Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request; Examination Questionnaire

AGENCY:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the renewal of an information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

The OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information collection titled, “Examination Questionnaire.”

DATES:

Comments must be submitted by June 3, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the OCC is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments by email, if possible. Comments may be sent to: Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Attention: 1557-0199, 400 7th Street SW., Suite 3E-218, Mail Stop 9W-11, Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to (571) 465-4326 or by electronic mail to regs.comments@occ.treas.gov. You may personally inspect and photocopy comments at the OCC, 400 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by calling (202) 649-6700 or, for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, TTY, (202) 649-5597. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to present valid government-issued photo identification and submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments.

All comments received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaquita Merritt, Clearance Officer, (202) 649-5490 or, for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, TTY, (202) 649-5597, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the 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 members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, the OCC is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.

The OCC is proposing to extend the approval for the following information collection:

Title: Examination Questionnaire.

OMB Control No.: 1557-0199.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Abstract: The OCC provides each national bank or Federal savings association with an Examination Survey at the end of its supervisory cycle (12- or 18-month period). This information collection permits banks to assess the OCC's bank supervisory activities, including the:

• Effectiveness of OCC communications with the bank;
• Reasonableness of OCC requests for data and information;
• Quality of OCC decisionmaking during the exam process;
• Professionalism of OCC examining staff; and
• Responsiveness of OCC examiners.

The OCC developed the survey at the suggestion of the banking industry. Banking industry members expressed a desire to provide examination-related feedback to the OCC. The Comptroller of the Currency and OCC supervisory staff considered that expressed need and concurred. Further, the Comptroller of the Currency and OCC supervisory staff find this information collection to be an important tool for measuring OCC examination performance, designing more efficient and effective examinations, and targeting examiner training.

This information collection continues to formalize and promote a long-standing OCC program. The OCC always has given the institutions it supervises the opportunity to provide input regarding the examination process.

The Post Exit Survey is no longer being used and has been deleted from this collection.

Burden Estimates:

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,212.

Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent per Year: 0.65.

Estimated Number of Responses: 788.

Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.

Estimated Annual Burden: 131 hours.

Comments: All comments will be considered in formulating the subsequent submission and become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the OCC, including whether the information has practical utility;

(b) The accuracy of the OCC's estimate of the information collection burden;

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection 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.