Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request, 54975-54977 [2021-21595]

Agencies

• FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54975-54977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21595]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) 
invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, 
the Weekly Report of Selected Assets and Liabilities of Domestically 
Chartered Commercial Banks and U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign 
Banks (FR 2644; OMB No. 7100-0075).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 6, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 2644, by any of 
the following methods:
     Agency Website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
     Email: [email protected]. Include the OMB 
number or FR number in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
     Mail: Ann E. Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available from the Board's website at 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as 
submitted, unless modified for technical reasons or to remove 
personally identifiable information at the commenter's request. 
Accordingly, comments will not be edited to remove any confidential 
business information, identifying information, or contact information. 
Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 
146, 1709 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, between 9:00 a.m. 
and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. For security reasons, the Board requires 
that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by 
calling (202) 452-3684. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to 
present valid government-issued photo identification and to submit to 
security screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Desk Officer for the Federal 
Reserve Board, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to (202) 395-6974.

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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to approve and assign 
OMB control numbers to collections of information conducted or 
sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the 
Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In 
determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board 
will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.
    During the comment period for this proposal, a copy of the proposed 
PRA OMB submission, including the draft reporting form and 
instructions, supporting statement, and other documentation, will be 
made available on the Board's public website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested 
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears above. Final 
versions of these documents will be made available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, if approved.

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposal

    The Board invites public comment on the following information 
collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the 
OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Board's functions, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Board's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and
    e. Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
    At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations 
received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Board 
should modify the proposal.

Proposal Under OMB Delegated Authority To Extend for Three Years, With 
Revision, the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Weekly Report of Selected Assets and Liabilities of 
Domestically Chartered Commercial Banks and U.S. Branches and Agencies 
of Foreign Banks.
    Agency form number: FR 2644.
    OMB control number: 7100-0075.
    Frequency: Weekly.
    Respondents: Domestically chartered commercial banks and U.S. 
branches and agencies of foreign banks.
    Estimated number of respondents: 850.
    Estimated average hours per response: 2.19.
    Estimated annual burden hours: 96,798.
    General description of report: The FR 2644 is a balance sheet 
report that is collected as of each Wednesday from an authorized 
stratified sample of 875 domestically chartered commercial banks and 
U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. The FR 2644 is the only 
source of high-frequency data used in the analysis of current banking 
developments. The FR 2644 collects sample data that are used to 
estimate universe levels for the entire commercial banking sector in 
conjunction with data from the quarterly commercial bank Consolidated 
Reports of Condition and Income (FFIEC 031, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 051; 
OMB No. 7100-0036) and the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. 
Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002;

[[Page 54976]]

OMB No. 7100-0032) (Call Reports). Data from the FR 2644 and the Call 
Reports are utilized in construction of weekly estimates of U.S. bank 
credit, balance sheet data for the U.S. commercial banking sector, and 
sources and uses of banks' funds, and to analyze current banking 
developments, including the monitoring of broad credit and funding 
conditions. The Board publishes the data in aggregate form in the 
weekly H.8 statistical release, Assets and Liabilities of Commercial 
Banks in the United States, which is followed closely by other 
government agencies, the banking industry, financial press, and other 
users.\1\ The H.8 release provides a balance sheet for the commercial 
banking industry as a whole as well as data disaggregated by its large 
domestic, small domestic and foreign-related bank components.
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    \1\ The H.8 release is available on the Board's website, https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h8/current/default.htm.
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    Proposed revisions: The Board proposes four revisions to simplify 
and reduce the overall reporting burden associated with the FR 2644 
report. The proposed FR 2644 reporting form would consist of 29 
balance-sheet items and no memoranda items, an overall reduction of two 
data items, and be collected from fewer respondents.

Proposed Elimination of Two Data Items

    Data item M.1, Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale 
securities, has been included on the FR 2644 reporting form since July 
1, 2009, when this report was first used to collect data for all bank 
groups (large, small, and foreign-related). Before that, this item 
appeared on the FR 2416 reporting form (Weekly Report of Assets and 
Liabilities for Large Banks) beginning October 2, 1996. Data item M.1 
was added to the FR2416 form, and included in the subsequent single 
FR2644 form, to better understand how changing interest rates and 
market valuations affect the fair value of banks' available-for-sale 
securities.
    Data item M.1.a, Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-
sale securities, U.S. Treasury and U.S. government agency obligations, 
mortgage-backed securities, was added to the FR2644 as of January 7, 
2015. Since M.1.a was the largest component of M.1, its addition 
enabled staff to split the residual (M.1 less M.1.a) into estimates of 
the effects on the fair value of the remaining two categories of 
securities included on the FR2644 reporting form.
    The recommendation to discontinue the collection of these two data 
items is based on the following two factors:
    (1) There is insufficient additional information available from the 
weekly data relative to the corresponding Call Report data. The 
reporting instructions for these items state that banks that do not 
revalue daily or weekly should report the most recent value available. 
In reviewing the weekly data, the Board's experience has been that many 
banks, including some large banks, revalue only quarterly, when filing 
Call Reports. For these banks, the weekly data add no more value than 
the corresponding Call Report data.
    (2) Banks that do not report item M.1 on the Call Report are being 
asked to report the item weekly on the FR 2644. Beginning March 31, 
2015, only banks that use the accumulated other comprehensive income 
(AOCI) opt-out election on Call Report Schedule RC-R, Regulatory 
Capital Components and Ratios, report net unrealized gains (losses) on 
the Call Reports. (Banks that do not report these values on the Call 
Reports, which includes all advanced approaches institutions, include 
net unrealized gains (losses) in the AOCI component.) In addition, item 
M.1.a, net unrealized gains (losses) related to mortgage-backed 
securities, was never included on the Call Reports. The Board generally 
seeks to collect data items on the FR 2644 that are comparable, if not 
identical, to items appearing on the Call Reports. This standard 
simplifies reporting for weekly respondents, allows the Board to 
perform interseries edits of the FR 2644 data with corresponding Call 
Report data, and enables estimation, based on Call Report data, of the 
universe of banks. Currently, data items M.1 and M.1.a do not meet this 
standard.

Proposed Definitional Changes for FFIEC 002 Filers

    Currently, all respondents on the FR 2644 panel are instructed to 
include loans to individuals in one of the three consumer loan 
categories on the reporting form. However, for FFIEC 002 filers (U.S. 
agencies and branches of foreign banks), this instruction does not 
match the reporting of these data on their Call Report. U.S. branches 
and agencies of foreign banks are instructed to combine any consumer 
loans they might hold with other, non-segregated loans on the FFIEC 
002,\2\ unlike their domestically chartered counterparts who have 
comparable consumer loan items on their Call Reports. Thus, these FFIEC 
002 reporters have been asked to report weekly data on the FR 2644 that 
are not required on their quarterly Call Reports. For respondents to 
the FR 2644 that file the FFIEC 002, the Board proposes to revise the 
instructions for the FR 2644 to match those of the FFIEC 002--to 
instruct FFIEC 002 filers to include consumer loans in all other loans 
and leases on the FR 2644.
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    \2\ Prior to July 2009, foreign-related institutions filed the 
FR 2069 report, which was tailored to that bank group and did not 
include consumer loan items; on that report, consumer loans were 
included in ``all other loans.''
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    Likewise, all respondents to the FR 2644 panel report loans and 
leases gross of any allowances for loan and lease losses, with a 
separate entry for these allowances. However, the FFIEC 002 instructs 
U.S. agencies and branches of foreign banks to net loans and leases of 
any specific reserves. The Board recommends amending the FR 2644 
instructions for these reporters to match those for the FFIEC 002. 
Thus, U.S. agencies and branches of foreign banks would net any 
specific reserves from the loan items and leave the allowance for loan 
and lease losses (item 4.g) blank.
    The reasons for these proposed changes are the same as those listed 
in bullet item 2 above: Simplification of reporting, performance of 
interseries edits, and ability to create universe estimates. Both 
changes in reporting instruction will only affect a handful of U.S. 
branches and agencies of foreign banks, as most of these institutions 
do not issue consumer loans or establish accounts for loan and lease 
losses.

Proposed Definitional Change for Small Domestically Chartered 
Commercial Banks

    The FR 2644 reporting form captures loans to, and acceptances of, 
commercial banks in the U.S. (item 4.b) to isolate interbank lending 
which is not considered a true measure of bank credit and their 
willingness to lend. However, the smallest respondents (those FFIEC 041 
filers with less than $300 million in assets and all FFIEC 051 filers) 
only report loans to depository institutions and acceptances of other 
banks on their respective Call Reports and therefore, their data for 
this item frequently fails comparisons to Call Report data (interseries 
edits). Therefore, the Board proposes to revise the reporting 
instructions for these two bank groups--FFIEC 041 filers with less than 
$300 million in assets and FFIEC 051 filers would report loans to 
depository institutions--to minimize reporting discrepancies and to 
align reporting with the Call Reports.

Reduce the Authorized Sample

    The FR 2644 panel has an authorized maximum respondent panel size 
of 875 domestically chartered commercial banks and U.S. branches and 
agencies of foreign banks. Currently, the panel

[[Page 54977]]

consists of 792 total reporters--727 domestically chartered banks and 
65 foreign-related institutions \3\--covering all 12 Federal Reserve 
Districts. The panel accounts for about 89 percent of the total assets 
of U.S. commercial banks, as well as a high level of coverage for most 
reported items. While the number of panel respondents tends to run 
below the authorized size due to mergers among reporters and loss of 
respondents due to the voluntary nature of the collection, the current 
number of respondents is unusually low relative to the authorized size 
because the recruitment of new respondents was temporarily paused with 
the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
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    \3\ As of March 31, 2021. Two branches in the Second District 
file combined reports on the FR 2644.
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    Quarterly Call Reports are used to benchmark the universe estimates 
of small domestically chartered banks \4\ and foreign-related 
institutions. Average revisions to the estimates of small banks over 
the last 16 benchmarks--from March 2017 to December 2020--were somewhat 
larger than those over the previous renewal cycle, while those for the 
foreign-related institutions shrank considerably. While the average 
revisions are not overly large, they are still significant. Even so, 
the Board proposes reducing the authorized panel size from 875 to 850 
in light of the continuing consolidation in the commercial bank 
universe as well as the ongoing difficulty in attracting and 
maintaining respondents due to the voluntary nature of this collection.
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    \4\ Small domestic banks are those not in the top 25 in asset 
size as of each quarterly Call Report.
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    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The FR 2644 is authorized 
by section 2A of the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), which states that the 
Board ``shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit 
aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to 
increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum 
employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates'' (12 
U.S.C. 225a.) and by section 11(a)(2) of the FRA, which authorizes the 
Board to require a depository institution to provide ``reports of its 
liabilities and assets as the Board may determine to be necessary or 
desirable to enable the Board to discharge its responsibility to 
monitor and control monetary and credit aggregates'' (12 U.S.C. 
248(a)(2)). Section 7(c)(2) of the International Banking Act of 1978 
makes U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks subject to the 
reporting requirements of section 11(a)(2) of the FRA (12 U.S.C. 
3105(c)(2)). The FR 2644 is voluntary, although the Board would have 
the authority to require depository institutions to file these reports.
    Although the Board releases aggregate data derived from the FR 2644 
in the weekly H.8 Statistical Release, individual bank information 
provided by each respondent is treated as confidential because that 
information constitutes nonpublic commercial or financial information, 
which is both customarily and actually treated as private by the 
respondent, and thus may be kept confidential by the Board pursuant to 
exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 29, 
2021.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2021-21595 Filed 10-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P