Board of Directors of Federal Home Loan Bank System Office of Finance

AGENCY:

Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal Housing Finance Board.

ACTION:

Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period.

SUMMARY:

Governed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) regulations, the Federal Home Loan Bank System's (System) Office of Finance (OF), issues debt (“consolidated obligations”) on which the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) are jointly and severally liable and publishes combined financial reports on the Banks. The OF is governed by a board of directors, the composition and functions of which are determined by FHFA's regulations. The FHFA's experience with the System and with the OF's combined financial reports during the recent period of market stress suggests that the OF and the System could benefit from a reconstituted and strengthened board. Consequently, the FHFA published a proposed regulation for comment on August 4, 2009, which was intended to achieve that end. The proposal had a comment period of 60 days, but the FHFA has decided to extend the comment period an additional 30 days.

DATES:

Comments on the proposed regulation must be received on or before November 4, 2009. For additional information, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit your comments on the proposed regulation, identified by regulatory information number (RIN) 2590-AA30 by any of the following methods:

• E-mail: Comments to Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel may be sent by e-mail at RegComments@FHFA.gov. Please include “RIN 2590-AA30” in the subject line of the message.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov . Follow the instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your comment to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by e-mail to FHFA at regcomments@fhfa.gov to ensure timely receipt by the agency.
• U.S. Mail, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, or Other Mail Service: The mailing address for comments is: Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel, Attention: Comments/RIN 2590-AA30, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: The hand delivery address is: Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel, Attention: Comments/RIN 2590-AA30, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. The package should be logged at the Guard Desk, First Floor, on business days between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joseph A. McKenzie, 202-408-2845, Division of Federal Home Loan Bank Regulation, Federal Housing Finance Agency, 1625 Eye Street, NW., Washington, DC 20006; or Neil Crowley, Deputy General Counsel, 202-343-1316, or Thomas E. Joseph, Senior Attorney-Advisor, 202-414-3095 (not toll-free numbers), Office of General Counsel, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. The telephone number for the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf is 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On August 4, 2009, the FHFA published for comment in the Federal Register a proposed regulation to reconstitute and strengthen the board of directors of the OF. See 74 FR 38564 (August 4, 2009). The comment period for the proposed rule was originally to close on October 5, 2009, but the FHFA believes that allowing additional time for comments would benefit the agency. The comment period is, therefore, being extended an additional 30 days until November 4, 2009.

The FHFA invites comments on all aspects of the proposed regulation, and will adopt a final regulation with appropriate changes after taking all comments into consideration. Copies of all comments will be posted on the Internet Web site at https://www.fhfa.gov . In addition, copies of all comments received will be available for examination by the public on business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. To make an appointment to inspect comments, please call the Office of General Counsel at 202-414-6924.