[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1373-1374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00232]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection
Renewal; Comment Request; Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions
AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The 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 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 an information
collection titled, ``Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions,'' which is
currently an approved collection.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 10, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Commenters are encouraged to submit comments by email, if
possible. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected].
Mail: Chief Counsel's Office, Attention: Comment
Processing, 1557-0250, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400
7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.
Hand Delivery/Courier: 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218,
Washington, DC 20219.
Instructions: You must include ``OCC'' as the agency name
and ``1557-0250'' in your comment. In general, the OCC will publish
comments on www.reginfo.gov without change, including any business or
personal information provided, such as name and address information,
email addresses, or phone numbers. 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.
You may review comments and other related materials that pertain to
this information collection beginning on the date of publication of the
second notice for this collection \1\ by any of the following methods:
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\1\ Following the close of this notice's 60-day comment period,
the OCC will publish a second notice with a 30-day comment period.
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Viewing Comments Electronically: Go to www.reginfo.gov.
Click on the ``Information Collection Review'' tab. Underneath the
``Currently under Review'' section heading, from the drop-down menu
select ``Department of Treasury'' and then click ``submit.'' This
information collection can be located by searching by OMB control
number ``1557-0250'' or ``Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions.'' Upon
finding the appropriate information collection, click on the related
``ICR Reference Number.'' On the next screen, select ``View Supporting
Statement and Other Documents'' and then click on the link to any
comment listed at the bottom of the screen.
For assistance in navigating www.reginfo.gov, please
contact the Regulatory Information Service Center at (202) 482-7340.
Viewing Comments Personally: You may personally inspect
comments at the OCC, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC. 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 hearing impaired, 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
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaquita Merritt, OCC Clearance
Officer, (202) 649-5490 or, for persons who are deaf or hearing
impaired, TTY, (202) 649-5597, Chief Counsel's Office, Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20219.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.),
Federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of
information that 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 title 44 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
[[Page 1374]]
requirement, the OCC is publishing notice of the renewal of the
collection of information set forth in this document.
Title: Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions.
OMB Control No.: 1557-0250.
Type of Review: Regular.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 15.
Total Annual Burden: 22,418 hours.
Description:
Background
The OCC's retail forex rule (12 CFR part 48) allows national banks
and Federal savings associations to offer or enter into retail foreign
exchange transactions. In order to engage in these transactions,
institutions must comply with various reporting, disclosure, and
recordkeeping requirements included in that rule.
Reporting Requirements
The reporting requirements in 12 CFR 48.4 state that, prior to
initiating a retail forex business, a national bank or Federal savings
association must provide the OCC with prior notice and obtain a written
supervisory no-objection letter. In order to obtain a supervisory no-
objection letter, a national bank or Federal savings association must
have written policies, procedures, and risk measurement and management
systems and controls in place to ensure that retail forex transactions
are conducted in a safe and sound manner. The national bank or Federal
savings association also must provide other information required by the
OCC, such as documentation of customer due diligence, new product
approvals, and haircuts applied to noncash margins.
Disclosure Requirements
Under 12 CFR 48.5, a national bank or Federal savings association
must promptly provide the customer with a statement reflecting the
financial result of the transactions and the name of any introducing
broker to the account. The institution must follow the customer's
specific instructions on how the offsetting transaction should be
applied.
Twelve CFR 48.6 requires that a national bank or Federal savings
association furnish a retail forex customer with a written disclosure
before opening an account through which the customer will engage in
retail forex transactions. It further requires a national bank or
Federal savings association to secure an acknowledgment from the
customer that the disclosure was received and understood. Finally, the
section requires the disclosure by a national bank or Federal savings
association of its profitable accounts ratio and its fees and other
charges.
Twelve CFR 48.10 requires a national bank or Federal savings
association to issue monthly statements to each retail forex customer
and send confirmation statements following transactions.
Twelve CFR 48.13(c) prohibits a national bank or Federal savings
association engaging in retail forex transactions from knowingly
handling the account of any related person of another retail forex
counterparty unless it receives proper written authorization, promptly
prepares a written record of the order, and transmits to the
counterparty copies of all statements and written records. Twelve CFR
48.13(d) prohibits a related person of a national bank or Federal
savings association engaging in retail forex transactions from having
an account with another retail forex counterparty unless it receives
proper written authorization and copies of all statements and written
records for such accounts are transmitted to the counterparty.
Twelve CFR 48.15 requires a national bank or Federal savings
association to provide a retail forex customer with 30 days prior
notice of any assignment of any position or transfer of any account of
the retail forex customer. It also requires a national bank or Federal
savings association to which retail forex accounts or positions are
assigned or transferred to provide the affected customers with risk
disclosure statements and forms of acknowledgment and obtain the signed
acknowledgments within 60 days.
The customer dispute resolution provisions in 12 CFR 48.16 require
certain endorsements, acknowledgments, and signatures. The section also
requires that a national bank or Federal savings association, within 10
days after receipt of notice from the retail forex customer that the
customer intends to submit a claim to arbitration, provide the customer
with a list of persons qualified in the dispute resolution.
Policies and Procedures; Recordkeeping
Twelve CFR 48.7 and 48.13 require that a national bank or Federal
savings association engaging in retail forex transactions keep full,
complete, and systematic records and to establish and implement
internal rules, procedures, and controls. Section 48.7 also requires
that a national bank or Federal savings association keep account,
financial ledger, transaction, and daily records, as well as memorandum
orders, post-execution allocation of bunched orders, records regarding
its ratio of profitable accounts, possible violations of law, records
for noncash margin, and monthly statements and confirmations. Twelve
CFR 48.9 requires policies and procedures for haircuts for noncash
margin collected under the rule's margin requirements and annual
evaluations and modifications of the haircuts.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will 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 burden of the
information collection;
(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.
Dated: January 6, 2020.
Theodore J. Dowd,
Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2020-00232 Filed 1-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P