Information Request on Potential Parameters of Export-Import Bank Financing for Domestic Projects, 72967-72968 [2021-27835]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 244 / Thursday, December 23, 2021 / Notices
America’s Supply Chains’’ which
recommended that
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Information Request on Potential
Parameters of Export-Import Bank
Financing for Domestic Projects
Export-Import Bank of the
United States.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Export-Import Bank of
the United States (EXIM) is soliciting
comments and feedback concerning a
recommendation resulting from
Executive Order 14017 on America’s
Supply Chains. The report ‘‘Building
resilient supply chains, revitalizing
American manufacturing, and fostering
broad-based growth’’, recommends that
EXIM consider developing an option to
provide financing in support of the
establishment and/or expansion of U.S.
manufacturing facilities and
infrastructure projects in the United
States that would facilitate U.S. exports.
EXIM requests:
(1) Comments on the usefulness of
such an option and need for EXIM to
extend its medium and long-term loans
and guarantees to domestic projects as
described in the E.O. 14017 Report
recommendation; and
(2) Feedback on the hypothetical
parameters of such an EXIM program as
described in the ‘‘supplementary
information’’ below.
DATES: Consideration will be given to all
written comments received by January
20, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may
submit comments on this transaction
electronically on www.regulations.gov.
To submit a comment, enter
‘‘Information Request on Potential
Parameters of Export-Import Bank
Financing for Domestic Projects’’ under
the heading ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ and
select Search. Follow the instructions
provided at the Submit a Comment
screen. Please include your name,
company name (if any) and
‘‘Information Request on Potential
Parameters of Export-Import Bank
Financing for Domestic Projects’’ on any
attached document. Comments can also
be sent by email or mail to Scott
Condren, Scott.Condren@exim.gov,
Export-Import Bank of the United
States, 811 Vermont Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20571.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Condren by telephone at 202–565–
3777 or by email at Scott.Condren@
exim.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
Background
On June 8th, 2021, the White House
released a report ‘‘Strengthening
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:50 Dec 22, 2021
Jkt 256001
EXIM develop a proposal for Board
consideration regarding whether and how to
implement a new Domestic Financing
Program to support the establishment and/or
expansion of U.S. manufacturing facilities
and infrastructure projects in the United
States that would support U.S. exports. The
proposal would support and facilitate U.S.
exports while rebuilding U.S. manufacturing
capacity
This notice seeks comment on the
value of expanding EXIM’s foreign
buyer financing program to include
domestic transactions, and feedback on
the hypothetical parameters such as
described below. In general, this notice
only describes where transactions
would face different requirements or
standards from EXIM’s medium and
long-term overseas support. Terms,
conditions, and requirements not
addressed here, such as additionality,
should be presumed to be the same as
EXIM’s standard export credit offering.
Hypothetical Parameters
Export Nexus: EXIM can only support
transactions that have a nexus to
exports. Foreign ECAs tend to require as
a standard (but not rigorously applied
minimum) 20% content for their export
transactions. Moreover, the British have
created a domestic financing program
for companies that have an export
‘‘basis’’ that requires at least 5% of
annual revenues in any three-year
period be from exports, or 20% in one
of any three years. EXIM may consider
projects between a 25–50% export
nexus for support. For example, 25% of
a project’s production (e.g., goods
produced at an EXIM-supported
manufacturing facility) or capacity (e.g.,
25% of the traffic at a port) would need
to be for export for the transaction to
eligible. This export connection could
stretch back through a supply chain and
account for ‘‘indirect exports’’. For
example, if a company sells 50% of its
output to a domestic company, which in
turn uses 50% of the supplier’s inputs
for exports, this transaction would meet
the 25% threshold.
Pricing: Because financing with no
direct export component is not
considered official export financing,
EXIM’s financing would not be subject
to the Organisation for Economic CoOperation and Development (OECD)
Arrangement terms and conditions.
However, supporting domestic
transactions that facilitate exports must
comply with both EXIM’s budget and
World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
The former requires transactional ‘‘break
even’’; the latter which would require
EXIM to provide ‘‘market’’ pricing.
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Frm 00051
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
72967
EXIM may meet both tests via one of
two approaches:
(1) Direct Market Proxy: There are
several options, including lending on
identical terms and conditions (or
provide cover so that the buyer faces
identical all-in pricing on both covered
and uncovered tranches) as part of a
syndicate, price using issuer specific
credit default swaps (CDS) or price
using comparable public bond
information.
(2) Implicit Market Benchmark: In
cases where there is no direct market
benchmark (e.g., no debt of a
comparable term exists), EXIM may as a
back-up utilize the OECD ‘‘Through the
Cycle Market Benchmark’’ pricing
methodology. This methodology uses
commercial pricing information to
generate market reflective pricing for a
wide range of tenors and credit ratings.
Jobs supported: EXIM may connect to
its jobs mission by scaling its financing
in relation to the number of U.S. jobs
such financing would support. For
purposes of calculating maximum
support, EXIM may include the U.S.
jobs involved in construction of the
project and the U.S. jobs involved in
ongoing use of the project over the life
of EXIM financing (per year—e.g., 50
jobs per year for five years would be
counted as 250 jobs). As all such jobs
estimates are projections of the future,
EXIM may ask applicants to provide
supporting information on why their
projections are accurate (e.g., similar
projects had similar employment,
projections from their EPC when
applicable), as well as requesting that
EXIM’s independent consultants on
projects may be asked to opine on the
reasonableness of the jobs projections.
EXIM may choose to use a lower jobs
number than the applicant provided to
determine maximum financing.
U.S. flag shipping: EXIM may require
U.S. flag shipping on major discrete
equipment imports specifically sourced
for the project with the same exceptions
as EXIM’s current policy. Items that had
been imported with no expectation or
foreknowledge they would end up being
purchased with EXIM financing would
not require U.S. flag shipping (such
items could also be termed
‘‘Commercial off the shelf’’).
Comments:
EXIM seeks comments on the
eligibility criteria laid out above. In
addition, EXIM specifically asks
(1) Comments on the usefulness of
such an option and need for EXIM to
extend its medium and long-term loans
and guarantees to domestic projects
with an export connection as described
in the E.O. 14017 report
recommendation; and
E:\FR\FM\23DEN1.SGM
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72968
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 244 / Thursday, December 23, 2021 / Notices
(2) Feedback on the hypothetical
parameters of such an EXIM program as
described in the ‘‘supplementary
information’’ above.
Scott Condren,
Sr. Policy Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2021–27835 Filed 12–22–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6690–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
[OMB 3060–0856; FR ID 63574]
Information Collection Being Reviewed
by the Federal Communications
Commission
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
As part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork burdens, and as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC or
the Commission) invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
take this opportunity to comment on the
following information collection.
Comments are requested concerning:
Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Commission, including whether the
information shall have practical utility;
the accuracy of the Commission’s
burden estimate; ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; ways to minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on the respondents,
including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology; and ways to
further reduce the information
collection burden on small business
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid control
number. No person shall be subject to
any penalty for failing to comply with
a collection of information subject to the
PRA that does not display a valid Office
of Management and Budget (OMB)
control number.
DATES: Written PRA comments should
be submitted on or before February 22,
2022. If you anticipate that you will be
submitting comments, but find it
difficult to do so within the period of
time allowed by this notice, you should
advise the contact listed below as soon
as possible.
jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:50 Dec 22, 2021
Jkt 256001
Direct all PRA comments to
Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email PRA@
fcc.gov and to nicole.ongele@fcc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
additional information about the
information collection, contact Nicole
Ongele, (202) 418–2991.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 3060–0856.
Title: Universal Service—Schools and
Libraries Universal Service Support
Program Reimbursement Forms.
Form Numbers: FCC Forms 472, 473,
and 474.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Respondents: Businesses or other forprofit institutions, not-for-profit
institutions, and state, local or tribal
government.
Number of Respondents and
Responses: 16,600 respondents; 96,500
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 1.5
hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion
and annual reporting requirements.
Obligation to Respond: Required to
obtain or retain benefits. Statutory
authority for this information collection
is contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 201–
205, 214, 254, 312(d), 312(f), 403 and
503(b) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3),
601–612; 15 U.S.C. 1, 632; 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(4); 47 U.S.C. 1, 4(i), 4(j), 201–
205, 214, 254, 312(d), 312(f), 403,
503(b).
Total Annual Burden: 144,750 hours.
Total Annual Cost: No cost.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No
impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality:
If the Commission requests applicants
or service providers to submit
information that the respondents believe
is confidential, respondents may request
confidential treatment of such
information under section 47 CFR 0.459
of the Commission’s rules.
Needs and Uses: The Commission
will submit this information collection
to OMB, which is an extension of a
currently approved collection, to obtain
a full three-year clearance from OMB.
The FCC Form 472 is used by an
applicant (also known as the billed
entity) to seek reimbursement for the
discounts on services paid in full. After
receiving an invoice from the service
provider, together with an FCC Form
472, USAC is able to verify the eligible
service and approved amounts that
should be reimbursed and can make the
appropriate payment to the applicant.
The FCC Form 472 is also used to
ensure that each service provider has
provided discounted services within the
ADDRESSES:
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Frm 00052
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
current funding year and that invoices
submitted from service providers for the
costs of discounted eligible services do
not exceed the amount that has been
approved.
The FCC Form 473 is used to verify
that the service provider is eligible to
participate in the schools and libraries
universal service support program (ERate program) and to confirm that the
invoice forms submitted by the service
provider are in compliance with the
Federal Communications Commission’s
E-Rate program rules. The FCC Form
473 is also used by USAC to assure that
the dollars paid out by the universal
service fund go to eligible providers.
The FCC Form 474 is used by an
eligible service provider to seek
payment for the discounted costs of
services it provided to applicants (or
billed entities) for eligible services.
After receiving an invoice from the
service provider, together with an FCC
Form 474, USAC is able to verify that
the eligible and approved amounts can
be paid. The FCC Form 474 is also used
to ensure that each service provider has
provided discounted services within the
current funding year for which it
submits an invoice to USAC and that
invoices submitted from service
providers for the costs of discounted
eligible services do not exceed the
amount that has been approved.
All of the requirements contained in
this information collection are necessary
to implement the Congressional
mandate for the E-Rate program and
reimbursement process.
Federal Communications Commission.
Katura Jackson,
Federal Register Liaison, Office of the
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–27803 Filed 12–22–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Formations of, Acquisitions by, and
Mergers of Bank Holding Companies
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 public portions of the
applications listed below, as well as
E:\FR\FM\23DEN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 244 (Thursday, December 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72967-72968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27835]
[[Page 72967]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Information Request on Potential Parameters of Export-Import Bank
Financing for Domestic Projects
AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the United States.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is
soliciting comments and feedback concerning a recommendation resulting
from Executive Order 14017 on America's Supply Chains. The report
``Building resilient supply chains, revitalizing American
manufacturing, and fostering broad-based growth'', recommends that EXIM
consider developing an option to provide financing in support of the
establishment and/or expansion of U.S. manufacturing facilities and
infrastructure projects in the United States that would facilitate U.S.
exports.
EXIM requests:
(1) Comments on the usefulness of such an option and need for EXIM
to extend its medium and long-term loans and guarantees to domestic
projects as described in the E.O. 14017 Report recommendation; and
(2) Feedback on the hypothetical parameters of such an EXIM program
as described in the ``supplementary information'' below.
DATES: Consideration will be given to all written comments received by
January 20, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit comments on this transaction
electronically on www.regulations.gov. To submit a comment, enter
``Information Request on Potential Parameters of Export-Import Bank
Financing for Domestic Projects'' under the heading ``Enter Keyword or
ID'' and select Search. Follow the instructions provided at the Submit
a Comment screen. Please include your name, company name (if any) and
``Information Request on Potential Parameters of Export-Import Bank
Financing for Domestic Projects'' on any attached document. Comments
can also be sent by email or mail to Scott Condren,
[email protected], Export-Import Bank of the United States, 811
Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20571.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Condren by telephone at 202-565-
3777 or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 8th, 2021, the White House released a report
``Strengthening America's Supply Chains'' which recommended that
EXIM develop a proposal for Board consideration regarding
whether and how to implement a new Domestic Financing Program to
support the establishment and/or expansion of U.S. manufacturing
facilities and infrastructure projects in the United States that
would support U.S. exports. The proposal would support and
facilitate U.S. exports while rebuilding U.S. manufacturing capacity
This notice seeks comment on the value of expanding EXIM's foreign
buyer financing program to include domestic transactions, and feedback
on the hypothetical parameters such as described below. In general,
this notice only describes where transactions would face different
requirements or standards from EXIM's medium and long-term overseas
support. Terms, conditions, and requirements not addressed here, such
as additionality, should be presumed to be the same as EXIM's standard
export credit offering.
Hypothetical Parameters
Export Nexus: EXIM can only support transactions that have a nexus
to exports. Foreign ECAs tend to require as a standard (but not
rigorously applied minimum) 20% content for their export transactions.
Moreover, the British have created a domestic financing program for
companies that have an export ``basis'' that requires at least 5% of
annual revenues in any three-year period be from exports, or 20% in one
of any three years. EXIM may consider projects between a 25-50% export
nexus for support. For example, 25% of a project's production (e.g.,
goods produced at an EXIM-supported manufacturing facility) or capacity
(e.g., 25% of the traffic at a port) would need to be for export for
the transaction to eligible. This export connection could stretch back
through a supply chain and account for ``indirect exports''. For
example, if a company sells 50% of its output to a domestic company,
which in turn uses 50% of the supplier's inputs for exports, this
transaction would meet the 25% threshold.
Pricing: Because financing with no direct export component is not
considered official export financing, EXIM's financing would not be
subject to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
(OECD) Arrangement terms and conditions. However, supporting domestic
transactions that facilitate exports must comply with both EXIM's
budget and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The former requires
transactional ``break even''; the latter which would require EXIM to
provide ``market'' pricing. EXIM may meet both tests via one of two
approaches:
(1) Direct Market Proxy: There are several options, including
lending on identical terms and conditions (or provide cover so that the
buyer faces identical all-in pricing on both covered and uncovered
tranches) as part of a syndicate, price using issuer specific credit
default swaps (CDS) or price using comparable public bond information.
(2) Implicit Market Benchmark: In cases where there is no direct
market benchmark (e.g., no debt of a comparable term exists), EXIM may
as a back-up utilize the OECD ``Through the Cycle Market Benchmark''
pricing methodology. This methodology uses commercial pricing
information to generate market reflective pricing for a wide range of
tenors and credit ratings.
Jobs supported: EXIM may connect to its jobs mission by scaling its
financing in relation to the number of U.S. jobs such financing would
support. For purposes of calculating maximum support, EXIM may include
the U.S. jobs involved in construction of the project and the U.S. jobs
involved in ongoing use of the project over the life of EXIM financing
(per year--e.g., 50 jobs per year for five years would be counted as
250 jobs). As all such jobs estimates are projections of the future,
EXIM may ask applicants to provide supporting information on why their
projections are accurate (e.g., similar projects had similar
employment, projections from their EPC when applicable), as well as
requesting that EXIM's independent consultants on projects may be asked
to opine on the reasonableness of the jobs projections. EXIM may choose
to use a lower jobs number than the applicant provided to determine
maximum financing.
U.S. flag shipping: EXIM may require U.S. flag shipping on major
discrete equipment imports specifically sourced for the project with
the same exceptions as EXIM's current policy. Items that had been
imported with no expectation or foreknowledge they would end up being
purchased with EXIM financing would not require U.S. flag shipping
(such items could also be termed ``Commercial off the shelf'').
Comments:
EXIM seeks comments on the eligibility criteria laid out above. In
addition, EXIM specifically asks
(1) Comments on the usefulness of such an option and need for EXIM
to extend its medium and long-term loans and guarantees to domestic
projects with an export connection as described in the E.O. 14017
report recommendation; and
[[Page 72968]]
(2) Feedback on the hypothetical parameters of such an EXIM program
as described in the ``supplementary information'' above.
Scott Condren,
Sr. Policy Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2021-27835 Filed 12-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6690-01-P