Federal Reserve Currency Recirculation Policy, 14694-14701 [06-2790]

Download as PDF 14694 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices 999 E Street, NW., Washington, DC (Ninth Floor) STATUS: This Meeting Will Be Open To The Public. ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED: Correction and Approval of Minutes. Advisory Opinion 2006–04: Representative Tancredo and Tancredo for Congress Committee, Inc., by Jon Ponder, Treasurer. Final Rules on Coordinated Communications. Routine Administrative Matters. * * * * * DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, April 4, 2006 at 10 a.m. PLACE: 999 E Street, NW., Washington, DC. STATUS: This Meeting Will Be Closed To The Public. ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED: Compliance matters pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 437g. Audits conducted pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 437g, 438(b), and Title 26, U.S.C. Matters concerning participation in civil actions or proceedings or arbitration. Internal personnel rules and procedures or matters affecting a particular employee. PLACE: FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. I. Background Robert Biersack, Press Officer, Telephone: (202) 694–1220. Mary W. Dove, Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. 06–2895 Filed 3–21–06; 3:19 pm] BILLING CODE 6715–01–M FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM [Docket No. OP–1164] Federal Reserve Currency Recirculation Policy Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. ACTION: Final policy. wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES AGENCY: SUMMARY: The Board is revising the Federal Reserve’s cash services policy to reduce depository institutions’ overuse of Federal Reserve Bank currency processing services, which could affect approximately 150 to 225 depository institutions with high-volume currency operations. The Board is adding two elements to the policy: (1) A custodial inventory program that provides an incentive to depository institutions to hold $10 and $20 notes in their vaults to meet customers’ demand, and (2) a fee to depository institutions that deposit fit $10 or $20 notes at a Reserve Bank and order the same denomination, above a de minimis amount, during the VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 same business week. In general, the Federal Reserve expects depository institutions to recirculate to their customers fit currency deposited with them and to deposit only excess or unfit currency with Reserve Banks. The Reserve Banks will amend section 3.3 of Operating Circular 2 to implement the provisions of the final policy. DATES: Implementation Timeframe: Reserve Banks expect to begin accepting requests to participate in the custodial inventory program in May 2006, with program operations beginning in July 2006. Reserve Banks expect to begin assessing recirculation fees in July 2007. Reserve Banks’ Cash Product Office will provide notice of the specific dates at least sixty days in advance on the Federal Reserve Financial Services Web site at https://www.frbservices.org. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugenie E. Foster, Manager (202/736– 5603) or John D. Sparrow, Jr., Senior Financial Services Analyst (202/452– 3597), Cash Section, Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; for users of the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) only, (202/263–4869). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Problem The Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) supply genuine (new and fit) currency and coin to depository institutions to meet the public’s cash demand.1 Historically, Reserve Banks also removed unfit notes from circulation and served as intermediaries among depository institutions, accepting deposits from those with a surplus of fit notes and providing currency to those with a shortfall. Depository institutions, in turn, acted as intermediaries among their customers, recirculating currency from merchant customers, for example, to meet the currency demands of households and other customers. These traditional patterns have been changing as depository institutions have used fewer fit notes deposited by their customers to fill other customers’ orders. Today, depository institutions often order currency directly from Reserve Banks to stock automated teller machines (ATMs) and fill customer orders, depositing notes received from their customers directly with Reserve Banks. 1 Fit notes are of acceptable quality for circulation, whereas unfit notes are unacceptable. For example, unfit notes are often soiled, torn, or defaced. New notes are previously uncirculated notes that Reserve Banks issue. PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Further, actions taken by many depository institutions to reduce their required reserves have allowed them to reduce their holdings of vault cash.2 Depository institutions with vault cash in excess of that needed to satisfy reserve requirements have an incentive to economize on holdings of currency in their vaults.3 Efforts to economize on holdings of currency have led some depository institutions to increase the size and frequency of their deposits of currency to and orders of currency from Reserve Banks. Reserve Banks’ order and deposit activity during 2004 shows that deposits of 7.2 billion fit $10 and $20 notes were followed or preceded by orders of the same denomination by the same institution in the same business week in the same geographic area.4 This pattern suggests that some depository institutions are relying on Reserve Banks to process a substantial amount of currency that the depository institutions should normally have recirculated to their customers. Further, this activity is concentrated primarily in approximately 40 depository institutions with large currency businesses.5 Underpinning depository institutions’ decisions to use—and overuse—Reserve Bank currency processing services is the fact that Reserve Banks offer basic currency processing services without charge. The Board believes that to minimize the societal cost of providing currency to the public, depository institutions should resume their traditional role of supplying fit currency from their customers’ deposits to meet other customers’ needs before turning to Reserve Banks to obtain currency. Current Policy The Federal Reserve’s current crossshipping policy is described in the 2 Depository institutions can satisfy their reserve requirements with vault cash, or with reserve balances held at a Reserve Bank either directly or through a pass-through correspondent. Since the mid-1990s, however, many depository institutions have sharply reduced their reserve requirements by sweeping balances held by retail customers in deposit accounts that are reservable into accounts that are not reservable. For some institutions, the reduction in required reserves left them with more vault cash than necessary to meet requirements. 3 Vault cash holdings do not earn interest. If, however, an institution deposits currency with a Reserve Bank, it receives credit to its account at the Federal Reserve. The depository institution can then earn a positive return on those funds by lending them to another institution, such as in the federal funds market. 4 This amounts to approximately 39 percent of notes deposited in these denominations, or approximately 19 percent of total deposits to Reserve Banks in 2004. 5 Approximately 40 of the Reserve Banks’ more than 8,000 currency customers are responsible for approximately 90 percent of cross-shipping activity. E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices Reserve Banks’ Operating Circular 2, Cash Services, which states: If you deposit fit currency with us, you may not order currency of the same denomination within five business days prior to or following the deposit of that denomination. This practice, known as ‘‘cross-shipping,’’ is not permitted at the depositing office level. When practicable, cross-shipping should be minimized or eliminated at the depositing institution level.6 The current policy has proven ineffective in reducing or preventing cross-shipping. For example, this policy does not provide sufficient guidance to depository institutions or Reserve Banks with respect to the circumstances under which cross-shipping should not occur. More fundamentally, the only tool that Reserve Banks currently have to enforce the policy is to deny currency services to depository institutions that do not comply with the operating circular requirement. Denial of service would be highly disruptive to the businesses of both the depository institutions and their customers. Also, in the past, Reserve Banks did not have systematic tools for monitoring the quality of specific currency deposits, making the process of identifying cross-shipping cumbersome and costly. 2003 Proposed Recirculation Policy To provide incentives for depository institutions to adopt, from a societal point of view, the least costly means of recirculating currency to their customers, in October 2003 the Board proposed revising the current policy by adding two inter-related components: A custodial inventory program, and a fee that would be assessed on deposits of cross-shipped currency (‘‘2003 proposed policy’’).7 To mitigate the costs associated with holding currency long enough to facilitate its recirculation, the Board proposed allowing depository institutions to transfer to a custodial inventory no more than 25 percent of the value of their total holdings in the $5 through $20 denominations.8 To be eligible to hold a custodial inventory, the 2003 proposed policy required a depository institution to be capable of recirculating at least 200 bundles of currency in the eligible denominations per week in a Reserve Bank zone or subzone, in order to justify the wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES 6 Federal Reserve Operating Circular 2, January 2, 1998, section 3.3. https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/ index.cfm. 7 See 68 FR 59176, October 14, 2003. 8 A custodial inventory is currency owned by a Reserve Bank but located within a depository institution’s secured facility and segregated from the depository institution’s currency. VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 administrative costs and the risks to Reserve Banks of allowing depository institutions to hold Reserve Bank currency in their vaults.9 To provide further incentive for depository institutions to recirculate currency, the Board also proposed establishing a recirculation fee. The fee would reflect Reserve Banks’ costs that vary with the quantity of currency processed. The 2003 proposal indicated that, based on Reserve Banks’ costs at the time, the fee would be $5 to $6 per bundle of cross-shipped currency. Depository institutions would pay the fee if they cross-ship $5, $10, and $20 notes above a de minimis exemption level of 1,000 bundles of currency crossshipped per quarter.10 Summary and Analysis of Public Comments Twenty-four entities provided comments on the 2003 proposed policy, including twenty financial institutions and organizations representing financial institutions; two armored carriers; a currency processing equipment manufacturer; and a member of Congress. Several broad themes emerged from the comments. The most frequent comment, made in various ways by fourteen commenters, reflected concern that the policy would lead to deterioration in the quality of currency in circulation. Thirteen commenters asserted that the policy favored depository institutions with certain types of operations or currency volumes over others. Twelve commenters expressed concern that the policy would increase their costs; seven commenters expected that depository institutions would pass these costs on to customers. Nine commenters responded negatively to various aspects of including onedollar notes in the policy. Nine commenters sought more information about the requirements of the custodial inventory program. 9 A bundle of currency is a standard package of 1,000 notes. A zone is the area to which a Reserve Bank office provides currency services. Under the 2003 proposed policy, Reserve Banks could establish sub-zones for large metropolitan areas that are located a significant distance from the nearest Reserve Bank office. Deposits and orders by institutions with branches and vaults in a sub-zone would have been assessed cross-shipping fees separately from the institutions’ activities in the rest of the zone. 10 The 2003 proposed policy initially excluded $1 notes while Reserve Banks worked with the banking industry with the goal of achieving net savings comparable to those that Reserve Banks could realize by including $1 notes in the policy. If this collaborative effort failed to yield comparable savings, the 2003 proposal would have then included $1 notes in the policy. PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 14695 Quality Many commenters expressed concern that the 2003 proposed policy would adversely affect the quality of currency in circulation because the fee would create an incentive to reduce crossshipping, but would not necessarily cause the depository institutions to sort fit from unfit notes before paying them to customers.11 Depository institutions, therefore, could choose to recirculate unfit notes to their customers to avoid the risk of incurring fees in the event that they deposit fit notes with Reserve Banks. Reserve Banks, however, believe that many depository institutions have or will invest in automated fitnesssorting equipment, particularly for processing $20 notes, to ensure proper functioning of their ATMs. Nonetheless, some depository institutions may recirculate unfit notes, leading to a decline in the overall quality of notes in circulation. Consequently, the final policy requires Reserve Banks to adopt and implement a currency quality policy before the recirculation fee takes effect. The quality policy will define the threshold level of quality for each denomination that is ‘‘fit for commerce;’’ identify a framework for monitoring quality; and specify actions Reserve Banks would take to adjust the quality of currency in circulation to avoid significant inconvenience to the public, or increased risk of recirculating counterfeit notes. The ‘‘fit-for-commerce’’ standard will have two components, which may differ by denomination: (1) A minimum fitness threshold based on consumer acceptance and the technical tolerances of machines that handle currency, and (2) a maximum allowable incidence of below-threshold notes remaining in circulation. The goals of the standard will be the following: • The public remains confident that currency supplied by depository institutions and merchants is genuine and readily usable in subsequent transactions. • Currency in circulation is of sufficiently good condition that users can determine it is genuine by using the currency’s security features.12 11 One commenter from the automatic merchandising industry noted that ‘‘[i]f the recirculation policy degrades the quality of currency so that a mere 1⁄2 of 1% of the industry’s estimated $30 billion of annual sales are lost, the result will be $150 million of lost sales.’’ 12 The public’s ability to recognize the security features of currency can diminish if notes are heavily soiled, torn, worn, or crumpled. E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1 14696 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES • Currency in circulation is usable in automated currency handling equipment.13 • There is an appropriate balance between the public’s note handling costs and Reserve Banks’ costs to maintain the fit-for-commerce standard. Some commenters mentioned the need for a clear and useable standard for fit notes. To assist depository institutions with the standard, Reserve Banks published guidelines in 2004 for distinguishing between notes that are fit and unfit for further circulation.14 Over time, the Federal Reserve expects to continue to refine these guidelines to reflect changing industry practices, technology, and the overall quality of currency in circulation. Equity Some commenters expressed concern that the 2003 proposed policy would favor depository institutions with certain currency volumes over others. The most frequent comment came from institutions with high-volume currency operations that suggested the de minimis exemption would favor institutions with low-volume currency operations because the latter’s activity is likely to fall below the exemption threshold. These respondents argued that the de minimis exemption would allow institutions with low-volume currency operations to obtain fit and new currency less expensively from Reserve Banks than from correspondent depository institutions, putting the correspondent institutions at a competitive disadvantage. Institutions with medium-volume currency operations argued that they were likely to be most disadvantaged by the policy because (1) their activity exceeds the exemption threshold; (2) they do not have the economies of scale to invest in high-speed processing equipment as depository institutions with large currency volumes do; and (3) they do not have sufficient volume to qualify for the custodial inventory program. Institutions with low-volume currency operations stated that although their activity generally does not exceed the exemption threshold, the policy would nonetheless have a negative effect on them through the increased costs their correspondent banks would pass along to them. Several respondents also commented on the disproportionate effect of the 2003 proposed policy on depository institutions that have a number of relatively small vaults widely 13 Automated currency handling equipment includes, for example, vending machines, fare card machines, and currency sorting machines. 14 See https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/pdf/ FRB_Fitness_Standards.pdf. VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 dispersed across a Federal Reserve service zone. Transportation costs, they argued, as well as the complexities of managing multiple inventories, would be more burdensome for depository institutions in this position than for those that have fewer, more centralized vaults. The Board has structured the elements of the final policy, including the custodial inventory program and the recirculation fee, to balance the goal of providing incentives to curtail overuse of Reserve Bank services while minimizing the administrative burden of enforcing the policy on institutions with de minimis cross-shipping activity. The custodial inventory proof-ofconcept program, discussed later in this notice, demonstrated that a depository institution vault with as little as $5 million in daily average vault cash might qualify for the program. Under the final policy, a depository institution can meet the eligibility threshold for the custodial inventory program based on either cross-shipping volume or evidence of internal recirculation, or a combination of the two.15 Data provided by the depository institutions that participated in the proof-of-concept program suggest that some depository institutions may recirculate significant volumes of currency in normal circumstances. If depository institutions satisfy half of their customer orders with currency from internal sources, such as deposits from other customers, Reserve Banks estimate that, under the final policy, only thirteen depository institutions would incur fees greater than $5,000 per year and the largest fee that any affected depository institution would incur would be less than $15,000 per year. If depository institutions satisfy two-thirds of their customer orders with currency from internal sources, Reserve Banks estimate that all depository institutions either would recirculate enough currency to meet the minimum recirculation requirement for a custodial inventory or would incur no fees because they would not exceed the de minimis exemption. Depository institutions with highly dispersed inventories may decide to consolidate some operations or manage their inventories more effectively under the policy, in order to minimize costs. 15 A depository institution can meet the threshold for a custodial inventory site by providing deposit and payment records demonstrating that it currently recirculates at least 200 bundles of currency weekly among its customers. ‘‘Internal recirculation’’ refers to satisfying customer orders with currency from internal sources, such as deposits from other customers, rather than crossshipping. PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Increased Costs to Depository Institutions Many commenters asserted that the 2003 proposed policy would increase their costs, but provided almost no information on specific costs that depository institutions might incur. Some commenters indicated that the proposed policy would affect profit margins for their currency businesses and that it would increase expenses for high-speed sorting equipment, thirdparty vendor arrangements, new software, and transportation. Reserve Banks projected additional expenses that depository institutions might incur to comply with the policy, including the purchase of new currency processing equipment and the associated labor and maintenance costs, and concluded that the Reserve Bank savings from processing a lower volume of currency will exceed the increased costs to depository institutions. Commenters also asserted that the 2003 proposed policy did not address the root cause of cross-shipping—the opportunity costs associated with holding additional currency in their vaults long enough to facilitate its recirculation. In response, the Board adjusted the custodial inventory cap in the final policy as described below. Custodial Inventory Program A number of commenters sought more information about the requirements of the custodial inventory program. Following the notice of the 2003 proposed policy, but before the implementation of the proof-of-concept program, Reserve Banks published more detailed information about the custodial inventory program, including an executive summary, a manual of procedures, and a uniform agreement.16 Five commenters expressed concern that the inventory cap in the 2003 proposed policy was too restrictive. Most of the custodial inventory proof-ofconcept participants agreed, finding that the cap limited their ability to hold enough currency in the custodial inventory to satisfy customer orders. As a result, the participants were able to reduce, but not fully eliminate, crossshipping. Accordingly, as described below, the Board has adjusted the inventory cap in the final policy. Custodial Inventory Proof-of-Concept Program Before undertaking a permanent custodial inventory program, the Board authorized Reserve Banks to implement a proof-of-concept program. This 16 See https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/ CustodialInventoryProgram.html. E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1 wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices program allowed depository institutions to transfer into a custodial inventory no more than 25 percent of average closing balances of currency at the location in the $5 through $20 denominations. The purpose of the proof-of-concept program was to allow Reserve Banks to evaluate how custodial inventories influence depository institutions’ patterns of depositing and withdrawing currency, while allowing depository institutions to assess the costs and benefits of participating in the program. Consistent with these objectives, the Board indicated that it would review the following: • The extent to which participants significantly reduce cross-shipping or recirculate significant amounts of currency. • The extent to which deposits received from participants contain a higher proportion of unfit notes than the average for all deposits in the same zones. • The appropriate inventory cap formula. • The appropriate eligibility threshold for participation in the custodial inventory program. Six depository institutions participated in the proof-of-concept program. Several institutions participated at more than one location; consequently, the program included eleven custodial inventory sites. The participants found benefit in the program and expressed an interest in continuing their participation. Likewise, Reserve Banks found that the program had a measurable effect on the participants’ depositing and ordering patterns with their respective Reserve Bank offices. In total, the eleven participating sites experienced a 34 percent reduction in cross-shipping volume in the first quarter of 2005 as compared with the first quarter of 2004, although results varied from site to site. There was no discernible increase in the proportion of unfit notes deposited because the custodial inventory sites generally chose not to make investments to fitness-sort their currency over the short duration of the program. Many participants indicated to Reserve Banks that if the program were made permanent, they would invest in automated fitness-sorting capability, at least for $20 notes, because they need notes of acceptable quality to ensure that their ATMs do not malfunction. The proof-of-concept program also allowed Reserve Banks to evaluate the proposed inventory cap formula. The program demonstrated that the proposed formula does not accommodate intra-week depository institution currency flows and, VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 therefore, does not provide effective relief from increased opportunity costs that depository institutions could incur if they held additional inventory to recirculate to their customers. Program participants found that the inventory cap was inflexible in accommodating incoming deposits that they otherwise could have used to satisfy customer orders. As a result, depository institutions reduced but did not fully eliminate cross-shipping. II. Final Recirculation Policy Highlights of Changes From the 2003 Proposed Policy As a result of the information obtained from public comments and through the proof-of-concept program, the Board determined to revise its cash services policy. The final policy differs from the 2003 proposed policy in the following ways: • It excludes $1 and $5 notes. • It requires custodial inventory participants to hold one day of average daily payments on their own books, but allows them to transfer up to the equivalent of four days of average daily payments to the custodial inventory, to be held on the books of Reserve Banks. • The Reserve Banks will determine the average fitness rate of an institution’s deposits on a monthly, rather than quarterly, basis and will apply the rate to the institution’s weekly deposits for the month in which the fitness rate was observed, not prospectively. • It reduces the de minimis crossshipping exemption from 1,000 bundles to 875 bundles of notes per quarter, consistent with the Board’s decision to exclude the $5 note from this policy. The Reserve Banks will amend section 3.3 of Operating Circular 2 to implement the provisions of this final policy. Elements of the Final Policy Denominations Subject to the Policy The final policy applies only to $10 and $20 notes. In its 2003 proposal, the Board initially excluded $1 notes, pending the outcome of a collaborative effort between the Reserve Banks and the banking industry to find a means of achieving net savings comparable with those that Reserve Banks could realize by including $1 notes in the policy. Because of the relatively low incidence of counterfeiting and the low value of $1 notes, depository institutions handle them differently from higher denominations to minimize their costs. Many depository institutions do not piece-count a substantial proportion of the $1 notes they receive today; thus, PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 14697 the additional costs to comply with a recirculation policy for $1 notes would be significantly greater than the costs for higher denomination notes. Reserve Banks worked with depository institutions to consider a variety of options, such as extending the crossshipping restriction for $1 notes from one to four weeks or providing an exchange program to allow depository institutions to trade fit $1 notes with each other within geographic markets. After thorough analysis, however, the Reserve Banks concluded that none of the options would increase depository institution recirculation of $1 notes without unwarranted societal costs. The Board concluded that including $1 notes in the final policy also would likely lead to a significant decline in the quality of these notes in circulation. The final policy, therefore, excludes $1 notes. Reserve Banks have also learned that it is unlikely that depository institutions would fitness-sort or authenticate $5 notes before recirculating them because of the relatively low incidence of counterfeiting and the low value of this denomination. Therefore, the quality of $5 notes in circulation would likely decline if these notes were included in the policy. Thus, as with the $1 note, the Board concluded that the options to increase depository institutions’ recirculation of $5 notes would result in unwarranted societal costs. The final recirculation policy, therefore, also excludes $5 notes. Finally, the final policy excludes $50 and $100 notes because of the risk that depository institutions might recirculate high-denomination counterfeit notes. These notes are a relatively minor component of cross-shipped currency. Custodial Inventory Inventory Cap Reserve Banks analyzed three alternative formulas for the final custodial inventory cap: Increasing the cap from 25 percent to 70 percent of average closing balances of eligible denominations during the previous week; imposing an end-of-week inventory cap with no cap on intra-week deposits; or requiring a depository institution to hold a minimum amount of currency on its own books before it could deposit notes into a custodial inventory. Each of these cap methodologies would allow depository institutions to reduce significantly (and theoretically eliminate) cross-shipping, while mitigating the opportunity costs they would incur by holding currency long enough to recirculate it. Reserve Banks concluded, however, that the E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1 14698 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices formula requiring a participating depository institution to hold one day of average daily payments on its own books would cause the least disruption to Reserve Banks’ internal currency operations. The final policy, therefore, requires each participant to hold on its own books one day of average daily payments in $10 and $20 notes, representing the amount needed by the depository institution to satisfy normal business needs for those denominations.17 To enhance the incentive to recirculate currency during the week, the final policy allows each participant to hold additional currency for recirculation as follows. After satisfying the one-day requirement, a participant may transfer up to the equivalent of four days of average daily payments in $10 and $20 notes from its own vault to the custodial inventory. Reserve Banks will review annually the minimum bundles required to support a custodial inventory. Reserve Banks estimate that between 150 and 225 depository institution sites may meet the criteria to participate in the custodial inventory program. Recirculation Fee The Board determined that depository institutions must demonstrate, initially and periodically thereafter, that each vault in which they seek to operate a custodial inventory can recirculate a minimum of 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes per week in a Reserve Bank zone or sub-zone to qualify for a custodial inventory.18 An institution can meet this requirement in the following ways: (1) An institution that cross-ships at least 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes per week in a zone or sub-zone would meet the recirculation threshold and, therefore, qualify for a custodial inventory, provided that each vault in which the institution seeks to operate a custodial inventory will be able to recirculate at least 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes per week. (2) An institution can show for the prospective custodial inventory vault that it recirculates among its customers at least 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes weekly in the zone or sub-zone. (3) An institution can also meet the threshold through a combination of cross-shipping activity and recirculation among its customers, totaling at least 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes in the zone or sub-zone. Fee Level Because the Board expects that custodial inventories alone would not substantially increase recirculation and reduce cross-shipping, it is approving a recirculation fee to provide further incentive for depository institutions to recirculate currency. The fee will be standard nationally and will reflect Reserve Banks’ costs that vary with the quantity of currency received, processed, and paid out. Reserve Banks will review the changes to those costs annually and will adjust the fee accordingly. Based on current levels of Reserve Bank costs, the fee would be approximately $5 per bundle of crossshipped currency. Reserve Banks will assess the fee to depository institutions that deposit fit $10 and $20 notes and order the same denomination within the same business week in a Reserve Bank zone or sub-zone.19 The fee will not be assessed on deposits of unfit or surplus fit currency.20 Under certain unusual circumstances, such as the release of a new note design, Reserve Banks may waive the fee. The recirculation fee is not subject to the pricing requirements of the Monetary Control Act (MCA). The MCA applies to ancillary currency and coin services such as transportation and coin wrapping, but not to services ‘‘of a governmental nature, such as the disbursement and receipt of new or fit coin and currency.’’ 21 Only the Reserve Banks can issue and ultimately redeem currency. The Board determined, in the development of its principles for priced services, that ‘‘currency and coin processing (paying, receiving, and verifying both coin and currency, and issuing, processing, canceling, and destroying currency) are governmental functions and would not be considered 17 Average daily payments is defined as the total dollar amount of $10 and $20 notes that the depository institution paid to its customers during an appropriate, previous five-busines-day period in the zone of a custodial inventory site, divided by five. Reserve Banks will perform this calculation on a weekly basis, based on data from the most recent, appropriate period. 18 Because the expected increase in recirculation from reducing the minimum requirement would be insignificant while the cost to administer the program would increase appreciably, the Board did not adjust the minimum recirculation requirement to reflect the exclusion of the $5 note from the final policy. 19 Reserve Banks will compare each institution’s weekly deposits of fit currently in a zone or subzone with their weekly orders to determine the amount of currency the institution cross-shipped. The lesser of fit deposits and orders is the amount cross-shipped. For example, if an institution deposited to a Reserve Bank 1,250 bundles of fit $20 notes in a week and ordered 1,000 bundles of $20 notes the same week, the amount cross-shipped is 1,000 bundles. 20 Surplus fit currency is defined as fit currency that is not needed by the depository institution within the business week of its deposit. 21 126 Cong. Rec. S3168 (March 27, 1980) (statement of Senator Proxmire). wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES Minimum Recirculation Requirement VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 priced services subject to MCA.’’ 22 The recirculation fee is a recovery of costs incurred by the Reserve Banks resulting from overuse of governmental services by certain institutions. The recirculation fee also should lower the overall societal costs of currency processing and distribution. Average Fitness Rate Calculation The Board has revised the average fitness rate calculation, used in determining the amount of currency cross-shipped, so that Reserve Banks will apply a contemporaneous fitness rate to each institution’s deposits.23 Under the final policy, Reserve Banks will determine the average fitness rate of an institution’s deposits on a monthly, rather than quarterly, basis and will apply the rate to the institution’s weekly deposits for the month in which the fitness rate was observed, not prospectively. For example, if the notes processed from an institution’s deposits in a zone or sub-zone in January include 80 percent fit currency, the Reserve Bank would multiply that institution’s weekly deposits during January by 80 percent to determine how much fit currency the institution deposited each week of the month. The Reserve Bank would then compare the institution’s weekly deposits of fit currency to their weekly orders in the zone or sub-zone to determine the amount of currency the institution cross-shipped. At the end of each quarter, the Reserve Bank will assess the recirculation fee for each bundle of currency cross-shipped above the de minimis exemption. De minimis Exemption The final policy exempts de minimis levels of cross-shipped currency from the recirculation fee. Consistent with the Board’s decision to exclude the $5 note, the final policy reduces the de minimis exemption to 875 bundles of notes per quarter from the level of 1,000 bundles per quarter in the 2003 proposed policy. Reserve Banks will review annually the number of bundles for the de minimis exemption. Using the initial de minimis amount, depository institutions will not pay a recirculation fee for the first 875 bundles of $10 and $20 notes crossedshipped in a zone or sub-zone each quarter. The de minimis exemption has 22 45 FR 56893 (Sept. 4, 1980). the 2003 proposed policy, Reserve Banks would have determined the number of fit notes deposited as a percentage of total notes deposited during each quarter and then applied the average quarterly fitness rate by zone or sub-zone to an institution’s deposits during the following quarter to determine how much currency it crossshipped. 23 Under E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices three purposes. First, the exemption compensates for minor differences between currency fitness determinations made by depository institutions and Reserve Banks in processing these notes.24 Second, the exemption limits the effect of the policy on institutions whose small scale of currency operations may not justify investments in sorting equipment. Third, the exemption allows depository institutions that experience unanticipated swings in customer demand to order or deposit currency without incurring a fee. The exemption will not have a material effect on Reserve Bank processing volumes, but will reduce or eliminate the cost of the policy for a large number of depository institutions. A Reserve Bank will apply the de minimis exemption to currency that a depository institution cross-ships in a zone or sub-zone during each quarter.25 All or part of an exemption that a depository institution did not use during a quarter will expire at the end of that quarter. Reserve Banks will apply the exemption against depository institutions’ total volumes of crossshipped $10 and $20 notes within a zone or sub-zone, not against each individual denomination. Because of the de minimis exemption, Reserve Banks estimate that only between 100 and 150 depository institutions may be subject to the recirculation fee. Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Final Recirculation Policy wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES Estimate of Avoided Reserve Bank Costs During 2004, Reserve Banks processed 36.2 billion notes, with total costs of approximately $344 million. This number includes 17.8 billion $10 and $20 notes, 7.2 billion of which depository institutions cross-shipped. Curtailing current cross-shipping and its expected future growth would reduce Reserve Banks’ expenses by enabling them to scale down currency processing operations and delay future capital investments in equipment and facilities. Reserve Banks estimate that by implementing the final recirculation policy, they could avoid currency processing costs of approximately $250 million over the next ten years on a net present value basis.26 24 Because Reserve Banks will assess the recirculation fee for all fit notes cross-shipped above the de minimis exemption, depository institutions will have an incentive to ensure that their fitness determinations are comparable with those of Reserve Banks. 25 De minimis exemptions may not be transferred from one zone or sub-zone to another. 26 Reserve Banks estimated the net present value based on 2004 expense data, using a discount rate VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 Estimate of Reserve Banks’ and Depository Institutions’ Costs Reserve Banks would incur approximately $1 million per year in operating costs to administer the custodial inventory program, including managing the overall program and auditing the custodial inventories. Reserve Banks estimate that during the first year of the program their costs would total approximately $2.5 million because of expenses for training and site inspections. The net present value of these costs over the next ten years is approximately $10 million. Depository institutions will likely incur some costs to operate custodial inventories. For example, depository institutions may have to modify their facilities to segregate Reserve Bank currency or to enhance their physical security, perhaps by installing surveillance equipment. They may also have to enhance physical- and procedural-access controls and engage in additional sorting and other handling of the notes held in a custodial inventory. While depository institutions provided no specific cost estimates, Reserve Banks project these costs to be minimal. Reserve Banks believe that many depository institutions have made or plan to make the capital investments necessary to reduce or eliminate crossshipping. Reserve Banks estimate that the depository institutions’ costs to comply with the recirculation policy, including labor costs, would be approximately $10–15 million per year over the next ten years, assuming that depository institutions fitness-sort $10 and $20 notes and make the majority of their remaining compliance expenditures in the first two years of the program. Over a ten-year horizon, the estimated net present value of these depository institution costs is approximately $100 million. Conclusion Reserve Banks estimate that the final recirculation policy could result in a net societal benefit of approximately $140 million over the next ten years on a net present value basis. Both Reserve Banks of 3.9 percent, as advised by OMB Circular No. A– 94, Appendix C, to approximate the nominal interest rate. The estimate includes costs that vary with the volume of currency processed, including labor, materials, and equipment. The amount by which Reserve Banks are able to reduce costs would depend on the actual decline in volumes because of the recirculation policy. This decline would depend on the extent to which (1) depository institutions elect to pay the fee instead of recirculating; (2) depository institutions take full advantage of the de minimis exemption; and (3) depository institutions alter their handling of denominations that are not covered by the policy. PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 14699 and depository institutions would incur some costs under the policy; however, Reserve Banks estimate that any costs incurred by depository institutions will be significantly less than the costs that Reserve Banks will avoid if the institutions reduce or cease crossshipping currency. III. Competitive Impact Analysis All operational and legal changes considered by the Board that have a substantial effect on payments system participants are subject to the competitive impact analysis described in the Board’s policy, ‘‘The Federal Reserve in the Payments System.’’ 27 Under this policy, the Board assesses whether the proposed change would have a direct and material adverse effect on the ability of other service providers to compete effectively with the Federal Reserve in providing similar services because of differing legal powers or constraints or because of a dominant market position of the Federal Reserve deriving from such legal differences. If the proposed change has such an effect, the Board must evaluate it further to assess whether its benefits—such as contributions to payments system efficiency, payment system integrity, or other Board objectives—can be retained while reducing hindrances to competition. As noted above, only Reserve Banks can issue and ultimately redeem currency; these are governmental functions that privatesector entities cannot perform. Privatesector entities do, however, provide currency deposit, withdrawal, and related services to depository institutions that might otherwise deal directly with a Reserve Bank. Therefore, the Board has considered the potential competitive effects of the policy on private-sector currency service providers. Under the recirculation policy, some correspondent banks will incur increased operational costs, or pay recirculation fees. The fees that correspondent banks charge to respondent banks could increase to reflect those costs. While it might be less costly for the respondent banks to obtain currency services directly from Reserve Banks because they would likely benefit from the de minimis exemption, the Board understands that respondent banks generally choose a correspondent to provide a package of services, not exclusively for currency services. In that event, depository institutions might retain their correspondent relationships despite an 27 Federal E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM Reserve Regulatory Service 9–1558. 23MRN1 14700 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices increase in costs caused by this recirculation policy. Overall, the Board believes that while private-sector currency service providers cannot duplicate the entire range of Reserve Bank cash functions, they can count, sort, and process currency. In addition, private-sector service providers offer an array of valueadded cash services that Reserve Banks do not provide. For example, some private-sector service providers maintain automated teller machines for depository institutions and offer specific retail services for the depository institutions’ customers. This policy is unlikely to result in any significant shift of business from private-sector providers to Reserve Banks. Indeed, the policy may shift some currency processing business to private-sector providers. In order to minimize the potential effect of recirculation fees, some depository institutions may choose to fitness-sort their customers’ deposits themselves or through a service provider rather than continuing to rely on the Reserve Bank to fitness-sort their currency. Armored carriers or local consortia of depository institutions might offer less costly alternatives because the fitness sorting can be performed as an adjunct to deposit processing services they already perform for their customers. The currency recirculation policy, therefore, is not likely to adversely affect the ability of depository institutions or other service providers to compete with Reserve Banks to provide cash services. IV. Federal Reserve Currency Recirculation Policy The Board has adopted the following policy to promote depository institutions’ recirculation of fit $10 and $20 Federal Reserve notes.28 wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES Custodial Inventory Program The custodial inventory program promotes recirculation of fit $10 and $20 notes by reducing depository institutions’ opportunity costs for holding currency. Participants in the custodial inventory program may hold, in their vaults, currency on the books of Reserve Banks that they otherwise might have shipped to, and then ordered from, Reserve Banks during the same business week. 28 By May 2006, Reserve Banks expect to revise Reserve Bank Operating Circular 2 to provide additional guidance on the recirculation policy. For additional information, see https:// www.frbservices.org/Cash/. VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 Requirements 29 (1) Only depository institutions are eligible to participate in the custodial inventory program. Depository institutions that outsource operation of their currency vault(s) would be eligible if the other requirements are met. (2) A depository institution must be able to recirculate among its customers a substantial volume of $10 and $20 notes in the zone or sub-zone of a custodial inventory site. At the outset of the program, each vault in which a depository institution seeks to operate a custodial inventory must be able to recirculate 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes on a regular weekly basis to qualify for the program. Reserve Banks will review annually the minimum bundles required for depository institution participation in the custodial inventory program. (3) A depository institution must hold on its own books no less than one day of average payments, defined as the total dollar amount of $10 and $20 notes that the depository institution paid to its customers during an appropriate, previous five-business-day period in the zone or sub-zone of a custodial inventory site, divided by five.30 (4) A depository institution may transfer into the custodial inventory no more than four days of average payments, defined as the total dollar amount of $10 and $20 notes that the depository institution paid to its customers during an appropriate, previous five-business-day period in the zone or sub-zone of a custodial inventory site, divided by five and multiplied by four. (5) Depository institutions may deposit currency into or withdraw currency from custodial inventories at any time during the local Reserve Bank’s business day. (6) A depository institution may operate a custodial inventory only under the following conditions: (a) The depository institution will indemnify the Reserve Bank against theft or loss of Reserve Bank currency. (b) It will comply with Reserve Bank physical security guidelines for vaults, access control, and camera coverage. 29 Failure to comply with any of these requirements could result in the loss of eligibility to participate in the program. 30 For requirements 3 and 4, the five-business-day period consists of Monday through Friday. Reserve Banks will perform this calculation on a weekly basis, based on data from the most recent, appropriate period. If a Federal holiday falls within the period, the other four business days will constitute the period and the total dollar amount of $10 and $20 notes that a depository institution paid to its customers in a zone or sub-zone of a custodial inventory site during that period will be divided by four. PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 (c) It will operate its facility in accordance with Reserve Bank guidelines for access and control. (d) It will segregate Reserve Bank currency from other currency. (e) It will allow full access by Reserve Banks, the Board, the Government Accountability Office, and their agents for unannounced audits of any aspect of the custodial inventory operation. (f) It is operating in a safe and sound manner, as determined by its Administrative Reserve Bank. (7) Any depository institution that uses a custodial inventory, in the judgment of Reserve Banks, to circumvent the intent of the recirculation policy will lose its eligibility to participate in the program. Recirculation Fee (1) Reserve Banks will monitor currency orders and deposits for all endpoints of each depository institution in each Reserve Bank office service area (‘‘zone’’) for cross-shipping. Reserve Bank zones with large metropolitan areas located at a significant distance from a Reserve Bank office may be divided into smaller service areas (‘‘subzones’’). The criteria for establishing sub-zones will balance the population of a metropolitan area against its distance from the Reserve Bank office. Reserve Banks will review sub-zone criteria annually. Customers may choose the zone or sub-zone in which to include border endpoints. Reserve Banks will monitor the deposits and orders of endpoints located in and near a subzone. Reserve Banks will monitor endpoints in other parts of a zone as a group separate from the endpoints in the sub-zone.31 (2) Reserve Banks will assess recirculation fees when a depository institution deposits fit $10 or $20 notes and orders the same denomination during the same business week, within a Reserve Bank zone or sub-zone.32 (3) Reserve Banks will set a standard national recirculation fee based on those Reserve Bank costs that vary with the quantity of currency received, processed, and paid to depository institutions. Reserve Banks will review the changes to those costs annually and will adjust the fee accordingly. Such costs include personnel, materials, and equipment. The fee will not include overhead costs such as facilities, legal, business development, audit, and protection services that Reserve Banks incur to meet their central bank currency services responsibilities. 31 Reserve Bank sub-zones will be published on the Web at https://www.frbservices.org. 32 Reserve Banks will not assess fees for deposits or orders of $1, $2, $5, $50, and $100 notes. E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 2006 / Notices (4) Reserve Banks will allocate recirculation de minimis exemptions to depository institutions for each zone or sub-zone where they do business. Reserve Banks will apply the exemptions to depository institutions’ total cross-shipped volume.33 De minimis exemptions may not be transferred from one zone or sub-zone to another. Unused de minimis exemptions will expire at the end of each quarter. Initially, the de minimis exemption will be 875 bundles per quarter. Reserve Banks will review the level of the de minimis exemption annually. (5) Reserve Banks will monitor depository institutions’ order and deposit activity weekly for crossshipping. For the purposes of monitoring cross-shipping activity, a week includes consecutive days from Monday through Friday. If, in the judgment of Reserve Banks, a depository institution circumvents the recirculation policy by reducing its cross-shipping volume without increasing recirculation, such as would be the case if it alternated the weeks in which it orders and deposits currency, Reserve Banks will apply the recirculation fee to fit notes in such deposits. (6) Reserve Banks will determine the number of fit notes processed from each institution’s deposits as a percentage of total notes deposited by that institution during each month. Reserve Banks will then apply this monthly average fitness rate by zone or sub-zone to an institution’s weekly deposits during that month to determine how much currency it cross-shipped.34 (7) Reserve Banks publish currency fitness and equipment guidelines at https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/pdf/ FRB_Fitness_Standards.pdf. Phased Implementation The Reserve Banks will implement the recirculation policy in two phases. The first phase will expand the custodial inventory program to all eligible participants. One year later, in the second phase, the Reserve Banks will begin assessing the recirculation fee, provided however, that they have implemented a currency quality policy. 33 Exemptions will not be denomination-specific. example, if the notes processed from an institution’s deposits in a zone or sub-zone included 80 percent fit currency in January, the Reserve Bank would multiply that institution’s weekly deposits during January by 80 percent to determine how much fit currency the institution deposited each week of the month. The Reserve Bank will then compare that institution’s weekly deposits of fit currency with their weekly orders in the zone or sub-zone to determine the amount of currency the institution cross-shipped. At the end of the quarter, the Reserve Bank will assess fees for each bundle of currency cross-shipped above the de minimis exemption. wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES 34 For VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:54 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 208001 14701 By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 17, 2006. Robert deV. Frierson, Deputy Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 06–2790 Filed 3–22–06; 8:45 am] the community centers must replicate their National Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (CCOE) model in another organization or community. BILLING CODE 6210–02–P I. Funding Opportunity Description The goals of the Ambassador for Change program are to: 1. Increase the number of health professionals, including allied health professionals, trained to work with underserved and diverse women and to increase their leadership and advocacy skills. 2. Increase the number of women, including American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, who pursue health careers and increase the leadership skills and opportunities for women in the community and for women faculty in academic settings. 3. Eliminate health disparities for women who are underserved due to age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, or disabilities. 4. Reduce the fragmentation of women’s health services and access barriers by using a framework that coordinates and integrates comprehensive health services. Comprehensive health services include gender and age-appropriate preventive services and allied health professionals on the service delivery team. 5. Increase the women’s health knowledge base by conducting genderbased research and/or by involving the community in identifying and conducting research related to and responsive to the health needs and issues of concern to underserved and minority women in the target community. 6. Empower women, especially underserved and minority women, as health care consumers and decisionmakers. The Ambassadors for Change must continue to: (1) Develop and/or strengthen a framework to bring together a comprehensive array of services for women; (2) train a cadre of diverse health care providers that include allied health professionals and community health workers; (3) promote leadership/ career development for diverse women in the health professions, including allied health professions and community health workers, and women/girls in the community; (4) enhance public education and outreach activities in women’s health with an emphasis on gender-specific and ageappropriate prevention and/or reduction of illness or injuries that appear controllable through increased DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Request for Applications for the National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health (CoE) and the National Community Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health (CCOE)—Ambassadors for Change Program Office of the Secretary, Office of Public Health and Science. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: Funding Opportunity Title: Request for Applications for the National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health (CoE) and the National Community Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health (CCOE)—Ambassadors for Change Program. Announcement Type: Competitive Cooperative Agreement—FY 2006— Initial Announcement. Funding Opportunity Number: Not applicable. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.013. DATES: To receive consideration applications must be received by the Office of Grants Management, Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on May 22, 2006. Authority: This program is authorized by 42 U.S.C. 300u–2(a). SUMMARY: The National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health and the National Community Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health programs provide funding to academic health centers and community-based organizations to enhance their women’s health programs through the integration of these components: (1) Leadership development for women, (2) training for lay, allied health, and professional health care providers, (3) public education and outreach with special emphasis on outreach to minority women, (4) comprehensive health service delivery that includes gender and age-appropriate preventive services and allied health professionals as members of the comprehensive care team, and (5) basic science, clinical and community-based research. In addition, PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\23MRN1.SGM 23MRN1

Agencies

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 56 (Thursday, March 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14694-14701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2790]


=======================================================================
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Docket No. OP-1164]


Federal Reserve Currency Recirculation Policy

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Final policy.

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SUMMARY: The Board is revising the Federal Reserve's cash services 
policy to reduce depository institutions' overuse of Federal Reserve 
Bank currency processing services, which could affect approximately 150 
to 225 depository institutions with high-volume currency operations. 
The Board is adding two elements to the policy: (1) A custodial 
inventory program that provides an incentive to depository institutions 
to hold $10 and $20 notes in their vaults to meet customers' demand, 
and (2) a fee to depository institutions that deposit fit $10 or $20 
notes at a Reserve Bank and order the same denomination, above a de 
minimis amount, during the same business week. In general, the Federal 
Reserve expects depository institutions to recirculate to their 
customers fit currency deposited with them and to deposit only excess 
or unfit currency with Reserve Banks. The Reserve Banks will amend 
section 3.3 of Operating Circular 2 to implement the provisions of the 
final policy.

DATES: Implementation Timeframe: Reserve Banks expect to begin 
accepting requests to participate in the custodial inventory program in 
May 2006, with program operations beginning in July 2006. Reserve Banks 
expect to begin assessing recirculation fees in July 2007. Reserve 
Banks' Cash Product Office will provide notice of the specific dates at 
least sixty days in advance on the Federal Reserve Financial Services 
Web site at https://www.frbservices.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugenie E. Foster, Manager (202/736-
5603) or John D. Sparrow, Jr., Senior Financial Services Analyst (202/
452-3597), Cash Section, Division of Reserve Bank Operations and 
Payment Systems, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; for 
users of the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) only, (202/
263-4869).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

The Problem

    The Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) supply genuine (new and 
fit) currency and coin to depository institutions to meet the public's 
cash demand.\1\ Historically, Reserve Banks also removed unfit notes 
from circulation and served as intermediaries among depository 
institutions, accepting deposits from those with a surplus of fit notes 
and providing currency to those with a shortfall. Depository 
institutions, in turn, acted as intermediaries among their customers, 
recirculating currency from merchant customers, for example, to meet 
the currency demands of households and other customers.
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    \1\ Fit notes are of acceptable quality for circulation, whereas 
unfit notes are unacceptable. For example, unfit notes are often 
soiled, torn, or defaced. New notes are previously uncirculated 
notes that Reserve Banks issue.
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    These traditional patterns have been changing as depository 
institutions have used fewer fit notes deposited by their customers to 
fill other customers' orders. Today, depository institutions often 
order currency directly from Reserve Banks to stock automated teller 
machines (ATMs) and fill customer orders, depositing notes received 
from their customers directly with Reserve Banks.
    Further, actions taken by many depository institutions to reduce 
their required reserves have allowed them to reduce their holdings of 
vault cash.\2\ Depository institutions with vault cash in excess of 
that needed to satisfy reserve requirements have an incentive to 
economize on holdings of currency in their vaults.\3\ Efforts to 
economize on holdings of currency have led some depository institutions 
to increase the size and frequency of their deposits of currency to and 
orders of currency from Reserve Banks.
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    \2\ Depository institutions can satisfy their reserve 
requirements with vault cash, or with reserve balances held at a 
Reserve Bank either directly or through a pass-through 
correspondent. Since the mid-1990s, however, many depository 
institutions have sharply reduced their reserve requirements by 
sweeping balances held by retail customers in deposit accounts that 
are reservable into accounts that are not reservable. For some 
institutions, the reduction in required reserves left them with more 
vault cash than necessary to meet requirements.
    \3\ Vault cash holdings do not earn interest. If, however, an 
institution deposits currency with a Reserve Bank, it receives 
credit to its account at the Federal Reserve. The depository 
institution can then earn a positive return on those funds by 
lending them to another institution, such as in the federal funds 
market.
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    Reserve Banks' order and deposit activity during 2004 shows that 
deposits of 7.2 billion fit $10 and $20 notes were followed or preceded 
by orders of the same denomination by the same institution in the same 
business week in the same geographic area.\4\ This pattern suggests 
that some depository institutions are relying on Reserve Banks to 
process a substantial amount of currency that the depository 
institutions should normally have recirculated to their customers. 
Further, this activity is concentrated primarily in approximately 40 
depository institutions with large currency businesses.\5\ Underpinning 
depository institutions' decisions to use--and overuse--Reserve Bank 
currency processing services is the fact that Reserve Banks offer basic 
currency processing services without charge. The Board believes that to 
minimize the societal cost of providing currency to the public, 
depository institutions should resume their traditional role of 
supplying fit currency from their customers' deposits to meet other 
customers' needs before turning to Reserve Banks to obtain currency.
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    \4\ This amounts to approximately 39 percent of notes deposited 
in these denominations, or approximately 19 percent of total 
deposits to Reserve Banks in 2004.
    \5\ Approximately 40 of the Reserve Banks' more than 8,000 
currency customers are responsible for approximately 90 percent of 
cross-shipping activity.
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Current Policy

    The Federal Reserve's current cross-shipping policy is described in 
the

[[Page 14695]]

Reserve Banks' Operating Circular 2, Cash Services, which states:

    If you deposit fit currency with us, you may not order currency 
of the same denomination within five business days prior to or 
following the deposit of that denomination. This practice, known as 
``cross-shipping,'' is not permitted at the depositing office level. 
When practicable, cross-shipping should be minimized or eliminated 
at the depositing institution level.\6\
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    \6\ Federal Reserve Operating Circular 2, January 2, 1998, 
section 3.3. https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/index.cfm.

    The current policy has proven ineffective in reducing or preventing 
cross-shipping. For example, this policy does not provide sufficient 
guidance to depository institutions or Reserve Banks with respect to 
the circumstances under which cross-shipping should not occur. More 
fundamentally, the only tool that Reserve Banks currently have to 
enforce the policy is to deny currency services to depository 
institutions that do not comply with the operating circular 
requirement. Denial of service would be highly disruptive to the 
businesses of both the depository institutions and their customers. 
Also, in the past, Reserve Banks did not have systematic tools for 
monitoring the quality of specific currency deposits, making the 
process of identifying cross-shipping cumbersome and costly.

2003 Proposed Recirculation Policy

    To provide incentives for depository institutions to adopt, from a 
societal point of view, the least costly means of recirculating 
currency to their customers, in October 2003 the Board proposed 
revising the current policy by adding two inter-related components: A 
custodial inventory program, and a fee that would be assessed on 
deposits of cross-shipped currency (``2003 proposed policy'').\7\
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    \7\ See 68 FR 59176, October 14, 2003.
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    To mitigate the costs associated with holding currency long enough 
to facilitate its recirculation, the Board proposed allowing depository 
institutions to transfer to a custodial inventory no more than 25 
percent of the value of their total holdings in the $5 through $20 
denominations.\8\ To be eligible to hold a custodial inventory, the 
2003 proposed policy required a depository institution to be capable of 
recirculating at least 200 bundles of currency in the eligible 
denominations per week in a Reserve Bank zone or sub-zone, in order to 
justify the administrative costs and the risks to Reserve Banks of 
allowing depository institutions to hold Reserve Bank currency in their 
vaults.\9\
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    \8\ A custodial inventory is currency owned by a Reserve Bank 
but located within a depository institution's secured facility and 
segregated from the depository institution's currency.
    \9\ A bundle of currency is a standard package of 1,000 notes. A 
zone is the area to which a Reserve Bank office provides currency 
services. Under the 2003 proposed policy, Reserve Banks could 
establish sub-zones for large metropolitan areas that are located a 
significant distance from the nearest Reserve Bank office. Deposits 
and orders by institutions with branches and vaults in a sub-zone 
would have been assessed cross-shipping fees separately from the 
institutions' activities in the rest of the zone.
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    To provide further incentive for depository institutions to 
recirculate currency, the Board also proposed establishing a 
recirculation fee. The fee would reflect Reserve Banks' costs that vary 
with the quantity of currency processed. The 2003 proposal indicated 
that, based on Reserve Banks' costs at the time, the fee would be $5 to 
$6 per bundle of cross-shipped currency. Depository institutions would 
pay the fee if they cross-ship $5, $10, and $20 notes above a de 
minimis exemption level of 1,000 bundles of currency cross-shipped per 
quarter.\10\
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    \10\ The 2003 proposed policy initially excluded $1 notes while 
Reserve Banks worked with the banking industry with the goal of 
achieving net savings comparable to those that Reserve Banks could 
realize by including $1 notes in the policy. If this collaborative 
effort failed to yield comparable savings, the 2003 proposal would 
have then included $1 notes in the policy.
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Summary and Analysis of Public Comments

    Twenty-four entities provided comments on the 2003 proposed policy, 
including twenty financial institutions and organizations representing 
financial institutions; two armored carriers; a currency processing 
equipment manufacturer; and a member of Congress. Several broad themes 
emerged from the comments. The most frequent comment, made in various 
ways by fourteen commenters, reflected concern that the policy would 
lead to deterioration in the quality of currency in circulation. 
Thirteen commenters asserted that the policy favored depository 
institutions with certain types of operations or currency volumes over 
others. Twelve commenters expressed concern that the policy would 
increase their costs; seven commenters expected that depository 
institutions would pass these costs on to customers. Nine commenters 
responded negatively to various aspects of including one-dollar notes 
in the policy. Nine commenters sought more information about the 
requirements of the custodial inventory program.
Quality
    Many commenters expressed concern that the 2003 proposed policy 
would adversely affect the quality of currency in circulation because 
the fee would create an incentive to reduce cross-shipping, but would 
not necessarily cause the depository institutions to sort fit from 
unfit notes before paying them to customers.\11\ Depository 
institutions, therefore, could choose to recirculate unfit notes to 
their customers to avoid the risk of incurring fees in the event that 
they deposit fit notes with Reserve Banks. Reserve Banks, however, 
believe that many depository institutions have or will invest in 
automated fitness-sorting equipment, particularly for processing $20 
notes, to ensure proper functioning of their ATMs.
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    \11\ One commenter from the automatic merchandising industry 
noted that ``[i]f the recirculation policy degrades the quality of 
currency so that a mere \1/2\ of 1% of the industry's estimated $30 
billion of annual sales are lost, the result will be $150 million of 
lost sales.''
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    Nonetheless, some depository institutions may recirculate unfit 
notes, leading to a decline in the overall quality of notes in 
circulation. Consequently, the final policy requires Reserve Banks to 
adopt and implement a currency quality policy before the recirculation 
fee takes effect. The quality policy will define the threshold level of 
quality for each denomination that is ``fit for commerce;'' identify a 
framework for monitoring quality; and specify actions Reserve Banks 
would take to adjust the quality of currency in circulation to avoid 
significant inconvenience to the public, or increased risk of 
recirculating counterfeit notes.
    The ``fit-for-commerce'' standard will have two components, which 
may differ by denomination: (1) A minimum fitness threshold based on 
consumer acceptance and the technical tolerances of machines that 
handle currency, and (2) a maximum allowable incidence of below-
threshold notes remaining in circulation. The goals of the standard 
will be the following:
     The public remains confident that currency supplied by 
depository institutions and merchants is genuine and readily usable in 
subsequent transactions.
     Currency in circulation is of sufficiently good condition 
that users can determine it is genuine by using the currency's security 
features.\12\
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    \12\ The public's ability to recognize the security features of 
currency can diminish if notes are heavily soiled, torn, worn, or 
crumpled.

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[[Page 14696]]

     Currency in circulation is usable in automated currency 
handling equipment.\13\
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    \13\ Automated currency handling equipment includes, for 
example, vending machines, fare card machines, and currency sorting 
machines.
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     There is an appropriate balance between the public's note 
handling costs and Reserve Banks' costs to maintain the fit-for-
commerce standard.
    Some commenters mentioned the need for a clear and useable standard 
for fit notes. To assist depository institutions with the standard, 
Reserve Banks published guidelines in 2004 for distinguishing between 
notes that are fit and unfit for further circulation.\14\ Over time, 
the Federal Reserve expects to continue to refine these guidelines to 
reflect changing industry practices, technology, and the overall 
quality of currency in circulation.
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    \14\ See https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/pdf/FRB_Fitness_
Standards.pdf.
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Equity
    Some commenters expressed concern that the 2003 proposed policy 
would favor depository institutions with certain currency volumes over 
others. The most frequent comment came from institutions with high-
volume currency operations that suggested the de minimis exemption 
would favor institutions with low-volume currency operations because 
the latter's activity is likely to fall below the exemption threshold. 
These respondents argued that the de minimis exemption would allow 
institutions with low-volume currency operations to obtain fit and new 
currency less expensively from Reserve Banks than from correspondent 
depository institutions, putting the correspondent institutions at a 
competitive disadvantage. Institutions with medium-volume currency 
operations argued that they were likely to be most disadvantaged by the 
policy because (1) their activity exceeds the exemption threshold; (2) 
they do not have the economies of scale to invest in high-speed 
processing equipment as depository institutions with large currency 
volumes do; and (3) they do not have sufficient volume to qualify for 
the custodial inventory program. Institutions with low-volume currency 
operations stated that although their activity generally does not 
exceed the exemption threshold, the policy would nonetheless have a 
negative effect on them through the increased costs their correspondent 
banks would pass along to them. Several respondents also commented on 
the disproportionate effect of the 2003 proposed policy on depository 
institutions that have a number of relatively small vaults widely 
dispersed across a Federal Reserve service zone. Transportation costs, 
they argued, as well as the complexities of managing multiple 
inventories, would be more burdensome for depository institutions in 
this position than for those that have fewer, more centralized vaults.
    The Board has structured the elements of the final policy, 
including the custodial inventory program and the recirculation fee, to 
balance the goal of providing incentives to curtail overuse of Reserve 
Bank services while minimizing the administrative burden of enforcing 
the policy on institutions with de minimis cross-shipping activity. The 
custodial inventory proof-of-concept program, discussed later in this 
notice, demonstrated that a depository institution vault with as little 
as $5 million in daily average vault cash might qualify for the 
program. Under the final policy, a depository institution can meet the 
eligibility threshold for the custodial inventory program based on 
either cross-shipping volume or evidence of internal recirculation, or 
a combination of the two.\15\ Data provided by the depository 
institutions that participated in the proof-of-concept program suggest 
that some depository institutions may recirculate significant volumes 
of currency in normal circumstances. If depository institutions satisfy 
half of their customer orders with currency from internal sources, such 
as deposits from other customers, Reserve Banks estimate that, under 
the final policy, only thirteen depository institutions would incur 
fees greater than $5,000 per year and the largest fee that any affected 
depository institution would incur would be less than $15,000 per year. 
If depository institutions satisfy two-thirds of their customer orders 
with currency from internal sources, Reserve Banks estimate that all 
depository institutions either would recirculate enough currency to 
meet the minimum recirculation requirement for a custodial inventory or 
would incur no fees because they would not exceed the de minimis 
exemption. Depository institutions with highly dispersed inventories 
may decide to consolidate some operations or manage their inventories 
more effectively under the policy, in order to minimize costs.
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    \15\ A depository institution can meet the threshold for a 
custodial inventory site by providing deposit and payment records 
demonstrating that it currently recirculates at least 200 bundles of 
currency weekly among its customers. ``Internal recirculation'' 
refers to satisfying customer orders with currency from internal 
sources, such as deposits from other customers, rather than cross-
shipping.
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Increased Costs to Depository Institutions
    Many commenters asserted that the 2003 proposed policy would 
increase their costs, but provided almost no information on specific 
costs that depository institutions might incur. Some commenters 
indicated that the proposed policy would affect profit margins for 
their currency businesses and that it would increase expenses for high-
speed sorting equipment, third-party vendor arrangements, new software, 
and transportation. Reserve Banks projected additional expenses that 
depository institutions might incur to comply with the policy, 
including the purchase of new currency processing equipment and the 
associated labor and maintenance costs, and concluded that the Reserve 
Bank savings from processing a lower volume of currency will exceed the 
increased costs to depository institutions.
    Commenters also asserted that the 2003 proposed policy did not 
address the root cause of cross-shipping--the opportunity costs 
associated with holding additional currency in their vaults long enough 
to facilitate its recirculation. In response, the Board adjusted the 
custodial inventory cap in the final policy as described below.
Custodial Inventory Program
    A number of commenters sought more information about the 
requirements of the custodial inventory program. Following the notice 
of the 2003 proposed policy, but before the implementation of the 
proof-of-concept program, Reserve Banks published more detailed 
information about the custodial inventory program, including an 
executive summary, a manual of procedures, and a uniform agreement.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ See https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/
CustodialInventoryProgram.html.
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    Five commenters expressed concern that the inventory cap in the 
2003 proposed policy was too restrictive. Most of the custodial 
inventory proof-of-concept participants agreed, finding that the cap 
limited their ability to hold enough currency in the custodial 
inventory to satisfy customer orders. As a result, the participants 
were able to reduce, but not fully eliminate, cross-shipping. 
Accordingly, as described below, the Board has adjusted the inventory 
cap in the final policy.

Custodial Inventory Proof-of-Concept Program

    Before undertaking a permanent custodial inventory program, the 
Board authorized Reserve Banks to implement a proof-of-concept program. 
This

[[Page 14697]]

program allowed depository institutions to transfer into a custodial 
inventory no more than 25 percent of average closing balances of 
currency at the location in the $5 through $20 denominations. The 
purpose of the proof-of-concept program was to allow Reserve Banks to 
evaluate how custodial inventories influence depository institutions' 
patterns of depositing and withdrawing currency, while allowing 
depository institutions to assess the costs and benefits of 
participating in the program. Consistent with these objectives, the 
Board indicated that it would review the following:
     The extent to which participants significantly reduce 
cross-shipping or recirculate significant amounts of currency.
     The extent to which deposits received from participants 
contain a higher proportion of unfit notes than the average for all 
deposits in the same zones.
     The appropriate inventory cap formula.
     The appropriate eligibility threshold for participation in 
the custodial inventory program.
    Six depository institutions participated in the proof-of-concept 
program. Several institutions participated at more than one location; 
consequently, the program included eleven custodial inventory sites. 
The participants found benefit in the program and expressed an interest 
in continuing their participation. Likewise, Reserve Banks found that 
the program had a measurable effect on the participants' depositing and 
ordering patterns with their respective Reserve Bank offices. In total, 
the eleven participating sites experienced a 34 percent reduction in 
cross-shipping volume in the first quarter of 2005 as compared with the 
first quarter of 2004, although results varied from site to site. There 
was no discernible increase in the proportion of unfit notes deposited 
because the custodial inventory sites generally chose not to make 
investments to fitness-sort their currency over the short duration of 
the program. Many participants indicated to Reserve Banks that if the 
program were made permanent, they would invest in automated fitness-
sorting capability, at least for $20 notes, because they need notes of 
acceptable quality to ensure that their ATMs do not malfunction.
    The proof-of-concept program also allowed Reserve Banks to evaluate 
the proposed inventory cap formula. The program demonstrated that the 
proposed formula does not accommodate intra-week depository institution 
currency flows and, therefore, does not provide effective relief from 
increased opportunity costs that depository institutions could incur if 
they held additional inventory to recirculate to their customers. 
Program participants found that the inventory cap was inflexible in 
accommodating incoming deposits that they otherwise could have used to 
satisfy customer orders. As a result, depository institutions reduced 
but did not fully eliminate cross-shipping.

II. Final Recirculation Policy

Highlights of Changes From the 2003 Proposed Policy

    As a result of the information obtained from public comments and 
through the proof-of-concept program, the Board determined to revise 
its cash services policy. The final policy differs from the 2003 
proposed policy in the following ways:
     It excludes $1 and $5 notes.
     It requires custodial inventory participants to hold one 
day of average daily payments on their own books, but allows them to 
transfer up to the equivalent of four days of average daily payments to 
the custodial inventory, to be held on the books of Reserve Banks.
     The Reserve Banks will determine the average fitness rate 
of an institution's deposits on a monthly, rather than quarterly, basis 
and will apply the rate to the institution's weekly deposits for the 
month in which the fitness rate was observed, not prospectively.
     It reduces the de minimis cross-shipping exemption from 
1,000 bundles to 875 bundles of notes per quarter, consistent with the 
Board's decision to exclude the $5 note from this policy.
    The Reserve Banks will amend section 3.3 of Operating Circular 2 to 
implement the provisions of this final policy.

Elements of the Final Policy

Denominations Subject to the Policy
    The final policy applies only to $10 and $20 notes. In its 2003 
proposal, the Board initially excluded $1 notes, pending the outcome of 
a collaborative effort between the Reserve Banks and the banking 
industry to find a means of achieving net savings comparable with those 
that Reserve Banks could realize by including $1 notes in the policy. 
Because of the relatively low incidence of counterfeiting and the low 
value of $1 notes, depository institutions handle them differently from 
higher denominations to minimize their costs. Many depository 
institutions do not piece-count a substantial proportion of the $1 
notes they receive today; thus, the additional costs to comply with a 
recirculation policy for $1 notes would be significantly greater than 
the costs for higher denomination notes. Reserve Banks worked with 
depository institutions to consider a variety of options, such as 
extending the cross-shipping restriction for $1 notes from one to four 
weeks or providing an exchange program to allow depository institutions 
to trade fit $1 notes with each other within geographic markets. After 
thorough analysis, however, the Reserve Banks concluded that none of 
the options would increase depository institution recirculation of $1 
notes without unwarranted societal costs. The Board concluded that 
including $1 notes in the final policy also would likely lead to a 
significant decline in the quality of these notes in circulation. The 
final policy, therefore, excludes $1 notes.
    Reserve Banks have also learned that it is unlikely that depository 
institutions would fitness-sort or authenticate $5 notes before 
recirculating them because of the relatively low incidence of 
counterfeiting and the low value of this denomination. Therefore, the 
quality of $5 notes in circulation would likely decline if these notes 
were included in the policy. Thus, as with the $1 note, the Board 
concluded that the options to increase depository institutions' 
recirculation of $5 notes would result in unwarranted societal costs. 
The final recirculation policy, therefore, also excludes $5 notes.
    Finally, the final policy excludes $50 and $100 notes because of 
the risk that depository institutions might recirculate high-
denomination counterfeit notes. These notes are a relatively minor 
component of cross-shipped currency.
Custodial Inventory
Inventory Cap
    Reserve Banks analyzed three alternative formulas for the final 
custodial inventory cap: Increasing the cap from 25 percent to 70 
percent of average closing balances of eligible denominations during 
the previous week; imposing an end-of-week inventory cap with no cap on 
intra-week deposits; or requiring a depository institution to hold a 
minimum amount of currency on its own books before it could deposit 
notes into a custodial inventory. Each of these cap methodologies would 
allow depository institutions to reduce significantly (and 
theoretically eliminate) cross-shipping, while mitigating the 
opportunity costs they would incur by holding currency long enough to 
recirculate it. Reserve Banks concluded, however, that the

[[Page 14698]]

formula requiring a participating depository institution to hold one 
day of average daily payments on its own books would cause the least 
disruption to Reserve Banks' internal currency operations. The final 
policy, therefore, requires each participant to hold on its own books 
one day of average daily payments in $10 and $20 notes, representing 
the amount needed by the depository institution to satisfy normal 
business needs for those denominations.\17\ To enhance the incentive to 
recirculate currency during the week, the final policy allows each 
participant to hold additional currency for recirculation as follows. 
After satisfying the one-day requirement, a participant may transfer up 
to the equivalent of four days of average daily payments in $10 and $20 
notes from its own vault to the custodial inventory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ Average daily payments is defined as the total dollar 
amount of $10 and $20 notes that the depository institution paid to 
its customers during an appropriate, previous five-busines-day 
period in the zone of a custodial inventory site, divided by five. 
Reserve Banks will perform this calculation on a weekly basis, based 
on data from the most recent, appropriate period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minimum Recirculation Requirement
    The Board determined that depository institutions must demonstrate, 
initially and periodically thereafter, that each vault in which they 
seek to operate a custodial inventory can recirculate a minimum of 200 
bundles of $10 and $20 notes per week in a Reserve Bank zone or sub-
zone to qualify for a custodial inventory.\18\ An institution can meet 
this requirement in the following ways:
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    \18\ Because the expected increase in recirculation from 
reducing the minimum requirement would be insignificant while the 
cost to administer the program would increase appreciably, the Board 
did not adjust the minimum recirculation requirement to reflect the 
exclusion of the $5 note from the final policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (1) An institution that cross-ships at least 200 bundles of $10 and 
$20 notes per week in a zone or sub-zone would meet the recirculation 
threshold and, therefore, qualify for a custodial inventory, provided 
that each vault in which the institution seeks to operate a custodial 
inventory will be able to recirculate at least 200 bundles of $10 and 
$20 notes per week.
    (2) An institution can show for the prospective custodial inventory 
vault that it recirculates among its customers at least 200 bundles of 
$10 and $20 notes weekly in the zone or sub-zone.
    (3) An institution can also meet the threshold through a 
combination of cross-shipping activity and recirculation among its 
customers, totaling at least 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes in the 
zone or sub-zone.
    Reserve Banks will review annually the minimum bundles required to 
support a custodial inventory. Reserve Banks estimate that between 150 
and 225 depository institution sites may meet the criteria to 
participate in the custodial inventory program.
Recirculation Fee
Fee Level
    Because the Board expects that custodial inventories alone would 
not substantially increase recirculation and reduce cross-shipping, it 
is approving a recirculation fee to provide further incentive for 
depository institutions to recirculate currency. The fee will be 
standard nationally and will reflect Reserve Banks' costs that vary 
with the quantity of currency received, processed, and paid out. 
Reserve Banks will review the changes to those costs annually and will 
adjust the fee accordingly. Based on current levels of Reserve Bank 
costs, the fee would be approximately $5 per bundle of cross-shipped 
currency. Reserve Banks will assess the fee to depository institutions 
that deposit fit $10 and $20 notes and order the same denomination 
within the same business week in a Reserve Bank zone or sub-zone.\19\ 
The fee will not be assessed on deposits of unfit or surplus fit 
currency.\20\ Under certain unusual circumstances, such as the release 
of a new note design, Reserve Banks may waive the fee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ Reserve Banks will compare each institution's weekly 
deposits of fit currently in a zone or sub-zone with their weekly 
orders to determine the amount of currency the institution cross-
shipped. The lesser of fit deposits and orders is the amount cross-
shipped. For example, if an institution deposited to a Reserve Bank 
1,250 bundles of fit $20 notes in a week and ordered 1,000 bundles 
of $20 notes the same week, the amount cross-shipped is 1,000 
bundles.
    \20\ Surplus fit currency is defined as fit currency that is not 
needed by the depository institution within the business week of its 
deposit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The recirculation fee is not subject to the pricing requirements of 
the Monetary Control Act (MCA). The MCA applies to ancillary currency 
and coin services such as transportation and coin wrapping, but not to 
services ``of a governmental nature, such as the disbursement and 
receipt of new or fit coin and currency.'' \21\ Only the Reserve Banks 
can issue and ultimately redeem currency. The Board determined, in the 
development of its principles for priced services, that ``currency and 
coin processing (paying, receiving, and verifying both coin and 
currency, and issuing, processing, canceling, and destroying currency) 
are governmental functions and would not be considered priced services 
subject to MCA.'' \22\ The recirculation fee is a recovery of costs 
incurred by the Reserve Banks resulting from overuse of governmental 
services by certain institutions. The recirculation fee also should 
lower the overall societal costs of currency processing and 
distribution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ 126 Cong. Rec. S3168 (March 27, 1980) (statement of Senator 
Proxmire).
    \22\ 45 FR 56893 (Sept. 4, 1980).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average Fitness Rate Calculation
    The Board has revised the average fitness rate calculation, used in 
determining the amount of currency cross-shipped, so that Reserve Banks 
will apply a contemporaneous fitness rate to each institution's 
deposits.\23\ Under the final policy, Reserve Banks will determine the 
average fitness rate of an institution's deposits on a monthly, rather 
than quarterly, basis and will apply the rate to the institution's 
weekly deposits for the month in which the fitness rate was observed, 
not prospectively. For example, if the notes processed from an 
institution's deposits in a zone or sub-zone in January include 80 
percent fit currency, the Reserve Bank would multiply that 
institution's weekly deposits during January by 80 percent to determine 
how much fit currency the institution deposited each week of the month. 
The Reserve Bank would then compare the institution's weekly deposits 
of fit currency to their weekly orders in the zone or sub-zone to 
determine the amount of currency the institution cross-shipped. At the 
end of each quarter, the Reserve Bank will assess the recirculation fee 
for each bundle of currency cross-shipped above the de minimis 
exemption.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ Under the 2003 proposed policy, Reserve Banks would have 
determined the number of fit notes deposited as a percentage of 
total notes deposited during each quarter and then applied the 
average quarterly fitness rate by zone or sub-zone to an 
institution's deposits during the following quarter to determine how 
much currency it cross-shipped.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

De minimis Exemption
    The final policy exempts de minimis levels of cross-shipped 
currency from the recirculation fee. Consistent with the Board's 
decision to exclude the $5 note, the final policy reduces the de 
minimis exemption to 875 bundles of notes per quarter from the level of 
1,000 bundles per quarter in the 2003 proposed policy. Reserve Banks 
will review annually the number of bundles for the de minimis 
exemption.
    Using the initial de minimis amount, depository institutions will 
not pay a recirculation fee for the first 875 bundles of $10 and $20 
notes crossed-shipped in a zone or sub-zone each quarter. The de 
minimis exemption has

[[Page 14699]]

three purposes. First, the exemption compensates for minor differences 
between currency fitness determinations made by depository institutions 
and Reserve Banks in processing these notes.\24\ Second, the exemption 
limits the effect of the policy on institutions whose small scale of 
currency operations may not justify investments in sorting equipment. 
Third, the exemption allows depository institutions that experience 
unanticipated swings in customer demand to order or deposit currency 
without incurring a fee. The exemption will not have a material effect 
on Reserve Bank processing volumes, but will reduce or eliminate the 
cost of the policy for a large number of depository institutions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ Because Reserve Banks will assess the recirculation fee for 
all fit notes cross-shipped above the de minimis exemption, 
depository institutions will have an incentive to ensure that their 
fitness determinations are comparable with those of Reserve Banks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A Reserve Bank will apply the de minimis exemption to currency that 
a depository institution cross-ships in a zone or sub-zone during each 
quarter.\25\ All or part of an exemption that a depository institution 
did not use during a quarter will expire at the end of that quarter. 
Reserve Banks will apply the exemption against depository institutions' 
total volumes of cross-shipped $10 and $20 notes within a zone or sub-
zone, not against each individual denomination. Because of the de 
minimis exemption, Reserve Banks estimate that only between 100 and 150 
depository institutions may be subject to the recirculation fee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ De minimis exemptions may not be transferred from one zone 
or sub-zone to another.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Final Recirculation Policy

Estimate of Avoided Reserve Bank Costs
    During 2004, Reserve Banks processed 36.2 billion notes, with total 
costs of approximately $344 million. This number includes 17.8 billion 
$10 and $20 notes, 7.2 billion of which depository institutions cross-
shipped. Curtailing current cross-shipping and its expected future 
growth would reduce Reserve Banks' expenses by enabling them to scale 
down currency processing operations and delay future capital 
investments in equipment and facilities. Reserve Banks estimate that by 
implementing the final recirculation policy, they could avoid currency 
processing costs of approximately $250 million over the next ten years 
on a net present value basis.\26\
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    \26\ Reserve Banks estimated the net present value based on 2004 
expense data, using a discount rate of 3.9 percent, as advised by 
OMB Circular No. A-94, Appendix C, to approximate the nominal 
interest rate. The estimate includes costs that vary with the volume 
of currency processed, including labor, materials, and equipment. 
The amount by which Reserve Banks are able to reduce costs would 
depend on the actual decline in volumes because of the recirculation 
policy. This decline would depend on the extent to which (1) 
depository institutions elect to pay the fee instead of 
recirculating; (2) depository institutions take full advantage of 
the de minimis exemption; and (3) depository institutions alter 
their handling of denominations that are not covered by the policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Estimate of Reserve Banks' and Depository Institutions' Costs
    Reserve Banks would incur approximately $1 million per year in 
operating costs to administer the custodial inventory program, 
including managing the overall program and auditing the custodial 
inventories. Reserve Banks estimate that during the first year of the 
program their costs would total approximately $2.5 million because of 
expenses for training and site inspections. The net present value of 
these costs over the next ten years is approximately $10 million.
    Depository institutions will likely incur some costs to operate 
custodial inventories. For example, depository institutions may have to 
modify their facilities to segregate Reserve Bank currency or to 
enhance their physical security, perhaps by installing surveillance 
equipment. They may also have to enhance physical- and procedural-
access controls and engage in additional sorting and other handling of 
the notes held in a custodial inventory. While depository institutions 
provided no specific cost estimates, Reserve Banks project these costs 
to be minimal.
    Reserve Banks believe that many depository institutions have made 
or plan to make the capital investments necessary to reduce or 
eliminate cross-shipping. Reserve Banks estimate that the depository 
institutions' costs to comply with the recirculation policy, including 
labor costs, would be approximately $10-15 million per year over the 
next ten years, assuming that depository institutions fitness-sort $10 
and $20 notes and make the majority of their remaining compliance 
expenditures in the first two years of the program. Over a ten-year 
horizon, the estimated net present value of these depository 
institution costs is approximately $100 million.
Conclusion
    Reserve Banks estimate that the final recirculation policy could 
result in a net societal benefit of approximately $140 million over the 
next ten years on a net present value basis. Both Reserve Banks and 
depository institutions would incur some costs under the policy; 
however, Reserve Banks estimate that any costs incurred by depository 
institutions will be significantly less than the costs that Reserve 
Banks will avoid if the institutions reduce or cease cross-shipping 
currency.

III. Competitive Impact Analysis

    All operational and legal changes considered by the Board that have 
a substantial effect on payments system participants are subject to the 
competitive impact analysis described in the Board's policy, ``The 
Federal Reserve in the Payments System.'' \27\ Under this policy, the 
Board assesses whether the proposed change would have a direct and 
material adverse effect on the ability of other service providers to 
compete effectively with the Federal Reserve in providing similar 
services because of differing legal powers or constraints or because of 
a dominant market position of the Federal Reserve deriving from such 
legal differences. If the proposed change has such an effect, the Board 
must evaluate it further to assess whether its benefits--such as 
contributions to payments system efficiency, payment system integrity, 
or other Board objectives--can be retained while reducing hindrances to 
competition. As noted above, only Reserve Banks can issue and 
ultimately redeem currency; these are governmental functions that 
private-sector entities cannot perform. Private-sector entities do, 
however, provide currency deposit, withdrawal, and related services to 
depository institutions that might otherwise deal directly with a 
Reserve Bank. Therefore, the Board has considered the potential 
competitive effects of the policy on private-sector currency service 
providers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ Federal Reserve Regulatory Service 9-1558.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the recirculation policy, some correspondent banks will incur 
increased operational costs, or pay recirculation fees. The fees that 
correspondent banks charge to respondent banks could increase to 
reflect those costs. While it might be less costly for the respondent 
banks to obtain currency services directly from Reserve Banks because 
they would likely benefit from the de minimis exemption, the Board 
understands that respondent banks generally choose a correspondent to 
provide a package of services, not exclusively for currency services. 
In that event, depository institutions might retain their correspondent 
relationships despite an

[[Page 14700]]

increase in costs caused by this recirculation policy.
    Overall, the Board believes that while private-sector currency 
service providers cannot duplicate the entire range of Reserve Bank 
cash functions, they can count, sort, and process currency. In 
addition, private-sector service providers offer an array of value-
added cash services that Reserve Banks do not provide. For example, 
some private-sector service providers maintain automated teller 
machines for depository institutions and offer specific retail services 
for the depository institutions' customers. This policy is unlikely to 
result in any significant shift of business from private-sector 
providers to Reserve Banks. Indeed, the policy may shift some currency 
processing business to private-sector providers. In order to minimize 
the potential effect of recirculation fees, some depository 
institutions may choose to fitness-sort their customers' deposits 
themselves or through a service provider rather than continuing to rely 
on the Reserve Bank to fitness-sort their currency. Armored carriers or 
local consortia of depository institutions might offer less costly 
alternatives because the fitness sorting can be performed as an adjunct 
to deposit processing services they already perform for their 
customers. The currency recirculation policy, therefore, is not likely 
to adversely affect the ability of depository institutions or other 
service providers to compete with Reserve Banks to provide cash 
services.

IV. Federal Reserve Currency Recirculation Policy

    The Board has adopted the following policy to promote depository 
institutions' recirculation of fit $10 and $20 Federal Reserve 
notes.\28\
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    \28\ By May 2006, Reserve Banks expect to revise Reserve Bank 
Operating Circular 2 to provide additional guidance on the 
recirculation policy. For additional information, see https://
www.frbservices.org/Cash/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Custodial Inventory Program

    The custodial inventory program promotes recirculation of fit $10 
and $20 notes by reducing depository institutions' opportunity costs 
for holding currency. Participants in the custodial inventory program 
may hold, in their vaults, currency on the books of Reserve Banks that 
they otherwise might have shipped to, and then ordered from, Reserve 
Banks during the same business week.
Requirements \29\
    (1) Only depository institutions are eligible to participate in the 
custodial inventory program. Depository institutions that outsource 
operation of their currency vault(s) would be eligible if the other 
requirements are met.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ Failure to comply with any of these requirements could 
result in the loss of eligibility to participate in the program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) A depository institution must be able to recirculate among its 
customers a substantial volume of $10 and $20 notes in the zone or sub-
zone of a custodial inventory site. At the outset of the program, each 
vault in which a depository institution seeks to operate a custodial 
inventory must be able to recirculate 200 bundles of $10 and $20 notes 
on a regular weekly basis to qualify for the program. Reserve Banks 
will review annually the minimum bundles required for depository 
institution participation in the custodial inventory program.
    (3) A depository institution must hold on its own books no less 
than one day of average payments, defined as the total dollar amount of 
$10 and $20 notes that the depository institution paid to its customers 
during an appropriate, previous five-business-day period in the zone or 
sub-zone of a custodial inventory site, divided by five.\30\
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    \30\ For requirements 3 and 4, the five-business-day period 
consists of Monday through Friday. Reserve Banks will perform this 
calculation on a weekly basis, based on data from the most recent, 
appropriate period. If a Federal holiday falls within the period, 
the other four business days will constitute the period and the 
total dollar amount of $10 and $20 notes that a depository 
institution paid to its customers in a zone or sub-zone of a 
custodial inventory site during that period will be divided by four.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (4) A depository institution may transfer into the custodial 
inventory no more than four days of average payments, defined as the 
total dollar amount of $10 and $20 notes that the depository 
institution paid to its customers during an appropriate, previous five-
business-day period in the zone or sub-zone of a custodial inventory 
site, divided by five and multiplied by four.
    (5) Depository institutions may deposit currency into or withdraw 
currency from custodial inventories at any time during the local 
Reserve Bank's business day.
    (6) A depository institution may operate a custodial inventory only 
under the following conditions:
    (a) The depository institution will indemnify the Reserve Bank 
against theft or loss of Reserve Bank currency.
    (b) It will comply with Reserve Bank physical security guidelines 
for vaults, access control, and camera coverage.
    (c) It will operate its facility in accordance with Reserve Bank 
guidelines for access and control.
    (d) It will segregate Reserve Bank currency from other currency.
    (e) It will allow full access by Reserve Banks, the Board, the 
Government Accountability Office, and their agents for unannounced 
audits of any aspect of the custodial inventory operation.
    (f) It is operating in a safe and sound manner, as determined by 
its Administrative Reserve Bank.
    (7) Any depository institution that uses a custodial inventory, in 
the judgment of Reserve Banks, to circumvent the intent of the 
recirculation policy will lose its eligibility to participate in the 
program.

Recirculation Fee

    (1) Reserve Banks will monitor currency orders and deposits for all 
endpoints of each depository institution in each Reserve Bank office 
service area (``zone'') for cross-shipping. Reserve Bank zones with 
large metropolitan areas located at a significant distance from a 
Reserve Bank office may be divided into smaller service areas (``sub-
zones''). The criteria for establishing sub-zones will balance the 
population of a metropolitan area against its distance from the Reserve 
Bank office. Reserve Banks will review sub-zone criteria annually. 
Customers may choose the zone or sub-zone in which to include border 
endpoints. Reserve Banks will monitor the deposits and orders of 
endpoints located in and near a sub-zone. Reserve Banks will monitor 
endpoints in other parts of a zone as a group separate from the 
endpoints in the sub-zone.\31\
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    \31\ Reserve Bank sub-zones will be published on the Web at 
https://www.frbservices.org.
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    (2) Reserve Banks will assess recirculation fees when a depository 
institution deposits fit $10 or $20 notes and orders the same 
denomination during the same business week, within a Reserve Bank zone 
or sub-zone.\32\
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    \32\ Reserve Banks will not assess fees for deposits or orders 
of $1, $2, $5, $50, and $100 notes.
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    (3) Reserve Banks will set a standard national recirculation fee 
based on those Reserve Bank costs that vary with the quantity of 
currency received, processed, and paid to depository institutions. 
Reserve Banks will review the changes to those costs annually and will 
adjust the fee accordingly. Such costs include personnel, materials, 
and equipment. The fee will not include overhead costs such as 
facilities, legal, business development, audit, and protection services 
that Reserve Banks incur to meet their central bank currency services 
responsibilities.

[[Page 14701]]

    (4) Reserve Banks will allocate recirculation de minimis exemptions 
to depository institutions for each zone or sub-zone where they do 
business. Reserve Banks will apply the exemptions to depository 
institutions' total cross-shipped volume.\33\ De minimis exemptions may 
not be transferred from one zone or sub-zone to another. Unused de 
minimis exemptions will expire at the end of each quarter. Initially, 
the de minimis exemption will be 875 bundles per quarter. Reserve Banks 
will review the level of the de minimis exemption annually.
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    \33\ Exemptions will not be denomination-specific.
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    (5) Reserve Banks will monitor depository institutions' order and 
deposit activity weekly for cross-shipping. For the purposes of 
monitoring cross-shipping activity, a week includes consecutive days 
from Monday through Friday. If, in the judgment of Reserve Banks, a 
depository institution circumvents the recirculation policy by reducing 
its cross-shipping volume without increasing recirculation, such as 
would be the case if it alternated the weeks in which it orders and 
deposits currency, Reserve Banks will apply the recirculation fee to 
fit notes in such deposits.
    (6) Reserve Banks will determine the number of fit notes processed 
from each institution's deposits as a percentage of total notes 
deposited by that institution during each month. Reserve Banks will 
then apply this monthly average fitness rate by zone or sub-zone to an 
institution's weekly deposits during that month to determine how much 
currency it cross-shipped.\34\
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    \34\ For example, if the notes processed from an institution's 
deposits in a zone or sub-zone included 80 percent fit currency in 
January, the Reserve Bank would multiply that institution's weekly 
deposits during January by 80 percent to determine how much fit 
currency the institution deposited each week of the month. The 
Reserve Bank will then compare that institution's weekly deposits of 
fit currency with their weekly orders in the zone or sub-zone to 
determine the amount of currency the institution cross-shipped. At 
the end of the quarter, the Reserve Bank will assess fees for each 
bundle of currency cross-shipped above the de minimis exemption.
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    (7) Reserve Banks publish currency fitness and equipment guidelines 
at https://www.frbservices.org/Cash/pdf/FRB_Fitness_Standards.pdf.

Phased Implementation

    The Reserve Banks will implement the recirculation policy in two 
phases. The first phase will expand the custodial inventory program to 
all eligible participants. One year later, in the second phase, the 
Reserve Banks will begin assessing the recirculation fee, provided 
however, that they have implemented a currency quality policy.

    By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, March 17, 2006.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 06-2790 Filed 3-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-02-P

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