Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 54971-54973 [2021-21733]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 5, 2021 / Notices
providers must also submit an audited
financial statement or report for each
Year from 2019 through 2021, and a
signed certification of truthfulness,
accuracy, and completeness. The
instructions, template, and certification
form will simplify compliance with, and
reduce the burden of, this data
collection. These proposed documents
will be submitted for approval by the
Office of Management and Budget as
FCC Form 2302(a) and FCC Form
2302(b).
On September 22, 2021, WCB/OEA
issued a Public Notice seeking comment
on all aspects of the proposed
collection, including the draft
instructions, template, and certification
form. Notice of this document is being
published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register. WCB/OEA will
consider comments submitted in
response to both of these Federal
Register documents in finalizing this
information collection prior to
submitting the documents to the Office
of Management and Budget.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–21782 Filed 10–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE
CORPORATION
FDIC Advisory Committee on
Community Banking; Notice of Meeting
Wednesday, November 3, 2021,
from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: To view the live event, visit
https://fdic.windrosemedia.com. To view
the recording, visit https://
fdic.windrosemedia.com/index.php?
category=Community+Banking+
Advisory+Committee. If you require a
reasonable accommodation to
participate, please contact
DisabilityProgram@fdic.gov or call 703–
562–2096 to make necessary
arrangements.
DATES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for further information
concerning the meeting may be directed
to Debra A. Decker, Committee
Management Officer of the FDIC, at
(202) 898–8748.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Agenda: The agenda will include a
discussion of current issues affecting
community banking. The agenda is
subject to change. Any changes to the
agenda will be announced at the
beginning of the meeting.
Type of Meeting: This meeting of the
Advisory Committee on Community
Banking will be Webcast live via the
internet https://fdic.windrosemedia.com.
For optimal viewing, a high-speed
internet connection is recommended.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Dated at Washington, DC, on September
30, 2021.
James P. Sheesley,
Assistant Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–21673 Filed 10–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6714–01–P
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC).
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, notice
is hereby given of a meeting of the FDIC
Advisory Committee on Community
Banking. The Advisory Committee will
provide advice and recommendations
on a broad range of policy issues that
have particular impact on small
community banks throughout the
United States and the local communities
they serve. The meeting is open to the
public. Out of an abundance of caution
related to current and potential
coronavirus developments, the public’s
means to observe this meeting of the
Advisory Committee on Community
Banking will be via a Webcast live on
the internet. In addition, the meeting
will be recorded and subsequently made
available on-demand approximately two
weeks after the event. The web
addresses for viewing the live event and
the recording are provided below in the
ADDRESSES paragraph.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:56 Oct 04, 2021
Jkt 256001
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE
AGENCY
[No. 2021–N–10]
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Federal Housing Finance
Agency.
ACTION: 30-Day notice of submission of
information collection for approval from
Office of Management and Budget.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA
or the Agency) is seeking public
comments concerning an information
collection known as ‘‘Minority and
Women Inclusion,’’ which has been
assigned control number 2590–0014 by
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB). FHFA intends to submit the
information collection to OMB for
review and approval of a three-year
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
54971
extension of the control number, which
is due to expire on October 31, 2021.
DATES: Interested persons may submit
comments on or before November 4,
2021.
Submit comments to the
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs of the Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the
Federal Housing Finance Agency,
Washington, DC 20503, Fax: (202) 395–
3047, Email: OIRA_submission@
omb.eop.gov. Please also submit
comments to FHFA, identified by
‘‘Proposed Collection; Comment
Request: ‘‘Minority and Women
Inclusion, (No. 2021–N–10)’’ by any of
the following methods:
• Agency Website: www.fhfa.gov/
open-for-comment-or-input.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. If
you submit your comment to the
Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also
send it by email to FHFA at
RegComments@fhfa.gov to ensure
timely receipt by the Agency.
• Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal
Housing Finance Agency, 400 Seventh
Street SW, Washington, DC 20219,
ATTENTION: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request: ‘‘Minority and
Women Inclusion, (No. 2021–N–10)’’.
We will post all public comments we
receive without change, including any
personal information you provide, such
as your name and address, email
address, and telephone number, on the
FHFA website at https://www.fhfa.gov. In
addition, copies of all comments
received will be available for
examination by the public through the
electronic comment docket for this PRA
Notice also located on the FHFA
website.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Felicia Bland, Supervisory Examination
Specialist, Office of Minority and
Women Inclusion, by email at
Felicia.Bland@fhfa.gov or by telephone
at (202) 365–7471; or Angela
Supervielle, Counsel,
Angela.Supervielle@fhfa.gov, (202) 649–
3973 (these are not toll-free numbers);
Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400
Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC
20219. The Telecommunications Device
for the Deaf is (800) 877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FHFA is
seeking comments on its collection of
information regarding the minority and
gender classification of individuals
serving on the boards of directors of the
Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) and
of the Office of Finance under FHFA’s
regulations on Minority and Women
E:\FR\FM\05OCN1.SGM
05OCN1
54972
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 5, 2021 / Notices
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Inclusion (MWI), codified at 12 CFR
part 1223, which it will be submitting
for renewal of the OMB control number
under the PRA.
A. Need for and Use of the Information
Collection
The Federal Home Loan Bank System
consists of eleven regional Banks and
the Office of Finance, which issues and
services the Banks’ debt securities. The
Banks are wholesale financial
institutions, organized under authority
of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act
(Bank Act) to serve the public interest
by enhancing the availability of
residential housing finance and
community lending credit through their
member institutions and, to a limited
extent, through certain eligible nonmember entities. Each Bank is
structured as a regional cooperative that
is owned and controlled by member
financial institutions located within its
district, which are also its primary
customers. The Bank Act vests the
management of each Bank in a board of
directors that consists of two types of
directors: (1) Member directors, who are
drawn from the officers and directors of
member institutions located in the
Bank’s district and who are elected to
represent members in a particular state
in that district; and (2) independent
directors, who are unaffiliated with any
of the Bank’s member institutions, but
who reside in the Bank’s district and are
elected on an at-large basis.1 The Office
of Finance is also governed by a board
of directors, which consists of the
presidents of the eleven Banks and five
independent directors.2
Section 1319A of the Federal Housing
Enterprises Financial Safety and
Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and
Soundness Act) requires that each of the
Banks establish an Office of Minority
and Women Inclusion (OMWI) to be
responsible for all matters relating to
diversity in its management,
employment, and business activities, in
accordance with requirements
established by FHFA.3 Section 1319A
also requires that each Bank implement
standards and procedures to ensure, to
the maximum extent possible, the
inclusion and utilization of women and
minorities ‘‘at all levels’’ of its business
and activities, and submit an annual
report to FHFA detailing actions taken
to achieve those goals.4
FHFA’s MWI regulations implement
those statutory requirements and also
extend the requirements to the Office of
Finance. The MWI regulations require
generally that each Bank and the Office
of Finance ‘‘develop, implement, and
maintain policies and procedures to
ensure, to the maximum extent possible
in balance with financially safe and
sound business practices, the inclusion
and utilization of minorities, women,
individuals with disabilities, and
minority-, women-, and disabled-owned
businesses in all business and activities
and at all levels of the regulated entity,
including in management, employment,
procurement, insurance, and all types of
contracts.’’ 5 In recognition of the fact
that each Bank is required by statute to
promote diversity and inclusion ‘‘at all
levels’’ of its business and activities, the
MWI regulations further require that the
Banks’ policies and procedures (as well
as those of the Office of Finance)
‘‘[e]ncourage the consideration of
diversity in nominating or soliciting
nominees for positions on boards of
directors and engage in recruiting and
outreach directed at encouraging
individuals who are minorities, women
and individuals with disabilities to seek
or apply for employment with the
regulated entity.’’ 6
In conformity with the statutory
requirements, FHFA’s MWI regulations
require that each Bank and the Office of
Finance submit to FHFA an annual
report describing, among other things,
its efforts to promote diversity at all
levels of management and employment,
and the results of those efforts.7 In order
to provide a quantitative basis upon
which to assess the results of those
efforts, FHFA’s MWI regulations require
that each Bank and the Office of Finance
set forth in their respective annual
reports the demographic data reported
on the EEO–1 form, which they are
required to file annually with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC).8 The EEO–1 form requires that
each respondent provide race, ethnicity
and gender information for its
employees, broken down into various
job categories. Because the EEO–1 form
does not require that a respondent
provide information on board directors,
FHFA cannot use the EEO–1 data to
assess the effectiveness of the Federal
Home Loan Bank System’s efforts to
‘‘encourage the consideration of
diversity in nominating or soliciting
nominees for positions on boards of
directors.’’
5 See
12 CFR 1223.21(b).
12 CFR 1223.21(b)(7).
7 See 12 CFR 1223.22(a).
8 See 12 CFR 1223.23(b)(1). As required by 29
CFR 1602.7, each Bank and the Office of Finance
annually files an EEO–1 form with the EEOC.
6 See
1 See
12 U.S.C. 1427(a)(1), (b), (d).
12 CFR 1273.7(a).
3 See 12 U.S.C. 4520(a).
4 See 12 U.S.C. 4520(b), (d).
2 See
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:56 Oct 04, 2021
Jkt 256001
PO 00000
Frm 00057
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Therefore, in order to enable FHFA to
assess those efforts, the MWI regulations
separately require that the annual
reports set forth ‘‘[d]ata showing for the
reporting year by minority and gender
classification, the number of individuals
on the board of directors of each Bank
and the Office of Finance,’’ using the
same racial and ethnic classifications
that are used on the EEO–1 form (which
comply with OMB’s ‘‘Statistical Policy
Directive No. 15, Race and Ethnic
Standards for Federal Statistics and
Administrative Reporting’’).9 The MWI
regulations require that each Bank and
the Office of Finance collect that data
‘‘through an information collection
requesting each director’s voluntary
self-identification of his or her minority
and gender classification without
personally identifiable information.’’
FHFA uses the information collected
under this control number to assess the
effectiveness of the policies and
procedures that each Bank and the
Office of Finance is required to
implement to promote diversity in all of
its business and activities ‘‘at all levels’’
and, specifically, to encourage diversity
in the nomination and solicitation of
nominees for members of its boards of
directors. FHFA also uses the
information to establish a baseline to
analyze future trends related to the
diversity of the boards of directors of the
Banks and the Office of Finance and to
assess the effectiveness of the strategies
developed by the Banks and the Office
of Finance for promoting, developing,
and retaining diverse board talent.
B. Burden Estimate
FHFA estimates the total annual hour
burden imposed upon respondents by
this information collection to be 20.5
hours. This is based on estimates that
205 Bank and Office of Finance
Directors will respond annually, with
each response taking an average of 0.1
hours (6 minutes) (205 respondents ×
0.1 hours = 20.5 hours).
C. Comments Request
In accordance with the requirements
of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA published an
initial notice and request for public
comments regarding this information
collection in the Federal Register on
July 17, 2021.10 The 60-day comment
period closed on July 16, 2018. FHFA
received no comments.
FHFA requests written comments on
the following: (1) Whether the collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of FHFA functions,
including whether the information has
9 See
12 CFR 1223.23(b)(10)(i).
86 FR 37330 (July 15, 2021).
10 See
E:\FR\FM\05OCN1.SGM
05OCN1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 5, 2021 / Notices
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of
FHFA’s estimate of the burden of the
collection of information; (3) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information collected; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Kevin Smith,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing
Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021–21733 Filed 10–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070–01–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: The Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (Board) is
adopting a proposal to extend for three
years, without revision, the Policy
Impact Survey (FR 3075; OMB No.
7100–0362).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Federal Reserve Board Clearance
Officer—Nuha Elmaghrabi—Office of
the Chief Data Officer, Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, DC 20551, (202)
452–3829.
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Desk Officer 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.
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. Boardapproved collections of information are
incorporated into the official OMB
inventory of currently approved
collections of information. The OMB
inventory, as well as copies of the PRA
Submission, supporting statements, and
approved collection of information
instrument(s) are available at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
These documents are also available on
the Federal Reserve Board’s public
website at https://
www.federalreserve.gov/apps/
reportforms/review.aspx or may be
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:56 Oct 04, 2021
Jkt 256001
requested from the agency clearance
officer, whose name appears above.
Final Approval Under OMB Delegated
Authority of the Extension for Three
Years, Without Revision, of the
Following Information Collection
Report title: Policy Impact Survey.
Agency form number: FR 3075.
OMB control number: 7100–0362.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondents: Bank holding
companies, savings and loan holding
companies, any nonbank financial
company that the Financial Stability
Oversight Council has determined
should be supervised by the Board, and
the combined domestic operations of
foreign banking organizations.
Estimated number of respondents: 14.
Estimated average hours per response:
700.
Estimated annual burden hours:
68,600.
General description of report: This
survey collects information from certain
types of institutions regulated by the
Board in order to assess the effects of
proposed, pending, or recently adopted
policy changes at the domestic and
international levels. The Board uses the
survey to collect information used for
certain quantitative impact studies
(QISs) 1 sponsored by financial stability
bodies such as the Basel Committee on
Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the
Financial Stability Board. Recent
collections have included the Basel III
monitoring exercise, which monitors the
global impact of the Basel III
framework,2 the global systemically
important bank (G–SIB) exercise, which
assesses firms’ systemic risk profiles,3
and a survey of the domestic systemic
risk footprint of large foreign banking
organizations. Since the collected data
may change from survey to survey, there
is no fixed reporting form.
Legal authorization and
confidentiality: Information collected
under the FR 3075 is authorized by the
Board’s reporting authorities, which are
located in section 5(c) of the Bank
Holding Company Act 4 for bank
holding companies and their
subsidiaries, section 10(b)(2) of the
Home Owners’ Loan Act 5 for savings
and loan holding companies and their
1 A QIS is a survey of financial institutions that
allows supervisors to assess the quantitative impact
of policy changes.
2 For more information on the Basel III
monitoring exercise, including recent examples of
QISs sponsored by BCBS and conducted by the
Board, see www.bis.org/bcbs/qis/.
3 For more information on the G–SIB exercise, see
www.bis.org/bcbs/gsib/.
4 12 U.S.C. 1844(c).
5 12 U.S.C. 1467a(b)(2).
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
54973
subsidiaries, section 161(a) of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act 6 for nonbank financial
companies supervised by the Board,
section 8(a) of the International Banking
Act and section 5(c) of the Bank Holding
Company Act 7 for the combined
domestic operations of certain foreign
banking organizations, section 9 of the
Federal Reserve Act 8 for state member
banks, sections 25 and 25A of the
Federal Reserve Act 9 for Edge and
agreement corporations, and section
7(c)(2) of the International Banking Act
and section 7(a) of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Act 10 for U.S. branches and
agencies of foreign banks. Response to
the FR 3075 is voluntary.
The questions asked on each survey
will vary. The Board’s ability to keep
confidential responses to the FR 3075
must therefore be determined on a caseby-case basis. To the extent responses
include nonpublic commercial or
financial information, which is both
customarily and actually treated as
private by the respondent, such
information may be kept confidential
pursuant to exemption 4 of the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA).11 Some
survey responses may also contain
information contained in or related to
an examination of a financial
institution, which may be kept
confidential under exemption 8 of the
FOIA.12 To the extent a respondent
submits personal, medical, or similar
files, the disclosure of which would
constitute an unwarranted invasion of
privacy, the respondent may request
confidential treatment pursuant to
exemption 6 of the FOIA.13
Aggregate survey information from
the FR 3075 is not considered
confidential and may be cited in
published material such as Board
studies or working papers, proposed or
final rules, professional journals, the
Federal Reserve Bulletin, testimony and
reports to the Congress, or other
vehicles.
Current actions: On May 26, 2021, the
Board published a notice in the Federal
Register (86 FR 28345) requesting
public comment for 60 days on the
extension, without revision, of the
Policy Impact Survey, FR 3075. The
comment period for this notice expired
on July 26, 2021. The Board did not
receive any comments.
6 12
U.S.C. 5361(a).
U.S.C. 3106(a) and 1844(c).
8 12 U.S.C. 324.
9 12 U.S.C. 602 and 625.
10 12 U.S.C. 3105(c)(2) and 1817(a).
11 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).
12 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8).
13 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6).
7 12
E:\FR\FM\05OCN1.SGM
05OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54971-54973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21733]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY
[No. 2021-N-10]
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.
ACTION: 30-Day notice of submission of information collection for
approval from Office of Management and Budget.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the
Agency) is seeking public comments concerning an information collection
known as ``Minority and Women Inclusion,'' which has been assigned
control number 2590-0014 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and
approval of a three-year extension of the control number, which is due
to expire on October 31, 2021.
DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before November 4,
2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer
for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC 20503, Fax:
(202) 395-3047, Email: [email protected]. Please also submit
comments to FHFA, identified by ``Proposed Collection; Comment Request:
``Minority and Women Inclusion, (No. 2021-N-10)'' by any of the
following methods:
Agency Website: www.fhfa.gov/open-for-comment-or-input.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your
comment to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by email
to FHFA at [email protected] to ensure timely receipt by the Agency.
Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400
Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20219, ATTENTION: Proposed
Collection; Comment Request: ``Minority and Women Inclusion, (No. 2021-
N-10)''.
We will post all public comments we receive without change,
including any personal information you provide, such as your name and
address, email address, and telephone number, on the FHFA website at
https://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will
be available for examination by the public through the electronic
comment docket for this PRA Notice also located on the FHFA website.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Felicia Bland, Supervisory Examination
Specialist, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, by email at
[email protected] or by telephone at (202) 365-7471; or Angela
Supervielle, Counsel, [email protected], (202) 649-3973
(these are not toll-free numbers); Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400
Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20219. The Telecommunications Device
for the Deaf is (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FHFA is seeking comments on its collection
of information regarding the minority and gender classification of
individuals serving on the boards of directors of the Federal Home Loan
Banks (Banks) and of the Office of Finance under FHFA's regulations on
Minority and Women
[[Page 54972]]
Inclusion (MWI), codified at 12 CFR part 1223, which it will be
submitting for renewal of the OMB control number under the PRA.
A. Need for and Use of the Information Collection
The Federal Home Loan Bank System consists of eleven regional Banks
and the Office of Finance, which issues and services the Banks' debt
securities. The Banks are wholesale financial institutions, organized
under authority of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to serve
the public interest by enhancing the availability of residential
housing finance and community lending credit through their member
institutions and, to a limited extent, through certain eligible non-
member entities. Each Bank is structured as a regional cooperative that
is owned and controlled by member financial institutions located within
its district, which are also its primary customers. The Bank Act vests
the management of each Bank in a board of directors that consists of
two types of directors: (1) Member directors, who are drawn from the
officers and directors of member institutions located in the Bank's
district and who are elected to represent members in a particular state
in that district; and (2) independent directors, who are unaffiliated
with any of the Bank's member institutions, but who reside in the
Bank's district and are elected on an at-large basis.\1\ The Office of
Finance is also governed by a board of directors, which consists of the
presidents of the eleven Banks and five independent directors.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1427(a)(1), (b), (d).
\2\ See 12 CFR 1273.7(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 1319A of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety
and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) requires that each
of the Banks establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI)
to be responsible for all matters relating to diversity in its
management, employment, and business activities, in accordance with
requirements established by FHFA.\3\ Section 1319A also requires that
each Bank implement standards and procedures to ensure, to the maximum
extent possible, the inclusion and utilization of women and minorities
``at all levels'' of its business and activities, and submit an annual
report to FHFA detailing actions taken to achieve those goals.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See 12 U.S.C. 4520(a).
\4\ See 12 U.S.C. 4520(b), (d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FHFA's MWI regulations implement those statutory requirements and
also extend the requirements to the Office of Finance. The MWI
regulations require generally that each Bank and the Office of Finance
``develop, implement, and maintain policies and procedures to ensure,
to the maximum extent possible in balance with financially safe and
sound business practices, the inclusion and utilization of minorities,
women, individuals with disabilities, and minority-, women-, and
disabled-owned businesses in all business and activities and at all
levels of the regulated entity, including in management, employment,
procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts.'' \5\ In
recognition of the fact that each Bank is required by statute to
promote diversity and inclusion ``at all levels'' of its business and
activities, the MWI regulations further require that the Banks'
policies and procedures (as well as those of the Office of Finance)
``[e]ncourage the consideration of diversity in nominating or
soliciting nominees for positions on boards of directors and engage in
recruiting and outreach directed at encouraging individuals who are
minorities, women and individuals with disabilities to seek or apply
for employment with the regulated entity.'' \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See 12 CFR 1223.21(b).
\6\ See 12 CFR 1223.21(b)(7).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In conformity with the statutory requirements, FHFA's MWI
regulations require that each Bank and the Office of Finance submit to
FHFA an annual report describing, among other things, its efforts to
promote diversity at all levels of management and employment, and the
results of those efforts.\7\ In order to provide a quantitative basis
upon which to assess the results of those efforts, FHFA's MWI
regulations require that each Bank and the Office of Finance set forth
in their respective annual reports the demographic data reported on the
EEO-1 form, which they are required to file annually with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).\8\ The EEO-1 form requires
that each respondent provide race, ethnicity and gender information for
its employees, broken down into various job categories. Because the
EEO-1 form does not require that a respondent provide information on
board directors, FHFA cannot use the EEO-1 data to assess the
effectiveness of the Federal Home Loan Bank System's efforts to
``encourage the consideration of diversity in nominating or soliciting
nominees for positions on boards of directors.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ See 12 CFR 1223.22(a).
\8\ See 12 CFR 1223.23(b)(1). As required by 29 CFR 1602.7, each
Bank and the Office of Finance annually files an EEO-1 form with the
EEOC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Therefore, in order to enable FHFA to assess those efforts, the MWI
regulations separately require that the annual reports set forth
``[d]ata showing for the reporting year by minority and gender
classification, the number of individuals on the board of directors of
each Bank and the Office of Finance,'' using the same racial and ethnic
classifications that are used on the EEO-1 form (which comply with
OMB's ``Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, Race and Ethnic Standards
for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting'').\9\ The MWI
regulations require that each Bank and the Office of Finance collect
that data ``through an information collection requesting each
director's voluntary self-identification of his or her minority and
gender classification without personally identifiable information.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See 12 CFR 1223.23(b)(10)(i).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FHFA uses the information collected under this control number to
assess the effectiveness of the policies and procedures that each Bank
and the Office of Finance is required to implement to promote diversity
in all of its business and activities ``at all levels'' and,
specifically, to encourage diversity in the nomination and solicitation
of nominees for members of its boards of directors. FHFA also uses the
information to establish a baseline to analyze future trends related to
the diversity of the boards of directors of the Banks and the Office of
Finance and to assess the effectiveness of the strategies developed by
the Banks and the Office of Finance for promoting, developing, and
retaining diverse board talent.
B. Burden Estimate
FHFA estimates the total annual hour burden imposed upon
respondents by this information collection to be 20.5 hours. This is
based on estimates that 205 Bank and Office of Finance Directors will
respond annually, with each response taking an average of 0.1 hours (6
minutes) (205 respondents x 0.1 hours = 20.5 hours).
C. Comments Request
In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA
published an initial notice and request for public comments regarding
this information collection in the Federal Register on July 17,
2021.\10\ The 60-day comment period closed on July 16, 2018. FHFA
received no comments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See 86 FR 37330 (July 15, 2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FHFA requests written comments on the following: (1) Whether the
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
FHFA functions, including whether the information has
[[Page 54973]]
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FHFA's estimate of the burden of
the collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
forms of information technology.
Kevin Smith,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021-21733 Filed 10-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P
