Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Submission for OMB Review; Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements

AGENCY:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing 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 OMB control number.

The OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled, “Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements.” The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

DATES:

Comments must be received by August 24, 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: 1557-0219, 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 prainfo@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.

Additionally, please send a copy of your comments by mail to: OCC Desk Officer, 1557-0219, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street NW., #10235, Washington, DC 20503, or by email to: oira submission@omb.eop.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaquita Merritt, OCC 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, Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The OCC is proposing to extend, without change, OMB approval of the following information collection:

Title: Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements.

OMB Control No.: 1557-0219.

Description: National banks, Federal savings associations, and their affiliates (institutions) occasionally enter into agreements with nongovernmental entities or persons (NGEPs) that are related to their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) responsibilities. Section 48 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) requires disclosure of certain of these agreements and imposes reporting requirements on institutions and other insured depository institutions (IDIs), their affiliates, and NGEPs. As mandated by the FDI Act, the OCC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve Board issued regulations to implement these disclosure and reporting requirements. The disclosure and reporting provisions of these regulations constitute collections of information under the PRA. The regulation issued by the OCC is codified at 12 CFR part 35, and the collections of information contained in that regulation are known as “CRA Sunshine.”

Section 48 of the FDI Act applies to written agreements that: (1) Are made in fulfillment of the CRA; (2) involve funds or other resources of an IDI or affiliate with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 in a year or loans with an aggregate principal value of more than $50,000 in a year; and (3) are entered into by an IDI or affiliate of an IDI and an NGEP.

The parties to a covered agreement must make the agreement available to the public and the appropriate agency. The parties also must file a report annually with the appropriate agency concerning the disbursement, receipt, and use of funds or other resources under the agreement. The collections of information in CRA Sunshine implement these statutorily mandated disclosure and reporting requirements. The parties to the agreement may request confidential treatment of proprietary and confidential information in an agreement or annual report.

The information collections are found in 12 CFR 35.4(b); 35.6(b)-(d); and 35.7(b) and (f).

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Individuals; Businesses or other for-profit.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 14.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1,026.

Comments: On March 9, 2016, the OCC issued a 60-day notice soliciting comment on this information collection, 81 FR 12565. The OCC received one comment from an individual.

The commenter stated that the collection is necessary and has practical utility. The commenter suggested that the OCC amend 12 CFR 35.6 to require that national banks and Federal savings associations publish covered agreements on their Web sites and that the OCC post them on its Web site as well. The CRA Sunshine statute set forth in section 48 of the FDI Act requires that the Federal banking agencies' CRA Sunshine regulations protect proprietary and confidential information of parties. In order to comply with that statutory requirement, the OCC will make covered agreements and annual reports available to the public in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the OCC's rules regarding the availability of information under the FOIA.

The commenter believed that the burden estimates may be low as institutions may not be aware of the filing requirements in § 35.6(d). The commenter requested that the OCC discuss how the estimates were derived and whether the possibility of underreporting was factored into the estimates. The estimates were obtained by counting the number of actual filings received. Failure to report due to a lack of awareness of the filing requirements in § 35.6 was not considered as this is not within the scope of the PRA.

Comments continue to be 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.