Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 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:

Joint notice and request for comment.

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”) hereby give notice that they plan to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests for review of the information collection described below. The agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), intend to extend, without revision, the following currently approved information collection: the Foreign Branch Report of Condition (FFIEC 030). At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine whether the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the information collection. The agencies will then submit the report to OMB for review and approval.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to any or all of the agencies. All comments, which should refer to the OMB control number(s), will be shared among the agencies.

OCC: Written comments on the FFIEC 030 should be submitted to the Communications Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW, Third Floor, Attention: 1557-0099, Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by facsimile transmission to (202) 874-5274, or by electronic mail to regs.comments@occ.treas.gov. Comments will be available for inspection and photocopying at the OCC=s Public Reference Room, 250 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 20219 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on business days. Appointments for inspection of comments may be made by calling (202) 874-5043.

Board: Written comments on the FFIEC 030 should be addressed to Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and C Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20551, or delivered to the Board's mail room between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., and to the security control room outside of those hours. Both the mail room and the security control room are accessible from the courtyard entrance on 20th Street between Constitution Avenue and C Street, NW. Comments received may be inspected in room M-P-500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., except as provided in section 261.12 of the Board's Rules Regarding Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.12(a).

FDIC: Written comments on the FFIEC 030 should be addressed to Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary, Attention: Comments/OES, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20429. Comments 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 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. [FAX number (202) 898-3838; Internet address: comments@fdic.gov]. 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: Alexander T. Hunt, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 3208, Washington, DC 20503.

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: Mary M. West, Chief, Financial Reports Section, (202) 452-3829, 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 contact Diane Jenkins, (202) 452-3544, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and C Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20551.

FDIC: Steven F. Hanft, FDIC Clearance Officer, (202) 898-3907, Office of the Executive Secretary, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposal To Extend for Three Years Without Revision the Following Currently Approved Collection of Information

Title: Foreign Branch Report of Condition.

Form Number: FFIEC 030.

Frequency of Response: Annually, and quarterly for significant branches.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.

For OCC:

OMB Number: 1557-0099.

Number of Respondents: 143 annual respondents 56 quarterly respondents.

Estimated Time per Response: 3.9 burden hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1431 burden hours.

For Board:

OMB Number: 7100-0071.

Number of Respondents: 40 annual respondents 26; quarterly respondents.

Estimated Time per Response: 3.9 burden hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 468 burden hours.

For FDIC:

OMB Number: 3064-0011.

Number of Respondents: 36 annual respondents; no quarterly respondents.

Estimated Time per Response: 3.9 burden hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 140.4 burden hours.

General Description of Report

This information collection is mandatory: 12 U.S.C. 321, 324, and 602 (Board); 12 U.S.C. 602 (OCC); and 12 U.S.C. 1828 (FDIC). This information collection is given confidential treatment (5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(8)). Small businesses (that is, small banks) are not affected.

Abstract

This report contains asset and liability information for foreign branches of insured U.S. commercial banks and is required for regulatory and supervisory purposes. The information is used to analyze the foreign operations of U.S. commercial banks. All foreign branches of U.S. banks regardless of charter type file this report with the appropriate Federal Reserve District Bank. The Federal Reserve collects this information on behalf of the U.S. bank's primary federal bank regulatory agency.

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 and will be summarized or included in the agencies' requests for OMB approval. 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.