Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 7459-7461 [2021-01880]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7459-7461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01880]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Departmental Offices; Department of the Treasury.

SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and 
other Federal agencies to comment on the revision of a currently 
approved information collection that is to be proposed for approval by 
the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of International 
Affairs of the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments 
concerning Treasury International Capital Form SLT, ``Aggregate 
Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value Changes of Long-Term 
Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents.'' The proposed expanded SLT 
data collection will be effective for reports beginning as of February 
2022. Until that effective date, the currently approved Form SLT and 
instructions will continue to be effective without change.

[[Page 7460]]


DATES: Written comments should be received on or before March 29, 2021 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Dwight Wolkow, International 
Portfolio Investment Data Systems, Department of the Treasury, Room 
1050, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220. In view of 
possible delays in mail delivery, please also notify Mr. Wolkow by 
email ([email protected]), or telephone (cell: 202-923-0518).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dwight Wolkow at 202-923-0518, Copies 
of the proposed forms and instructions are available on the Treasury's 
TIC Forms web page, https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/forms-slt.aspx. Requests for additional 
information should be directed to Mr. Wolkow.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Treasury International Capital Form SLT, ``Aggregate 
Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value Changes of Long-Term 
Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents.''
    OMB Control Number: 1505-0235.
    Abstract: Form SLT is part of the Treasury International Capital 
(TIC) reporting system, which is required by law (22 U.S.C. 286f; 22 
U.S.C. 3103; E.O. 10033; 31 CFR 128), and is designed to collect timely 
information on international portfolio capital movements. Form SLT is a 
monthly report on cross-border portfolio investment in long-term 
marketable securities by U.S. and foreign residents. This information 
is used by the U.S. Government in the formulation of international 
financial and monetary policies and for the preparation of the U.S. 
balance of payments accounts and the U.S. international investment 
position.
    Current Actions: (1) Justification: One important aim of this 
revision of the SLT data collection is to create, for the first time, a 
data collection of ``changes in fair value'' for the TIC securities 
data. Users of TIC data often compare the change in the holdings of 
long-term securities reported on the Form SLT, with the net purchases 
(purchases less sales) of long-term securities reported on the Form S. 
There is general agreement that the difference between the change in 
holding and the net purchases is due largely to the change in fair 
value of the securities, with less important factors making up the 
remainder of the difference. In mathematical terms, ``Change in 
holdings'' equals ``purchases less sales'' plus ``change in fair 
value'' plus ``other factors''. Different assessments between TIC data 
users often arise because each one has to create their own estimates of 
the ``change in fair value'' despite lacking detailed information on 
the holdings of, and transactions in, the many securities in the TIC 
system. Another aim of this revision of the SLT data collection is to 
obtain the three main data types (holdings, purchases and sales, and 
change in fair value) from the same source. The result should greatly 
improve the connections between the holdings data and the purchases and 
sales data and the ``change in fair value'' data. Lastly, while there 
is an increase in the reporting burden on custodians from the revision 
of the SLT, after 2022 it is expected that this increase in burden will 
be significantly offset by the decrease in burden when the Form S is 
discontinued. (2) No changes are made in the collection of holdings 
data; i.e., no changes are made in the columns and rows of the Form SLT 
or in the instructions regarding the holdings of long-term securities. 
In both the current and revised Form SLT there are eleven such columns 
covering three types of foreign securities and four types of U.S. 
securities, where for each type of U.S. security there is a column for 
foreign-official-held and a separate column for other-foreign-held. (3) 
To accomplish the aims in (1) above, both the Form SLT and the 
instructions are expanded to add the collection of data on the total 
change in the fair (market) value over the month for all securities 
held at the end of the month for each type of long-term security. In 
the Form SLT, one column is added for each of the 11 columns of 
holdings mentioned in (2) above; in the instructions, sections II.F.4 
and III.G are added. (4) To accomplish the aims in (1) above, both the 
Form SLT and the instructions are expanded to add the collection of 
data on U.S. purchases and U.S. sales of long-term securities by U.S.-
residents with foreign-residents; in the Form SLT, two columns are 
added for each of the 11 columns of holdings mentioned in (2) above; in 
the instructions, sections II.F.3, II.F.5, III.E and III.F are added. 
(5) Note that while purchases and sales in the revised SLT data 
collection appear to be generally the same as in the Form S data 
collection, there are three important differences: (i) Purchases and 
sales in the Form SLT are reported by the custodian or issuer or end-
investor that is also reporting the holdings, while in the Form S 
purchases and sales are reported by a trader (e.g., broker-dealer, 
prime broker, principal trading firm); (ii) the Form SLT data are 
recorded from the U.S. point of view, while the Form S data are 
recorded from the foreign point-of-view (e.g., Form SLT ``purchases'' 
are made by U.S. residents from foreign-residents, whereas Form S 
``purchases'' are made by foreign-residents from U.S.-residents); and 
(iii) purchases and sales of foreign securities in Form SLT are 
recorded opposite the foreign country that issued the security, whereas 
the Form S data are recorded opposite the country that purchased or 
sold the security. The Form SLT data are much more informative about 
U.S. claims on individual foreign countries. (6) The revised Form SLT 
no longer has Parts A and B, where previously a custodian reported data 
in part A and an issuer and/or end-investor reported data in part B. In 
the revised Form SLT the reporting firm must check one or both of the 
two boxes in the top-center section of the cover page to specify 
whether the data is from a custodian or from an issuer and/or end- 
investor or from both; see II.A in the instructions. So a firm that 
reports data for both a custodian and an issuer/end-user can combine 
both types of data into one report, and no longer needs to report them 
separately in part A and part B. (7) To allow time for respondents to 
revise their reporting systems, the revised form and instructions are 
scheduled to become effective for reports as of February 2022. (8) 
Until the revised form becomes effective in 2022, the currently-
approved Form SLT and instructions will continue to be in effect. (9) 
The name of the revised Form SLT on the cover page and elsewhere is 
expanded to ``Aggregate Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value 
Changes of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents.'' Added 
on the cover page under the name, is the phrase ``Effective for reports 
beginning as of February 2022''. (10) After the revised Form SLT 
becomes effective in February 2022, there will be a duplication of the 
Purchase and Sales data with the Form S for roughly six months. This 
period of overlap for comparison of the two sources of data will allow 
the agencies to make any necessary adjustments to the revised Form SLT 
and/or instructions. After the six month overlap period ends, and if 
the purchases and sales data from the revised Form SLT are acceptable, 
then the Form S will be discontinued. (11) Some other clarifications 
and format changes may be made to improve the instructions.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations. Form 
SLT (1505-0235).

[[Page 7461]]

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 438.
    Estimated Average Time per Respondent: Average 11.7 hours per 
respondent per filing. The estimated average burden per respondent 
varies widely, from about 21.6 hours per filing for a U.S.-resident 
custodian to about 9.3 hours for a U.S.-resident issuer or U.S.-
resident end-investor.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 61,722 hours, based on 12 
reporting periods per year.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of 
Management and Budget approval. All comments will become a matter of 
public record. The public is invited to submit written comments 
concerning: (a) Whether Form SLT is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Office, including whether the 
information will have practical uses; (b) the accuracy of the above 
estimate of the burdens; (c) ways to enhance the quality, usefulness 
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize 
the reporting and/or record keeping burdens on respondents, including 
the use of information technologies to automate the collection of the 
data; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs of operation, 
maintenance and purchase of services to provide information.

Dwight Wolkow,
Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Reporting 
Systems.
[FR Doc. 2021-01880 Filed 1-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-25-P