Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB, 79484-79487 [2016-27299]

Download as PDF mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES 79484 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / Notices Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the extension for three years, with revision, of the following report: Report Title: Uniform Interagency Transfer Agent Registration and Amendment Form. OMB Control Number: 7100–0099. Agency Form Number: Form TA–1. Frequency: On occasion. Reporters: State member banks (‘‘SMBs’’) and their subsidiaries, bank holding companies (‘‘BHCs’’), certain nondeposit trust company subsidiaries of BHCs, and savings and loan holding companies (‘‘SLHCs’’). Effective Date: December 31, 2016. Estimated Number of Respondents: Registrations: 2; amendments: 4. Estimated Average Hours per Response: Registrations: 1.25 hours; amendments: 10 minutes. Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 4 hours. General Description of Report: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act) requires any person acting as a transfer agent to register as such and to amend registration information when it changes. State member banks (SMBs) and their subsidiaries, bank holding companies (BHCs), savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs), and certain nondeposit trust company and other subsidiaries of BHCs register with the Federal Reserve System by submitting Form TA–1. The information collected is available to the public upon request and includes the company name, all business addresses, and answers to three questions about the registrant’s proposed activities as a transfer agent. The Federal Reserve uses the information to act upon registration applications and to aid in performing its supervisory duties. Current Actions: On June 10, 2016, the Board, FDIC, and OCC jointly published an initial notice in the Federal Register 1 requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of Form TA–1. The Board proposed to revise the Form TA–1 to require submission of the form to a designated Federal Reserve Board email address, as well as certain other instructional clarifications.2 The comment period for this notice expired on August 9, 2016. The Board did not receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented as proposed. Legal Authorization and Confidentiality: The Form TA–1 is 1 See 81 FR 37665. proposed revisions remove references to the Office of Thrift Supervision, clarify the definition of a ‘qualifying security’ pursuant to regulatory changes, and alter the number of Form TA–1 copies registrants are required to file with the Federal Reserve Board. 2 The VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:26 Nov 10, 2016 Jkt 241001 mandatory and its collection is authorized by sections 17A(c), 17(a)(3), and 23(a)(1) of the Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 78q–1(c), 78q(a)(3), and 78w(a)(1)). Additionally, section 3(a)(34)(B)(ii) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(34)(B)(ii)) provides that the Board is the appropriate regulatory agency for purposes of various filings by SMBs and their subsidiaries, BHCs, SLHCs, and certain nondepository trust company subsidiaries of BHCs that act as a clearing agency or transfer agent. The registrations are public filings and are not considered confidential. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 8, 2016. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2016–27298 Filed 11–10–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Change in Bank Control Notices; Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or Bank Holding Company The notificants listed below have applied under the Change in Bank Control Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)) and § 225.41 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.41) to acquire shares of a bank or bank holding company. The factors that are considered in acting on the notices are set forth in paragraph 7 of the Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)(7)). The notices are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The notices also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing to the Reserve Bank indicated for that notice or to the offices of the Board of Governors. Comments must be received not later than November 29, 2016. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (Jacquelyn K. Brunmeier, Assistant Vice President) 90 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55480–0291: 1. Michael L. Frei, Wagner, South Dakota, individually and with power to vote the shares held in the Jill M. Frei Trust, to retain control of 25 percent or more of the shares of Commercial Holding Company, Wagner, South Dakota, and thereby indirectly control of Commercial State Bank of Wagner, Wagner, South Dakota. PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 8, 2016. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2016–27292 Filed 11–10–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the final approval of a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the debit card issuer survey (FR 3064a; OMB No. 7100–0344) and to extend for three years, without revision, the payment card network survey (FR 3064b; OMB No. 7100–0344) by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB’s public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer —Nuha Elmaghrabi—Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551, (202) 452–3829. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact (202) 263–4869, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551. OMB Desk Officer—Shagufta Ahmed—Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the extension for three years, with revision, of the following report: Report Title: Interchange Transaction Fees Surveys. AGENCY: E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM 14NON1 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / Notices Agency Form Number: FR 3064a (Extended with revision) and FR 3064b (Extended without revision). OMB Control Number: 7100–0344. Frequency: FR 3064a—Biennial; FR 3064b—Annual. Respondents: Issuers of debit cards (FR 3064a) and payment card networks (FR 3064b). Estimated Annual Burden Hours: FR 3064a: 89,280 hours; FR 3064b: 1,275 hours. Estimated Average Hours per Response: FR 3064a: 160 hours; FR 3064b: 75 hours. Number of Respondents: FR 3064a: 558; FR 3064b: 17. General description of report: The FR 3064a and 3064b surveys are authorized by subsection 920(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which was amended by section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act.1 This statutory provision requires the Federal Reserve, at least once every two years,2 to disclose aggregate or summary information concerning the costs incurred and interchange transaction fees charged or received by issuers or payment card networks in connection with the authorization, clearance or settlement of electronic debit transaction, as the Federal Reserve considers appropriate and in the public interest.3 It also provides the Federal Reserve with authority to require issuers and payment card networks to provide information to enable the Federal Reserve to carry out the provisions of the subsection.4 The obligation to respond to these surveys is mandatory. In accordance with the statutory requirement, the Federal Reserve will release aggregate or summary information from the survey responses. In addition, the Federal Reserve will release, at the network level, the percentage of total number of transactions, the percentage of total value of transactions, and the average transaction value for exempt and notexempt issuers obtained on the FR 3064b. The Federal Reserve has determined to release this information both because it can already be determined mathematically based on the information the Federal Reserve currently releases on average interchange fees and because the Federal Reserve believes the release of such information may be useful to issuers and merchants in choosing payment card networks in which to 1 15 U.S.C. 1693o–2. subsection refers to biannual disclosures and the Federal Reserve interprets this to mean once every two years. See 76 FR 43458 (July 20, 2011). 3 15 U.S.C. 1693o–2(a)(3)(B). 4 Id. 2 The VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:26 Nov 10, 2016 Jkt 241001 participate and to policymakers in assessing the effect of Regulation II on the level of interchange fees received by issuers over time. However, the remaining individual issuer and payment card information collected on these surveys can be kept confidential under exemption (b)(4) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because staff has advised that, if released, this information would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the survey respondents.5 Abstract: The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (DoddFrank Act) requires the Federal Reserve to disclose, at least every two years, such aggregate or summary information concerning the costs incurred for, and interchange transaction fees received by, issuers with respect to debit card transactions, as the Federal Reserve considers appropriate or in the public interest. The data from these surveys are used in fulfilling that disclosure requirement. In addition, the Federal Reserve uses data from the payment card network survey (FR 3064b) to publicly report on an annual basis the extent to which networks have established separate interchange fees for exempt and covered issuers. Finally, the Federal Reserve uses the data from these surveys in determining whether to propose revisions to the interchange fee standards in Regulation II (12 CFR part 235). The Dodd-Frank Act provides the Federal Reserve with authority to require debit card issuers and payment card networks to submit information in order to carry out provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding interchange fee standards. Current Actions: On August 9, 2016 the Federal Reserve published a notice in the Federal Register (81 FR 52689) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the Interchange Transaction Fees Surveys. The comment period for this notice expired on October 11, 2016. The Federal Reserve received one joint comment letter addressing this collection, which are summarized and addressed below. 79485 industry associations, which concerned the debit card issuer survey (FR 3064a). The commenters in this letter commended the Federal Reserve for proposing a full 90-day period for respondents to complete the survey, but suggested that the 90-day period commence in mid-February rather than mid-January, because respondents generally cannot begin collecting the requested data until February. The commenters suggested several changes to the online reporting tool which they argued would facilitate completion of the survey. The commenters also suggested that the survey no longer ask respondents to provide information on interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks and, separately, interchange fees repaid as a result of returns, but instead ask respondents to provide a single number that is interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns. In addition, the commenters argued that the survey’s definition of ‘‘costs of authorization, clearance, and settlement’’ fails to include all costs related to a debit card issuer’s authorization, clearance, and settlement activities, and they recommended expanding the definition to include additional cost items. Lastly, the commenters suggested that international fraud losses be included as part of reported fraud losses. In addition to revisions that were already suggested and were supported by the commenters, the Federal Reserve revised the debit card issuer survey to incorporate certain additional suggestions from the commenters. In particular, the Federal Reserve is commencing the survey at the beginning of February, providing a total line for interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns, and making certain technical changes to the reporting tool for the survey. The Federal Reserve is not expanding the survey to include international fraud losses or additional cost elements. Summary Discussion of Public Comments and Recommended Responses 6 The Federal Reserve received one joint comment letter from eight banking 5 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) (exempting from disclosure ‘‘trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential’’). 6 On August 2, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board granted initial approval of these surveys. Notice of the proposed action was published in the Federal Register on August 9, 2016; the comment period PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 ended on October 11, 2016. The Federal Reserve received one comment letter addressing the proposed revisions to the FR 3064 information collection. E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM 14NON1 79486 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / Notices Detailed Discussion of Public Comments and Recommended Responses Debit Card Issuer Survey (FR 3064a) mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES Section-by-Section Analysis Section II: All Debit Card Transactions, Section III: All Single-Message (PIN) Debit Card Transactions, Section IV: All Dual-Message (Signature) Debit Card Transactions, and Section V: GeneralUse Prepaid Card Transactions Question 3: Cost of authorization, clearance, and settlement—The Federal Reserve proposed to delete questions 3e and 3f which break out the fixed and variable cost components for line items 3b.1 In-house costs and 3b.2 Third-party processing fees, respectively. The commenters strongly supported this proposal. They argued that the allocation of costs to fixed and variable components places an undue burden on respondents by forcing them to categorize costs in an artificial manner outside of respondents’ standard cost accounting practices. The Federal Reserve believes that the commenters’ support for this change validates the Federal Reserve’s proposal to remove these items. The commenters further believe that the definition of ‘‘costs of authorization, clearance, and settlement’’ fails to include all costs related to a debit card issuer’s authorization, clearance, and settlement activities. The commenters provided a list of categories of costs that should be included and recommended that these categories be reported as individual cost items, if they are not already. Specifically, the commenters recommended expanding the definition to include the following items: costs associated with receiving, responding to, and resolving customer inquiries with respect to debit card transactions; debit card transaction compliance costs; debit card transaction non-sufficient funds handing costs; card production and delivery costs; and a portion of costs related to establishing and maintaining debit account relationships. The Federal Reserve is keeping the set of data elements as proposed. Some of the proposed categories of costs (e.g., cardholder inquiry and non-sufficient funds handling costs) are already included in the survey, and all of the proposed categories are costs that the Federal Reserve determined would not be considered as part of the interchange fee standard in Regulation II. Including these additional cost categories and requiring issuers to report at a more detailed level would not significantly enhance the Federal Reserve’s understanding of the relevant costs for VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:26 Nov 10, 2016 Jkt 241001 Regulation II and would represent a significant burden to respondents. The commenters suggested that international fraud losses be included as part of reported fraud losses. The commenters argued that international fraud losses should be considered as part of the fraud losses associated with domestic transactions for U.S.-issued debit cards because the data compromise leading to the fraudulent debit card activity frequently occurs in the United States and generates fraudulent international transactions even if the cardholder never leaves the United States. The commenters likened this to the Federal Reserve allowing respondents to include costs from international transaction processing centers when reporting the costs associated with U.S.-issued debit cards. The commenters acknowledge that the Federal Reserve’s authority to regulate debit card activity is restricted to the United States, but argued that this does not preclude the Federal Reserve from considering costs that occurred outside of the United States, if those costs could not have been incurred but for the issuance of a U.S. debit card. International fraud losses arise from international transactions, not domestic transactions, and are therefore outside the scope of Regulation II.7 As such, international fraud losses are analogous to ATM fraud losses, which are also not included. The commenters noted that costs incurred at international transaction processing centers are included, but that is because costs incurred at those processing centers are still associated with domestic transactions, whereas international fraud losses are not associated with domestic transactions. Thus, international fraud losses will not be reported. Question 6: Interchange fee revenue— The commenters suggested that the survey no longer ask respondents to provide information on interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks and, separately, interchange fees repaid as a result of returns. The commenters argued that payment networks providing interchange fee information do not readily provide a breakdown of chargebacks and returns, such that respondents are often forced to make arbitrary allocations. The commenters suggested that the survey instead ask respondents to provide a single value consisting of interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns. 7 Regulation II applies only to electronic debit transactions that are initiated at a merchant located in the United States. See paragraph 235.2(h)–5 of the Official Commentary on Regulation II. PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 The Federal Reserve added a line item in which respondents are asked to provide the value that commenters argue is readily available: interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns. However, the Federal Reserve will continue to also ask respondents to provide a breakdown of this total number into interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks and, separately, interchange fees repaid as a result of returns. Respondents will, as always, have the option of entering ‘‘not reported’’ for those items. General Instructions The Federal Reserve proposed to make the survey available in midJanuary, with a deadline in mid-April, thereby giving respondents a full 90 days in which to provide responses. The commenters commended the Federal Reserve for proposing a 90-day completion period, but suggested that the 90-day period begin in mid-February rather than in mid-January. The commenters noted that issuers will not have the required data to respond to the survey before mid-February; for instance, processors and networks often do not provide invoices to issuers until mid-January or later. Also, commenters argued that the necessary personnel are unavailable to begin completing the survey until other end-of-year closing activities are complete. The Federal Reserve is making the survey available at the beginning of February instead of mid-January, and due in early May rather than mid-April, in order to address the timing concerns raised by the commenters. The commenters also proposed three changes to the online reporting tool for the survey. First, commenters recommended that the online survey round entries to the nearest whole dollar. Second, commenters recommended that entries be rightjustified. Third, commenters suggested that there be a way for respondents to consolidate all of entries, across all sections, into a single editable spreadsheet. The Federal Reserve is making all of these changes, subject to any unanticipated technical difficulties that may arise in the current interface. Payment Card Network Survey (FR 3064b) The Federal Reserve received no comments on the Payment Card Network survey (FR 3064b). E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM 14NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / Notices Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 8, 2016. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2016–27299 Filed 11–10–16; 8:45 am] Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 7, 2016. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM [FR Doc. 2016–27227 Filed 11–10–16; 8:45 am] mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies BILLING CODE 6210–01–P The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or the power to vote shares of a bank or bank holding company and all of the banks and nonbanking companies owned by the bank holding company, including the companies listed below. The applications listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The applications will also be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the standards enumerated in the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the proposal also involves the acquisition of a nonbanking company, the review also includes whether the acquisition of the nonbanking company complies with the standards in section 4 of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States. Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than December 12, 2016. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Colette A. Fried, Assistant Vice President) 230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60690–1414: 1. United Community Bancorp, Inc., Chatham, Illinois; to merge with Liberty Bancshares, Inc., Alton, Illinois and thereby indirectly acquire Liberty Bank, Alton, Illinois. B. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Robert L. Triplett III, Senior Vice President) 2200 North Pearl Street, Dallas, Texas 75201–2272: 1. BankCap Equity Fund LLC, BankCap Partners GP L.P., and BankCap Partners Fund I, L.P., both of Dallas, Texas; to acquire up to 24.73 percent of voting shares of Silvergate VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:26 Nov 10, 2016 Jkt 241001 Capital Corporation, La Jolla, California through BankCap Partners Opportunity Fund, L.P., Dallas, Texas. Silvergate Capital Corporation controls Silvergate Bank, La Jolla, California. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension Federal Trade Commission (‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘FTC’’). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The information collection requirements described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’). The FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal to extend for an additional three years the current PRA clearance for reporting requirements in its Antitrust Improvements Act Rules (‘‘HSR Rules’’) and corresponding Notification and Report Form for Certain Mergers and Acquisitions (‘‘Notification and Report Form’’). That clearance expires on December 31, 2016. DATES: Comments must be filed by December 14, 2016. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ‘‘HSR PRA Clearance Extension, P169300’’ on your comment and file your comment online at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ hsrrulespra2, by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC–5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert L. Jones, Assistant Director, Premerger Notification Office, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 79487 Commission, Room CC–5301, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580, or by telephone to (202) 326– 2740. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 12, 2016, the Commission sought comment on the reporting requirements associated with the HSR Rules and corresponding Notification and Report Form. 81 FR 53484. No relevant comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to renew the preexisting clearance for those information collection requirements. For more details about the requirements of the HSR Rules, the background behind these information collection provisions, and the basis for the calculations summarized below, see 81 FR 53484. Burden Statement The following burden estimates are primarily based on FTC data concerning the number of HSR filings and staff’s informal consultations with HSR counsel; the explanations behind them appear in the August 12, 2016 Federal Register Notice alluded to above. Minor revisions below to some of the prior calculations reflect the assumption that a transaction withdrawn and later refiled will entail two filings per transaction. Estimated total annual hours: 168,486 hours. [(4,553 non-index filings × 37 hours/ each) + (10 index filings × 2 hours/ each) + (1 withdrawn transaction later restarted × 5 hours))] Estimated total annual labor cost: $77,503,560. Estimated total annual non-labor cost: $0. Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before December 14, 2016. Write ‘‘HSR PRA Clearance Extension, P169300’’ on your comment. Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/ publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals’ home contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web site. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM 14NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79484-79487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27299]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board 
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the final approval of a proposal to 
extend for three years, with revision, the debit card issuer survey (FR 
3064a; OMB No. 7100-0344) and to extend for three years, without 
revision, the payment card network survey (FR 3064b; OMB No. 7100-0344) 
by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under 
OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on 
Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-approved 
collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB 
inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and 
approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's 
public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, 
and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information 
collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after 
October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer --Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office 
of the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, Washington, DC 20551, (202) 452-3829. Telecommunications Device 
for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact (202) 263-4869, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.
    OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.
    Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the extension for 
three years, with revision, of the following report:
    Report Title: Interchange Transaction Fees Surveys.

[[Page 79485]]

    Agency Form Number: FR 3064a (Extended with revision) and FR 3064b 
(Extended without revision).
    OMB Control Number: 7100-0344.
    Frequency: FR 3064a--Biennial; FR 3064b--Annual.
    Respondents: Issuers of debit cards (FR 3064a) and payment card 
networks (FR 3064b).
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: FR 3064a: 89,280 hours; FR 3064b: 
1,275 hours.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: FR 3064a: 160 hours; FR 
3064b: 75 hours.
    Number of Respondents: FR 3064a: 558; FR 3064b: 17.
    General description of report: The FR 3064a and 3064b surveys are 
authorized by subsection 920(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, 
which was amended by section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act.\1\ This 
statutory provision requires the Federal Reserve, at least once every 
two years,\2\ to disclose aggregate or summary information concerning 
the costs incurred and interchange transaction fees charged or received 
by issuers or payment card networks in connection with the 
authorization, clearance or settlement of electronic debit transaction, 
as the Federal Reserve considers appropriate and in the public 
interest.\3\ It also provides the Federal Reserve with authority to 
require issuers and payment card networks to provide information to 
enable the Federal Reserve to carry out the provisions of the 
subsection.\4\ The obligation to respond to these surveys is mandatory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2.
    \2\ The subsection refers to biannual disclosures and the 
Federal Reserve interprets this to mean once every two years. See 76 
FR 43458 (July 20, 2011).
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(3)(B).
    \4\ Id.
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    In accordance with the statutory requirement, the Federal Reserve 
will release aggregate or summary information from the survey 
responses. In addition, the Federal Reserve will release, at the 
network level, the percentage of total number of transactions, the 
percentage of total value of transactions, and the average transaction 
value for exempt and not-exempt issuers obtained on the FR 3064b. The 
Federal Reserve has determined to release this information both because 
it can already be determined mathematically based on the information 
the Federal Reserve currently releases on average interchange fees and 
because the Federal Reserve believes the release of such information 
may be useful to issuers and merchants in choosing payment card 
networks in which to participate and to policymakers in assessing the 
effect of Regulation II on the level of interchange fees received by 
issuers over time.
    However, the remaining individual issuer and payment card 
information collected on these surveys can be kept confidential under 
exemption (b)(4) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because staff 
has advised that, if released, this information would cause substantial 
harm to the competitive position of the survey respondents.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) (exempting from disclosure ``trade 
secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a 
person and privileged or confidential'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Abstract: The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 
2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) requires the Federal Reserve to disclose, at 
least every two years, such aggregate or summary information concerning 
the costs incurred for, and interchange transaction fees received by, 
issuers with respect to debit card transactions, as the Federal Reserve 
considers appropriate or in the public interest. The data from these 
surveys are used in fulfilling that disclosure requirement. In 
addition, the Federal Reserve uses data from the payment card network 
survey (FR 3064b) to publicly report on an annual basis the extent to 
which networks have established separate interchange fees for exempt 
and covered issuers. Finally, the Federal Reserve uses the data from 
these surveys in determining whether to propose revisions to the 
interchange fee standards in Regulation II (12 CFR part 235). The Dodd-
Frank Act provides the Federal Reserve with authority to require debit 
card issuers and payment card networks to submit information in order 
to carry out provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding interchange fee 
standards.
    Current Actions: On August 9, 2016 the Federal Reserve published a 
notice in the Federal Register (81 FR 52689) requesting public comment 
for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the Interchange 
Transaction Fees Surveys. The comment period for this notice expired on 
October 11, 2016. The Federal Reserve received one joint comment letter 
addressing this collection, which are summarized and addressed below.

Summary Discussion of Public Comments and Recommended Responses 
6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ On August 2, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board granted initial 
approval of these surveys. Notice of the proposed action was 
published in the Federal Register on August 9, 2016; the comment 
period ended on October 11, 2016. The Federal Reserve received one 
comment letter addressing the proposed revisions to the FR 3064 
information collection.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Federal Reserve received one joint comment letter from eight 
banking industry associations, which concerned the debit card issuer 
survey (FR 3064a). The commenters in this letter commended the Federal 
Reserve for proposing a full 90-day period for respondents to complete 
the survey, but suggested that the 90-day period commence in mid-
February rather than mid-January, because respondents generally cannot 
begin collecting the requested data until February. The commenters 
suggested several changes to the online reporting tool which they 
argued would facilitate completion of the survey. The commenters also 
suggested that the survey no longer ask respondents to provide 
information on interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks and, 
separately, interchange fees repaid as a result of returns, but instead 
ask respondents to provide a single number that is interchange fees 
repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns. In addition, the 
commenters argued that the survey's definition of ``costs of 
authorization, clearance, and settlement'' fails to include all costs 
related to a debit card issuer's authorization, clearance, and 
settlement activities, and they recommended expanding the definition to 
include additional cost items. Lastly, the commenters suggested that 
international fraud losses be included as part of reported fraud 
losses.
    In addition to revisions that were already suggested and were 
supported by the commenters, the Federal Reserve revised the debit card 
issuer survey to incorporate certain additional suggestions from the 
commenters. In particular, the Federal Reserve is commencing the survey 
at the beginning of February, providing a total line for interchange 
fees repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns, and making certain 
technical changes to the reporting tool for the survey. The Federal 
Reserve is not expanding the survey to include international fraud 
losses or additional cost elements.

[[Page 79486]]

Detailed Discussion of Public Comments and Recommended Responses

Debit Card Issuer Survey (FR 3064a)

Section-by-Section Analysis
Section II: All Debit Card Transactions, Section III: All Single-
Message (PIN) Debit Card Transactions, Section IV: All Dual-Message 
(Signature) Debit Card Transactions, and Section V: General-Use Prepaid 
Card Transactions
    Question 3: Cost of authorization, clearance, and settlement--The 
Federal Reserve proposed to delete questions 3e and 3f which break out 
the fixed and variable cost components for line items 3b.1 In-house 
costs and 3b.2 Third-party processing fees, respectively. The 
commenters strongly supported this proposal. They argued that the 
allocation of costs to fixed and variable components places an undue 
burden on respondents by forcing them to categorize costs in an 
artificial manner outside of respondents' standard cost accounting 
practices. The Federal Reserve believes that the commenters' support 
for this change validates the Federal Reserve's proposal to remove 
these items.
    The commenters further believe that the definition of ``costs of 
authorization, clearance, and settlement'' fails to include all costs 
related to a debit card issuer's authorization, clearance, and 
settlement activities. The commenters provided a list of categories of 
costs that should be included and recommended that these categories be 
reported as individual cost items, if they are not already. 
Specifically, the commenters recommended expanding the definition to 
include the following items: costs associated with receiving, 
responding to, and resolving customer inquiries with respect to debit 
card transactions; debit card transaction compliance costs; debit card 
transaction non-sufficient funds handing costs; card production and 
delivery costs; and a portion of costs related to establishing and 
maintaining debit account relationships.
    The Federal Reserve is keeping the set of data elements as 
proposed. Some of the proposed categories of costs (e.g., cardholder 
inquiry and non-sufficient funds handling costs) are already included 
in the survey, and all of the proposed categories are costs that the 
Federal Reserve determined would not be considered as part of the 
interchange fee standard in Regulation II. Including these additional 
cost categories and requiring issuers to report at a more detailed 
level would not significantly enhance the Federal Reserve's 
understanding of the relevant costs for Regulation II and would 
represent a significant burden to respondents.
    The commenters suggested that international fraud losses be 
included as part of reported fraud losses. The commenters argued that 
international fraud losses should be considered as part of the fraud 
losses associated with domestic transactions for U.S.-issued debit 
cards because the data compromise leading to the fraudulent debit card 
activity frequently occurs in the United States and generates 
fraudulent international transactions even if the cardholder never 
leaves the United States. The commenters likened this to the Federal 
Reserve allowing respondents to include costs from international 
transaction processing centers when reporting the costs associated with 
U.S.-issued debit cards. The commenters acknowledge that the Federal 
Reserve's authority to regulate debit card activity is restricted to 
the United States, but argued that this does not preclude the Federal 
Reserve from considering costs that occurred outside of the United 
States, if those costs could not have been incurred but for the 
issuance of a U.S. debit card.
    International fraud losses arise from international transactions, 
not domestic transactions, and are therefore outside the scope of 
Regulation II.\7\ As such, international fraud losses are analogous to 
ATM fraud losses, which are also not included. The commenters noted 
that costs incurred at international transaction processing centers are 
included, but that is because costs incurred at those processing 
centers are still associated with domestic transactions, whereas 
international fraud losses are not associated with domestic 
transactions. Thus, international fraud losses will not be reported.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ Regulation II applies only to electronic debit transactions 
that are initiated at a merchant located in the United States. See 
paragraph 235.2(h)-5 of the Official Commentary on Regulation II.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Question 6: Interchange fee revenue--The commenters suggested that 
the survey no longer ask respondents to provide information on 
interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks and, separately, 
interchange fees repaid as a result of returns. The commenters argued 
that payment networks providing interchange fee information do not 
readily provide a breakdown of chargebacks and returns, such that 
respondents are often forced to make arbitrary allocations. The 
commenters suggested that the survey instead ask respondents to provide 
a single value consisting of interchange fees repaid as a result of 
chargebacks or returns.
    The Federal Reserve added a line item in which respondents are 
asked to provide the value that commenters argue is readily available: 
interchange fees repaid as a result of chargebacks or returns. However, 
the Federal Reserve will continue to also ask respondents to provide a 
breakdown of this total number into interchange fees repaid as a result 
of chargebacks and, separately, interchange fees repaid as a result of 
returns. Respondents will, as always, have the option of entering ``not 
reported'' for those items.
General Instructions
    The Federal Reserve proposed to make the survey available in mid-
January, with a deadline in mid-April, thereby giving respondents a 
full 90 days in which to provide responses. The commenters commended 
the Federal Reserve for proposing a 90-day completion period, but 
suggested that the 90-day period begin in mid-February rather than in 
mid-January. The commenters noted that issuers will not have the 
required data to respond to the survey before mid-February; for 
instance, processors and networks often do not provide invoices to 
issuers until mid-January or later. Also, commenters argued that the 
necessary personnel are unavailable to begin completing the survey 
until other end-of-year closing activities are complete.
    The Federal Reserve is making the survey available at the beginning 
of February instead of mid-January, and due in early May rather than 
mid-April, in order to address the timing concerns raised by the 
commenters.
    The commenters also proposed three changes to the online reporting 
tool for the survey. First, commenters recommended that the online 
survey round entries to the nearest whole dollar. Second, commenters 
recommended that entries be right-justified. Third, commenters 
suggested that there be a way for respondents to consolidate all of 
entries, across all sections, into a single editable spreadsheet. The 
Federal Reserve is making all of these changes, subject to any 
unanticipated technical difficulties that may arise in the current 
interface.

Payment Card Network Survey (FR 3064b)

    The Federal Reserve received no comments on the Payment Card 
Network survey (FR 3064b).


[[Page 79487]]


    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 8, 
2016.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2016-27299 Filed 11-10-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P
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