Department of the Treasury 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains proposed regulations that provide rules regarding the determination of the amount of United States property treated as held by a controlled foreign corporation (CFC) through a partnership. The proposed regulations affect United States shareholders of CFCs.

In the Federal Register notice that was originally published on October 11, 2016 (Volume 81, Number 196, Page 70277) the date will be changed from Wednesday, November 23, 2016 to Wednesday, November 16, 2016.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing the names of five individuals, whose property and interests in property were blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, ``Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism,'' from the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List).

Section 2 of the Depository Institutions Disaster Relief Act of 1992 (DIDRA) authorizes the Agencies to make exceptions to statutory and regulatory appraisal requirements under Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA). The exceptions are available for transactions involving real property located within an area declared to be a major disaster area by the President if the Agencies determine, and describe by publication of a regulation or order, that the exceptions would facilitate recovery from the disaster and would be consistent with safety and soundness. In this statement and order, the Agencies exercise their authority to grant temporary exceptions to the FIRREA appraisal requirements for real estate related transactions, provided certain criteria are met, in the Louisiana parishes declared a major disaster area by President Obama on August 14, 2016, as a result of the severe storms and flooding in Louisiana. The expiration date for the exceptions is December 31, 2017.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) the names of the persons listed below whose property and interests in property had been blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13310 of July 28, 2003 (Blocking Property of the Government of Burma and Prohibiting Certain Transactions), Executive Order 13448 of October 18, 2007 (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Burma), Executive Order 13464 of April 30, 2008 (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related To Burma), and Executive Order 13619 of July 11, 2012 (Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Burma).

The Secretary of the Treasury (the ``Secretary''), as Chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the ``Council''), is adopting final rules (the ``Final Rules'') in consultation with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the ``FDIC'') to implement the qualified financial contract (``QFC'') recordkeeping requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the ``Dodd-Frank Act'' or the ``Act''). The Final Rules require recordkeeping with respect to positions, counterparties, legal documentation, and collateral. This information is necessary and appropriate to assist the FDIC as receiver to: Fulfill its obligations under the Dodd-Frank Act in deciding whether to transfer QFCs; assess the consequences of decisions to transfer, disaffirm or repudiate, or allow the termination of, QFCs with one or more counterparties; determine if any risks to financial stability are posed by the transfer, disaffirmance or repudiation, or termination of such QFCs; and otherwise exercise its rights under the Act and fulfill its obligations under sections 210(c)(8), (9), or (10) of the Act.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to establish the 202,476-acre ``Petaluma Gap'' viticultural area in portions of Sonoma and Marin Counties in California. TTB also proposes to expand the boundary of the existing 3 million-acre North Coast viticultural area by 28,077 acres in order to include the entire proposed Petaluma Gap viticultural area within it. The proposed Petaluma Gap viticultural area would also partially extend outside of the established Sonoma Coast viticultural area, but TTB is not proposing to modify the boundary of the Sonoma Coast viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase. TTB invites comments on these proposals.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) establishes the approximately 2,400-square mile ``Appalachian High Country'' viticultural area in all or portions of the following counties: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, and Watauga Counties in North Carolina; Carter and Johnson Counties in Tennessee; and Grayson County in Virginia. The viticultural area is not located within any other viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

The Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2016.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the agencies) are inviting comment on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) regarding enhanced cyber risk management standards (enhanced standards) for large and interconnected entities under their supervision and those entities' service providers. The agencies are considering establishing enhanced standards to increase the operational resilience of these entities and reduce the impact on the financial system in case of a cyber event experienced by one of these entities. The ANPR addresses five categories of cyber standards: Cyber risk governance; cyber risk management; internal dependency management; external dependency management; and incident response, cyber resilience, and situational awareness. The agencies are considering implementing the enhanced standards in a tiered manner, imposing more stringent standards on the systems of those entities that are critical to the functioning of the financial sector.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Notice 2010-28, Stripping Transactions for Qualified Tax Credit Bonds.

This document provides an additional 60 days for interested parties to submit comments on the interim final rule that amended the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations setting forth procedures for CBP to investigate claims of evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders in accordance with section 421 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on August 22, 2016, with comments due on or before October 21, 2016. To have as much public participation as possible in the formulation of the final rule, CBP is extending the comment period to December 20, 2016.

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the IRS are issuing temporary regulations that affect corporations and partnerships that issue purported indebtedness to related corporations or partnerships in the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register. The temporary regulations provide rules addressing the treatment of instruments issued by partnerships, consolidated groups, and certain transactions involving qualified cash- management arrangements. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the renewal of an information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information collection titled, ``Reverse Mortgage Products: Guidance for Managing Compliance and Reputation Risks'' (Guidance). The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), this notice announces the appointment of members of the Departmental Offices Performance Review Board (PRB). The purpose of this Board is to review and make recommendations concerning proposed performance appraisals, ratings, bonuses and other appropriate personnel actions for incumbents of SES positions in the Departmental Offices, excluding the Legal Division. The Board will perform PRB functions for other bureau positions if requested.

The Department of the Treasury will submit the following information collection requests to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, on or after the date of publication of this notice.

The United States Mint published a notice titled ``Request for Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Membership Applications'' in the Federal Register on October 12, 2016. The notice contained an error. This document corrects the error.

The OCC has determined that the renewal of the charter of the OCC Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee (MSAAC) is necessary and in the public interest. The OCC hereby gives notice of the renewal of the charter.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to further implement elements of the policy announced by the President on December 17, 2014, to engage and empower the Cuban people. Among other things, these amendments authorize certain transactions related to Cuban-origin pharmaceuticals and joint medical research; add, expand, and clarify authorizations relating to trade and commerce; authorize certain civil aviation safety-related services; further facilitate authorized travel to Cuba; and expand the authorizations for grants and humanitarian-related services designed to directly benefit the Cuban people. These amendments also implement certain technical and conforming changes. OFAC is making these amendments in support of the process of normalizing bilateral relations with Cuba.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of four individuals and nine entities whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13581 of July 24, 2011, ``Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations,'' and who have been added to OFAC's List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List).

This document proposes to amend the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect that official notice of liquidation, suspension of liquidation, and extension of liquidation will be posted electronically on the CBP Web site. This document also proposes regulatory revisions to reflect that official notice of liquidation will no longer be posted at the customhouses or stations and that official notices of suspension of liquidation and extension of liquidation will no longer be mailed. Additionally, this document proposes to make certain technical corrections to the CBP regulations.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations under section 165(i) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) relating to the election to take a disaster loss in the preceding year. The text of those temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document also invites comments from the public regarding these proposed regulations.

In accordance with the requirements of the PRA (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (the agencies) may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. On July 5, 2016, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days (81 FR 43605) on a proposal to extend, with revision, the Market Risk Regulatory Report for Institutions Subject to the Market Risk Capital Rule (FFIEC 102), which is currently an approved collection of information for each agency. The comment period for this notice ended on September 6, 2016. The agencies did not receive any comments. The agencies are now submitting a request to OMB for review and approval of the extension, with revision, of the FFIEC 102. The proposed revisions would take effect December 31, 2016.