the Internet through the use of data entry or a

file transfer feature. These methods are secure and result in a minimal

burden to banks and bank holding companies. The agencies would no

longer accept paper (hard copy) reports from banks and bank holding

companies after the December 31, 2002, report date. The submission

deadline would remain 45 calendar days after the report date. No other

changes to the FFIEC 009 reporting forms or the FFIEC 009a reporting

forms and instructions were proposed.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Comments Received on the Agencies' Proposal

In response to the November 8, 2002, notice, the agencies received

2 comment letters, one from a banking organization and one from a

bankers' association. The two commenters alluded to their familiarity

with the IESUB system filing requirements and supported the proposed

submission method. However, the commenters expressed concern about the

start-up time and effort required to initially submit their FFIEC 009

and 009a reports electronically. The commenters specifically cited the

lack of currently approved FFIEC 009 and 009a vendor software

applications as a concern. The commenters recommended the agencies

investigate the possibility of providing a standardized pre-formatted

form for file transfer submission to alleviate this concern.

The FFIEC and the agencies have considered the comments received

and determined that it would not be practical or necessary for the

Board, or the Federal Reserve district banks, to create a specific pre-

formatted form for filing the FFIEC 009 and 009a via IESUB using the

file transfer method. Rather than developing a pre-formatted form for

file transfer submissions, the Federal Reserve district banks will

provide technical assistance to any respondent who needs assistance

creating files for their initial FFIEC 009 and 009a submission via

IESUB. Any FFIEC 009 and 009a respondent who needs assistance is

encouraged to visit the Federal Reserve System Web site

http://www.reportingandreserves.org/req.html

for additional information on www.reportingandreserves.org/req.html for additional

information on http://www.reportingandreserves.org/req.html IESUB.

The Web site also includes a link that respondents may use to

contact their local Federal Reserve district bank for assistance with

IESUB.

Request for Comment

Comments are invited on:

a. Whether the information collections are necessary for the proper

performance of the agencies' functions, including whether the

information has practical utility;

b. The accuracy of the agencies' estimates of the burden of the

information collections, 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 collections on

respondents, including through the use of automated collection

techniques or other forms of information technology; and

e. Estimates of capital or start up costs and costs of operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be shared among

the agencies. All comments will become a matter of public record.

Written comments should address the accuracy of the burden estimates

and ways to minimize burden including the use of automated collection

techniques or the use of other forms of information technology as well

as other relevant aspects of the information collection request.

Dated: February 24, 2003.

Mark J. Tenhundfeld,

Assistant Director, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division,

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 25,

2003.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

Dated at Washington, DC, this 24th day of February, 2003.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 03-4911 Filed 2-28-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810-33-P; 6210-01-P; 6714-01-P