Department of the Treasury September 26, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains corrections to proposed regulations that amend existing regulations issued under sections 6104 and 6110. These regulations clarify rules relating to information that is made available by the IRS for public inspection under section 6104(a) and materials that are made publicly available under section 6110.

By this Notice and in accordance with 31 CFR 129, the Department of the Treasury is informing the public that it is conducting a mandatory survey of U.S. ownership of foreign securities as of December 31, 2007. This Notice constitutes legal notification to all United States persons (defined below) who meet the reporting requirements set forth in this Notice that they must respond to, and comply with, this survey. Additional copies of the reporting form SHCA (2007) and instructions may be printed from the Internet at: https:// www.treas.gov/tic/forms-sh.html. Definition: Pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 3102 a U.S. person is any individual, branch, partnership, associated group, association, estate, trust, corporation, or other organization (whether or not organized under the laws of any State), and any government (including a foreign government, the United States Government, a state, provincial, or local government, and any agency, corporation, financial institution, or other entity or instrumentality thereof, including a government- sponsored agency), who resides in the United States or is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Who Must Report: The panel for this survey is based upon the level of U.S. holdings of foreign securities reported on the December 2006 benchmark survey of U.S. holdings of foreign securities, and will consist primarily of the largest reporters on that survey. Entities required to report will be contacted individually by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Entities not contacted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have no reporting responsibilities. What to Report: This report will collect information on holdings by U.S. residents of foreign securities, including equities, long-term debt securities, and short-term debt securities (including selected money market instruments). How to Report: Copies of the survey forms and instructions, which contain complete information on reporting procedures and definitions, can be obtained at the Web site address given above in the SUMMARY, or by contacting the survey staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at (212) 720-6300, e-mail: SHC.help@ny.frb.org. The mailing address is: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Statistics Function, 4th Floor, 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045-0001. Inquiries can also be made to Mr. William L. Griever, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, at (202) 452-2924, e-mail: william.l.griever@frb.gov; or to Dwight Wolkow at (202) 622-1276, e-mail: wolkowd@do.treas.gov. When to Report: Data must be submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, acting as fiscal agent for the Department of the Treasury, by March 7, 2008. Paperwork Reduction Act Notice: This data collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act and assigned control number 1505-0146. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid control number assigned by OMB. The estimated average annual burden associated with this collection of information is 48 hours per respondent for end-investors and custodians that file Schedule 3 reports covering their securities entrusted to U.S. resident custodians, 145 hours per respondent for large end-investors filing Schedule 2 reports, and 700 hours per respondent for large custodians of securities filing Schedule 2 reports. Comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate and suggestions for reducing this burden should be directed to the Department of the Treasury, Attention Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Reporting Systems, Room 5422, Washington, DC 20220, and to OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department of the Treasury, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503.

This document contains proposed modifications of the regulations governing practice before the IRS (Circular 230). These proposed regulations affect individuals who practice before the IRS. The proposed amendments modify Sec. 10.34 of Circular 230 relating to standards with respect to tax returns.

This document contains proposed regulations on the arbitrage restrictions under section 148 of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to tax-exempt bonds issued by State and local governments. These proposed regulations are being issued in order to update existing regulations to address certain current market developments, to simplify and correct certain provisions, and to make existing regulations more administrable. These proposed regulations affect State and local governmental issuers of tax-exempt bonds. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.