Department of the Treasury November 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces that the Department of the Treasury's Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance (``Committee'') will convene a meeting on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, in the Cash Room, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20220, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting is open to the public, and the site is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Publication of the tier 2 tax rates for calendar year 2018 as required by section 3241(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tier 2 taxes on railroad employees, employers, and employee representatives are one source of funding for benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act.

The OCC is adopting a final rule that adds a new part to its rules to enhance the resilience and the safety and soundness of federally chartered and licensed financial institutions by addressing concerns relating to the exercise of default rights of certain financial contracts that could interfere with the orderly resolution of certain systemically important financial firms. Under the final rule, a covered bank is required to ensure that a covered qualified financial contract contains a contractual stay-and-transfer provision analogous to the statutory stay-and-transfer provision imposed under Title II of the Dodd-Frank, Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and limits the exercise of default rights based on the insolvency of an affiliate of the covered bank. In addition, this final rule makes conforming amendments to the Capital Adequacy Standards and the Liquidity Risk Measurement Standards in its regulations. The requirements of this final rule are substantively identical to those adopted in the final rules issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons and vessels that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons and these vessels are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing the name of one individual whose property and interests in property have been blocked pursuant to an executive order issued on January 23, 1995, titled ``Prohibiting Transactions with Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process,'' from the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List).

Pursuant to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA),\1\ the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) requests public feedback on the proposed consolidation of the separate federal and state data calls regarding terrorism risk insurance, and the proposed data collection forms for use in the 2018 data call. Copies of these forms and associated explanatory materials (including a document identifying specific changes to the reporting templates and instructions as previously used by Treasury) are available for electronic review on the Treasury Web site at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/fin-mkts/ Pages/program.aspx. State insurance regulators, through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), will also be separately seeking comment from stakeholders on the proposal.

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, on or after the date of publication of this notice. The public is invited to submit comments on these requests.

This document announces the extension of certain time frames under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code for group health plans, disability and other welfare plans, pension plans, participants and beneficiaries of these plans, and group health insurance issuers directly affected by Hurricane Maria.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 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 information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning Manufacturers Excise Taxes on Sporting Goods and Firearms and Other Administrative Provisions of Special Application to Manufacturers and Retailers Excise Taxes; Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 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 information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning Exercise of an Incentive Stock Option Under Section 422(b), Information Reporting Requirements Under Internal Revenue Service Code Section 6039, and Transfer of Stock Acquired through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan Under Section 423(c).

The Internal Revenue Service, 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 continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning the purchase price allocations in deemed and actual asset acquisitions.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are 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 the renewal of its information collection titled, ``Investment Securities.''

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a final rule to extend the regulatory capital treatment applicable during 2017 under the regulatory capital rules (capital rules) for certain items. These items include regulatory capital deductions, risk weights, and certain minority interest limitations. The relief provided under the final rule applies to banking organizations that are not subject to the capital rules' advanced approaches (non-advanced approaches banking organizations). Specifically, for these banking organizations, the final rule extends the current regulatory capital treatment of mortgage servicing assets, deferred tax assets arising from temporary differences that could not be realized through net operating loss carrybacks, significant investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions in the form of common stock, non-significant investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions, significant investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions that are not in the form of common stock, and common equity tier 1 minority interest, tier 1 minority interest, and total capital minority interest exceeding the capital rules' minority interest limitations. Under the final rule, advanced approaches banking organizations continue to be subject to the transition provisions established by the capital rules for the above capital items. Therefore, for advanced approaches banking organizations, their transition schedule is unchanged, and advanced approaches banking organizations are required to apply the capital rules' fully phased-in treatment for these capital items beginning January 1, 2018.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 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 information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning Ten or More Employer Plans.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 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. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 8609, Low-Income Housing Credit Allocation and Certification, and Form 8609-A, Annual Statement for Low-Income Housing Credit.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of 41 persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, and whose entries on OFAC's Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) have been amended accordingly. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

This notice announces the appointment of the members of the Combined Performance Review Board (PRB) for the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the United States Mint, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The Combined PRB reviews the performance appraisals of career senior executives who are below the level of bureau head and principal deputy in the bureaus, except for executives below the Assistant Commissioner/Executive Director level in the Bureau of Fiscal Service. The Combined PRB makes recommendations regarding proposed performance appraisals, ratings, bonuses, pay adjustments, and other appropriate personnel actions.

The Internal Revenue Service, 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. Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning existing Final Regulation, TD 9467Measurement of Assets and Liabilities for Pension Funding Purposes, and Notice 2014-53Pension Funding Stabilization under the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HAFTA).

The Internal Revenue Service, 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. Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 4419, Application for Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE).

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing from the Code of Federal Regulations the C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire Sanctions Regulations as a result of the termination of the national emergency on which the regulations were based.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to implement the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), ``Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba,'' signed by the President on June 16, 2017. These amendments implement changes to the authorizations for travel to Cuba and related transactions and restrict certain financial transactions. These amendments also implement certain technical and conforming changes.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' publication for public comment of a proposal to revise the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic Offices Only and Total Assets Less Than $1 Billion (FFIEC 051), the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic Offices Only (FFIEC 041), and the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic and Foreign Offices (FFIEC 031), which are currently approved collections of information. The Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income are commonly referred to as the Call Report. The proposed revisions to the FFIEC 051, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 031 Call Reports would result in an overall reduction in burden. In particular, the proposed revisions would delete or consolidate a number of items and add a new or raise certain existing reporting thresholds. The proposed revisions would take effect as of the June 30, 2018, report date. At the end of the comment period for this notice, the comments and recommendations received will be reviewed to determine whether the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposed revisions to the FFIEC 051, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 031 prior to giving final approval. As required by the PRA, the agencies will then publish a second Federal Register notice for a 30-day comment period and submit the final FFIEC 051, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 031 to OMB for review and approval.

FinCEN is issuing this final rule to prohibit covered U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining a correspondent account for, or on behalf of, Bank of Dandong Co., Ltd. (Bank of Dandong) as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern pursuant to Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Section 311). The rule further requires covered U.S. financial institutions to take reasonable steps not to process transactions for the correspondent account of a foreign banking institution in the United States if such a transaction involves Bank of Dandong. It also requires covered institutions to apply special due diligence to their foreign correspondent accounts that is reasonably designed to guard against their use to process transactions involving Bank of Dandong.

This NOGA is published in connection with the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Through this NOGA, the CDFI Fund announces the availability of $500 million of Guarantee Authority in FY 2018, contingent upon Congressional authorization. This NOGA explains application submission and evaluation requirements and processes, and provides agency contacts and information on CDFI Bond Guarantee Program outreach. Parties interested in being approved for a Guarantee under the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program must submit Qualified Issuer Applications and Guarantee Applications for consideration in accordance with this NOGA. Capitalized terms used in this NOGA and not defined elsewhere are defined in the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program regulations (12 CFR 1808.102) and the CDFI Program regulations (12 CFR 1805.104).

This document adopts as a final rule, with changes, the amendments proposed to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect that customs user fees and limitations established by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) will be adjusted for inflation in accordance with the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act).