[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65814-65815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25842]
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB
AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board)
is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the
Report of Selected Balance Sheet Items for Discount Window Borrowers
(FR 2046; OMB No. 7100-0289). The revisions are applicable immediately.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office of
the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, DC 20551, (202) 452-3829.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Desk Officer--Shagufta
Ahmed--Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to (202) 395-6974.
A copy of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) OMB submission,
including the reporting form and instructions, supporting statement,
and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public docket files.
These documents also are available on the Federal Reserve Board's
public website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested from the agency clearance officer,
whose name appears above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board
authority under the PRA to approve and assign OMB control numbers to
collections of information conducted or sponsored by the Board. Board-
approved collections of information are incorporated into the official
OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies
of the PRA Submission, supporting statements, and approved collection
of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files.
Final Approval Under OMB Delegated Authority of the Extension for Three
Years, With Revision, of the Following Information Collection
Report title: Report of Selected Balance Sheet Items for Discount
Window Borrowers.
Agency form number: FR 2046.
OMB control number: 7100-0289.
Effective Date: Immediately.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondents: Depository institutions.
Estimated number of respondents: Primary and Secondary Credit, 1;
Seasonal Credit, 83; Seasonal Credit, borrower in questionable
financial condition, 1.
Estimated average hours per response: Primary and Secondary Credit,
0.75 hours; Seasonal Credit, 0.25 hours; Seasonal Credit, borrower in
questionable financial condition, 0.75 hours.
Estimated annual burden hours: Primary and Secondary Credit, 1
hour; Seasonal Credit, 376 hours; Seasonal Credit, borrower in
questionable financial condition, 1 hour.
General description of report: The balance sheet data collected on
the FR 2046 report from certain institutions that borrow from the
discount window are used to monitor discount window borrowing. The
Board's Regulation A, Extensions of Credit by Federal Reserve Banks (12
CFR 201), requires that Reserve Banks review balance sheet data in
determining whether to extend credit and to help ascertain whether
undue use is made of such credit. The FR 2046 report is primarily used
to assess appropriate use of seasonal credit. Certain depository
institutions that borrow from the discount window report on the FR 2046
certain balance sheet data for a period that encompasses the dates of
borrowing.
Legal authorization and confidentiality: The FR 2046 report is
authorized pursuant to sections 4(8), 10B, and 19(b)(7) of the Federal
Reserve Act (``FRA''), 12 U.S.C. 301, 347b, and 461(b)(7),
respectively, which authorize Federal Reserve Banks to provide
discounts or advances to a member bank or other depository institution
and to demand notes secured to the satisfaction of each Reserve Bank,
and authorize the Board to establish rules and regulations under which
a Reserve Bank may extend such credit. Specifically, section 4(8) of
the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 301, requires each Reserve Bank to keep itself
informed of the general character and amount of the loans and
investments of a depository institution ``with a view to ascertaining
whether undue use is being made of bank credit,'' and instructs that,
``in determining whether to grant or refuse advances, rediscounts, or
other credit accommodations, the Federal Reserve Bank shall give
consideration to such information.'' Section 4(8) of the FRA also
authorizes the Board to ``prescribe regulations further defining . . .
the conditions under which discounts, advancements, and the
accommodations may be extended to member banks.'' Section 10B of the
FRA, 12 U.S.C. 347b, permits Federal Reserve Banks to make advances to
member banks ``under rules and regulations prescribed by the Board.''
Section 19(b)(7) of the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 461(b)(7), provides that any
depository institutions that hold reservable deposits are entitled to
the same discount and borrowing privileges as member banks.
In addition, section 9(6) of the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 324, which requires
state member banks to file reports of condition and of the payment of
dividends with the Federal Reserve, provides authority to collect
balance sheet information from state member banks. Sections 2A and 11
of the FRA, 12 U.S.C. 225a and 248(a)(2) and (i), respectively, as well
as section 7(c)(2) of the International Banking Act, 12 U.S.C.
3105(c)(2), authorize the Board to collect balance sheet data from
domestically chartered commercial banks and U.S. branches and agencies
of foreign banks.
The Federal Reserve publishes aggregate data on discount window
lending, which does not identify individual borrowers. In addition, the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the
Board to publish certain information on individual discount window
borrowers and transactions (i.e., the identity of the borrower, the
amount that was borrowed, the interest rate, and the
[[Page 65815]]
types and amounts of collateral or assets pledged) after approximately
a two year lag.\1\ The FR 2046 report is considered confidential until
the fact that the institution borrowed from the discount window is
disclosed. Until this point, the release of this report would reveal
confidential commercial information about the borrower (i.e., the fact
that the institution borrowed from the discount window, as only
borrowers are required to file this form), which is reasonably likely
to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the
institution that submitted the report if the institution is prematurely
identified. Thus, the report is kept confidential under exemption 4 of
the Freedom of Information Act (``FOIA''), 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), which
protects from disclosure ``trade secrets and commercial or financial
information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or
confidential.'' Once the fact that an institution borrowed from the
discount window is disclosed, the FR 2046 report is no longer
considered confidential in the event a FOIA request is received.
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\1\ See 12 U.S.C. 248(s).
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Current actions: On July 19, 2019, the Board published a notice in
the Federal Register (84 FR 34890) requesting public comment for 60
days on the extension, with revision, of the FR 2046. The Board
proposed to update data element definitions to account for the
introduction of the FFIEC 051 reporting form. In addition, the face of
the FR 2046 report will be updated to (1) reflect all of the legal
statutes that authorize the collection of the report; (2) indicate that
the report is ``authorized'' (not ``required'') by law; and (3) clarify
that, if the report is requested under the FOIA, the report will be
treated as confidential unless the borrower's identity has already been
disclosed pursuant to the two year lag provided under the Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.\2\ The comment period
for this notice expired on September 17, 2019. The Board did not
receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented as proposed.
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\2\ 12 U.S.C. 248(s).
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 22,
2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-25842 Filed 11-27-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P