Agency Information Collection Activities: Renewal of an Information Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The FDIC, 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 the proposed renewal of an information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Currently, the FDIC is soliciting comments concerning an information collection titled “Foreign Branching and Investment By Insured State Nonmember Banks.”

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before July 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to Leneta Gregorie, Counsel, Legal Division, Room 3062, Attention: Comments/Legal Division, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429. All comments should refer to “Foreign Branching and Investment by Insured State Nonmember Banks.” Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of the 17th Street Building (located on F Street), on business days between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Comments may be submitted electronically to comments@fdic.gov. Comments may also be submitted to the OMB desk officer for the FDIC: Mark Menchik, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 3208, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Leneta G. Gregorie, (202) 898-3719, or at the address identified above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposal to renew the following currently approved collection of information:

Title: Foreign Branching and Investment By Insured State Nonmember Banks.

OMB Number: 3064-0125.

Affected Public: All financial institutions.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 61.

Estimated Number of Responses: 61.

Estimated Time per Response: 2 hours-400 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 20,298 hours.

General Description of Collection: The Federal Deposit Insurance (FDI) Act requires nonmember banks to obtain FDIC consent to establish or operate a branch in a foreign country, or to acquire and hold, directly or indirectly, stock or other evidences of ownership in any foreign bank or other entity. The FDI Act also authorizes the FDIC to impose conditions for such consent and to issue regulations related thereto. The information collection activities attributable to 12 CFR part 347 and part 303, subpart J are a direct consequence of these statutory requirements.

Request for Comment

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the FDIC's functions, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the estimates of the burden of the information collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the collection should be modified prior to submission to OMB for review and approval. Comments submitted in response to this notice also will be summarized or included in the FDIC's requests to OMB for renewal of this collection. All comments will become a matter of public record.