Federal Housing Finance Agency – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) gives notice of the proposed establishment of three new Privacy Act systems of records and the removal of four existing Privacy Act systems of records. The three proposed new systems are: ``Emergency Notification System'' (FHFA-14); ``Payroll, Retirement, Time and Attendance, and Leave Records'' (FHFA-15); and ``Personnel Investigative Records'' (FHFA-16). The proposed new systems will replace systems of records issued by FHFA's predecessor agencies, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) and the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). Proposed systems (FHFA-14) and (FHFA-15) will replace OFHEO systems ``OFHEO-2 Pay and Leave System'' and ``OFHEO-6 Emergency Contingency Plan and Personnel Locator System,'' and FHFB system ``FHFB-1 Employee Attendance Records.'' Proposed system (FHFA-16) will replace FHFB system ``FHFB-5 Personnel Investigative Records.'' FHFA has previously published a system of records notice (``Financial Management System'' (FHFA-2), 74 FR 31949 (July 6, 2009)); however, in publishing that notice, FHFA did not explicitly state that OFHEO and FHFB system of records notices were being replaced. Notice is hereby given that the systems of records notice ``OFHEO-1 Financial Management System'' and ``FHFB-2 General Travel and Transportation Files'' have been replaced by ``Financial Management System'' (FHFA-2). Upon the effective date of this notice, the replaced OFHEO system, ``OFHEO-1'' published at 63 FR 9007 (February 23, 1998) and ``FHFB-2'' as amended at 71 FR 61053 (October 17, 2006) will be removed. In addition, upon the effective date of this notice, the replaced FHFB systems, ``FHFB-1'' published at 60 FR 46120 (September 5, 1995), as amended at 62 FR 66865 (December 22, 1997) and 71 FR 61052 (October 17, 2006), and ``FHFB-5'' (originally published as ``FHFB-7 Agency Personnel Investigative Records'' at 60 FR 46120 (September 5, 1995)), as amended at 64 FR 14920 (March 29, 1999), 68 FR 39947 (July 3, 2003), and 71 FR 61052 (October 17, 2006); and the replaced OFHEO systems, ``OFHEO-2'' published at 63 FR 9007 (February 23, 1998), and ``OFHEO- 6'' published at 71 FR 6085 (February 6, 2006) will be removed.
Notice of Order: Revisions to Enterprise Public Use Database Incorporating High-Cost Single-Family Securitized Loan Data Fields and Technical Data Field Changes
This document updates information that appeared in the Notice of Order published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2011.
Repeal of Regulations
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is repealing two obsolete and outdated Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) regulations, which relate to meetings of the Board of Directors of the Finance Board and the manner of calculating the Resolution Funding Corporation (RefCorp) obligations of the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks), respectively. FHFA is also repealing certain parts of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) regulations currently designated as reserved and an associated subchapter, which will be empty after the repeal of those parts. This final rule repeals the regulations and subchapter in their entirety.
Voluntary Mergers of Federal Home Loan Banks
Section 1209 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended section 26 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to permit any Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) to merge with another Bank with the approval of its board of directors, its members, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). This final rule establishes the conditions and procedures for the consideration and approval of voluntary Bank mergers.
Federal Home Loan Bank Members Selected for Community Support Review
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members it has selected for the 2010 fourth round review cycle under the FHFA's community support requirements regulation. This notice also prescribes the deadline by which Bank members selected for review must submit Community Support Statements to FHFA.
Federal Home Loan Bank Community Support Amendments
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is proposing to amend its community support regulation by requiring the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) to monitor and assess the eligibility of each Bank member for access to long-term advances through compliance with the regulation's Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) and first-time homebuyer standards. The proposed rule would also replace the current practice in which members submit to FHFA biennial community support statements containing their most recent CRA evaluations. Instead, the Banks would verify a member's CRA rating from publicly-available information from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) or the member's primary Federal banking regulatory agency. In addition, the Banks would be responsible for overseeing members' compliance with first-time homebuyer requirements.
Notice of Order: Revisions to Enterprise Public Use Database Incorporating High-Cost Single-Family Securitized Loan Data Fields and Technical Data Field Changes
Section 1127 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended section 1326 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) by requiring that, subject to privacy considerations as described in section 304(j) of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA), the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shall make public certain data related to high-cost single-family loans purchased and securitized by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, the Enterprises) collected by the Director under section 1324(b)(6) of the Safety and Soundness Act, as amended by HERA. See 12 U.S.C. 4544(b)(6), 4546(d). FHFA has adopted an Order that implements the changes required by HERA by revising the single-family matrix in FHFA's Public Use Database (PUDB) to include data fields for the high-cost single-family securitized loans data in a new National File C, effective for 2010 and beyond. The Order also makes technical changes to the single-family and multifamily data matrices of the PUDB, effective for 2010 and beyond, to conform the data fields to existing PUDB data reporting practices and HERA changes. This Notice of Order sets forth FHFA's Order with accompanying Appendix containing the revised single-family and multifamily matrices, and describes the new and revised data fields.
Notice of Regulatory Review Plan
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a notice of and requesting comments on the FHFA interim regulatory review plan for review of existing regulations under Executive Order 13579, ``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies,'' (July 11, 2011).
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is submitting the information collection titled ``Federal Home Loan Bank Directors,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval of a three-year extension of the OMB Control number, 2590-0006, which is due to expire on August 31, 2011.
Rules of Practice and Procedure
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is adopting a final rule to implement the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amendments to the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) and the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) governing civil administrative enforcement actions by FHFA, under which FHFA's authority was consolidated to initiate enforcement proceedings against the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the Enterprises), the Federal Home Loan Banks (the Banks) (collectively, the regulated entities), and their entity- affiliated parties. This rule removes the existing Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), and establishes new FHFA regulations.
Privacy Act Implementation
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing this interim final regulation with a request for comments on changes to its existing Privacy Act regulation. The changes to the existing Privacy Act regulation provide the procedures and guidelines under which FHFA and FHFA Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) will implement the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a) (Privacy Act). The interim final regulation describes the policies and procedures whereby individuals may obtain notification of whether an FHFA or FHFA-OIG system of records contains information about the individual and, if so, how to access or amend a record under the Privacy Act.
Termination of Federal Home Loan Bank Resolution Funding Corporation Obligation
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has determined that, as of July 15, 2011, the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) have satisfied their statutory obligation to contribute a percentage of their annual net earnings toward the interest payments due on bonds issued by the Resolution Funding Corporation (RefCorp).
Margin and Capital Requirements For Covered Swap Entities
On May 11, 2011, the OCC, Board, FDIC, FCA, and FHFA (collectively, the Agencies) published in the Federal Register a joint notice of proposed rulemaking for public comment to establish minimum margin and capital requirements for registered swap dealers, major swap participants, security-based swap dealers, and major security-based swap participants for which one of the Agencies is the prudential regulator (the proposed rule). Due to the complexity of the rulemaking, to allow parties more time to consider the impact of the proposed rule, and so that the comment period on the proposed rule will run concurrently with the comment period for similar margin and capital requirements proposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Agencies have determined that an extension of the comment period until July 11, 2011 is appropriate. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the proposed rules and prepare their comments.
Prudential Management and Operations Standards
Section 1108 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) to require the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to establish prudential standards relating to the management and operations of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) (collectively, regulated entities). FHFA is proposing to implement those HERA amendments by providing for the establishment of the prudential standards in the form of guidelines, which initially would be set out in an appendix to the rule. The proposal also would include other provisions relating to the possible consequences for a regulated entity that fails to operate in accordance with the prudential standards.
Conservatorship and Receivership
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final rule to establish a framework for conservatorship and receivership operations for the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, as contemplated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). HERA amended the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) by adding, among other provisions, section 1367, Authority Over Critically Undercapitalized Regulated Entities. The rule will implement this provision, and will ensure that these operations advance FHFA's critical safety and soundness and mission requirements. The rule seeks to protect the public interest in the transparency of conservatorship and receivership operations for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, the Enterprises), and the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) (collectively, the regulated entities).
Federal Home Loan Bank Members Selected for Community Support Review
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members it has selected for the 2010 third round review cycle under the FHFA's community support requirements regulation. This notice also prescribes the deadline by which Bank members selected for review must submit Community Support Statements to FHFA.
Credit Risk Retention
On April 29, 2011, the OCC, Board, FDIC, Commission, FHFA and HUD (collectively, the ``Agencies'') published in the Federal Register a joint notice of proposed rulemaking for public comment to implement the credit risk retention requirements of section 15G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as added by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Credit Risk NPR'' or ``proposed rule''). Due to the complexity of the rulemaking and to allow parties more time to consider the impact of the Credit Risk NPR on affected markets, the Agencies have determined that an extension of the comment period until August 1, 2011, is appropriate. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the proposed rules and prepare their comments.
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) gives notice of the proposed establishment of seven new Privacy Act systems of records, the adoption of a government-wide Privacy Act system of records, the removal of four existing Privacy Act systems of records, and notice of twenty-one government-wide Privacy Act systems of records previously adopted by FHFA. The proposed new systems are: ``Mail, Contact, Telephone, and Other Lists'' (FHFA-7); ``Federal Home Loan Bank Directors'' (FHFA-8); ``Administrative Grievance Records'' (FHFA-9); ``Employee Benefits Records'' (FHFA-10); ``Transit Subsidy Program Records'' (FHFA-11); ``Parking Program Records'' (FHFA-12); and ``Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Records'' (FHFA-13). Two of the proposed new systems, (FHFA-8) and (FHFA-9), will replace systems of records issued by one of FHFA's predecessor agencies, the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) titled ``FHFB-4 Federal Home Loan Bank Appointive Director Certification Forms'' and ``FHFB-3 Administrative Grievance Files.'' The new adopted system of records, ``Personal Identity Verification Identity Management System'' (GSA/GOVT-7), will replace systems of records issued by FHFA's predecessor agencies FHFB and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), titled ``FHFB-8 Personal Identify Verification Management System'' and ``OFHEO-03 Employee Identification Card System.'' Notice is given that FHFA previously adopted the following government-wide systems of records: EEOC/GOVT-1 Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government Complaint and Appeals Records; DOL/GOVT-1 Office of Worker's Compensation Programs, Federal Employees' Compensation Act File; DOL/GOVT-2 Job Corps Student Records; DOT/ALL-8 Employee Transportation Facilitation; GSA/GOVT-2 Employment Under Commercial Activities Contracts; EPA/GOVT-2Federal Docket Management System (FDMS); GSA/GOVT-3 Travel Charge Card Program; GSA/GOVT-4 Contracted Travel Services Program; GSA/GOVT-6 GSA SmartPay Purchase Charge Card Program; GSA/GOVT-8 Excluded Parties List System (EPLS); MSPB/GOVT1 Appeal and Case Records; OGE/GOVT-1 Executive Branch Public Financial Disclosure Reports and Other Ethics Program Records; OGE/GOVT-2 Confidential Statements of Employment and Financial Interests; OPM/GOVT-1 General Personnel Records; OPM/GOVT-2 Employee Performance File System Records; OPM/GOVT-3 Records of Adverse Actions; OPM/GOVT-5 Recruiting, Examining and Placement Records; OPM/GOVT-6 Personnel Research and Test Validation Records; OPM/GOVT-7 Applicant Race, Sex, National Origin and Disability Status Records; OPM/GOVT-9 File on Position Classification Appeals, Job Grading Appeals, and Retained Grade or Pay Appeals, and Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) Claims and Complaints; OPM/GOVT-10 Employee Medical File System Records; and OSC/GOVT-1 OSC Complaint Litigation and Political Activity Files. Two of the proposed new systems, (FHFA-11) and (FHFA-12), will replace the system of records previously adopted by FHFA titled ``DOT/ ALL-8 Employee Transportation Facilitation'' as these two new systems more accurately reflect the systems of records that FHFA maintains. Upon the effective date of this notice, the replaced FHFB systems, ``FHFB-3'' published at 60 FR 46120 (September 5, 1995) and further amended, ``FHFB-4'' published at 64 FR 14919 (March 29, 1999) and further amended, and ``FHFB-8'' published at 71 FR 61052 on October 17, 2006; and the replaced OFHEO system ``OFHEO-3'' published at 63 FR 9007 on February 23, 1998, will be removed.
Record Retention for Regulated Entities and Office of Finance
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is issuing a final regulation to set forth record retention requirements for the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Office of Finance.
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking public comments concerning the information collection known as ``Federal Home Loan Bank Directors,'' which has been assigned control number 2590-0006 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 July 31, 2011.
Freedom of Information Act Implementation
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing this interim final regulation with a request for comments on changes to its existing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulation. The changes to the existing FOIA regulation provide the procedures and guidelines under which FHFA and FHFA Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) will implement FOIA. The interim final regulation describes the policies and procedures for public disclosure of information required to be disclosed under FOIA, and procedures to protect from disclosure business confidential and trade secret information, as appropriate.
Federal Home Loan Bank Investments
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is re-organizing and re-adopting existing investment regulations that apply to the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) and that were previously adopted by the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board). The regulation is being adopted as a new part in FHFA's regulations. As part of this rulemaking, FHFA will incorporate limits on the Banks' investment in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and certain asset-backed securities (ABS) that were previously set forth in the Finance Board's Financial Management Policy (FMP). The FMP will terminate as of the effective date of this rule.
Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities
The OCC, Board, FDIC, FCA, and FHFA (collectively, the Agencies) are requesting comment on a proposal to establish minimum margin and capital requirements for registered swap dealers, major swap participants, security-based swap dealers, and major security-based swap participants for which one of the Agencies is the prudential regulator. This proposed rule implements sections 731 and 764 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which require the Agencies to adopt rules jointly to establish capital requirements and initial and variation margin requirements for such entities on all non-cleared swaps and non-cleared security-based swaps in order to offset the greater risk to such entities and the financial system arising from the use of swaps and security-based swaps that are not cleared.
Credit Risk Retention
The OCC, Board, FDIC, Commission, FHFA, and HUD (the Agencies) are proposing rules to implement the credit risk retention requirements of section 15G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o- 11), as added by section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 15G generally requires the securitizer of asset-backed securities to retain not less than five percent of the credit risk of the assets collateralizing the asset-backed securities. Section 15G includes a variety of exemptions from these requirements, including an exemption for asset-backed securities that are collateralized exclusively by residential mortgages that qualify as ``qualified residential mortgages,'' as such term is defined by the Agencies by rule.
Incentive-Based Compensation Arrangements
The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, NCUA, SEC, and FHFA (the Agencies) are proposing rules to implement section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The proposed rule would require the reporting of incentive-based compensation arrangements by a covered financial institution and prohibit incentive-based compensation arrangements at a covered financial institution that provide excessive compensation or that could expose the institution to inappropriate risks that could lead to material financial loss.
Federal Home Loan Bank Liabilities
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is re-organizing and re-adopting existing Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) regulations dealing with consolidated obligations (COs), as well as related regulations addressing other authorized Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) liabilities and book-entry procedures for COs, as new part 1270 of the FHFA regulations. The final rule amends these regulations to reflect statutory amendments made to section 11(c) of the Federal Home Bank Act (Bank Act) with regard to the issuance of COs. Otherwise, FHFA is re-adopting most of the regulatory provisions addressed in this rulemaking without substantive change.
Debt Collection
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) publishes this final rule to adopt, without change, the interim final rule that was published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2010, setting forth procedures for use by FHFA in collecting debts owed to the Federal Government. The final rule implements the requirements of the Federal Claims Collection Act and the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, and includes procedures for collection of debts through salary offset, administrative offset, tax refund offset, and administrative wage garnishment.
Federal Home Loan Bank Members Selected for Community Support Review
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members it has selected for the 2010 second round review cycle under the FHFA's community support requirements regulation. This notice also prescribes the deadline by which Bank members selected for review must submit Community Support Statements to FHFA.
Minimum Capital
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final rule to implement a provision of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act, as amended, that provides for a temporary increase in the minimum capital level for the entities regulated by FHFAthe Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal Home Loan Banks. The final rule establishes standards for imposing a temporary increase and for rescinding such an increase, and a time frame for review of such an increase.
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Office of Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA-OIG) gives notice of the revision of an existing system of records. FHFA-OIG is revising the legacy system of records entitled FHFB-6, ``Office of Inspector General Audit and Investigative Records,'' by dividing it into four separate systems of records: ``FHFA-OIG Audit Files Database,'' ``FHFA-OIG Investigative & Evaluative Files Database,'' ``FHFA-OIG Investigative & Evaluative MIS Database,'' and ``FHFA-OIG Hotline Database.'' These four systems and the routine uses for each are described in detail below. FHFA-OIG also gives notice of the establishment of an additional Privacy Act system of records, for a total of five FHFA-OIG-specific systems of records. This new system of records is the following: ``FHFA-OIG Correspondence Database.''
Office of the Ombudsman
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is adopting a final regulation that establishes an Office of the Ombudsman, which is responsible for considering complaints and appeals from the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Banks (collectively, regulated entities), the Federal Home Loan Bank System's Office of Finance, and any person that has a business relationship with a regulated entity or the Office of Finance, regarding any matter relating to the regulation and supervision of the regulated entities or the Office of Finance by FHFA.
Private Transfer Fees
This proposed rule would restrict the regulated entitiesthe Federal National Mortgage Association (``Fannie Mae''), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (``Freddie Mac'') (collectively, the ``Enterprises''), and the Federal Home Loan Banks (``Banks'')from dealing in mortgages on properties encumbered by certain types of private transfer fee covenants and in certain related securities. Such covenants are adverse to the liquidity and stability of the housing finance market, and to financial safety and soundness. This proposed rule would except private transfer fees paid to homeowner associations, condominiums, cooperatives, and certain tax-exempt organizations that use the private transfer fees to provide a direct benefit to the owners of the encumbered real property. With limited exceptions, the rule would apply only prospectively to private transfer fee covenants created on or after the date of publication of the proposed rule.
Alternatives to Use of Credit Ratings in Regulations Governing the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal Home Loan Banks
A number of regulations applicable to the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (collectively, the Enterprises), and the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks), contain specific references to, or requirements based on, credit ratings issued by credit rating organizations registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs). Section 939A of the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) provides Federal agencies with one-year to review regulations that require the use of an assessment of the credit- worthiness of a security or money market instrument and any references to, or requirements in, such regulations regarding credit ratings, and to remove such references or requirements. In this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) describes the relevant regulations affected by this provision of the Dodd-Frank Act and requests comments on potential alternatives to the use of credit ratings in these regulations.
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency review, revisions to the information collection, ``Federal Home Loan Bank Directors,'' OMB No. 2590-0006. The revisions were approved under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Specifically, FHFA requested review of revisions to the 2008 OMB-approved Federal Home Loan Bank Elective Director Eligibility Certification Form, the Federal Home Loan Bank Appointive Director Application Form, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Appointive Director Certification Form. Since 2008, when the Federal Home Loan Banks' (Bank) former regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board), last obtained OMB approval for this information collection, there have been statutory and regulatory changes affecting the use of the forms. The passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), Public Law 110-289 (2008) amended section 7 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) which provided for the appointment of a portion of each Federal Home Loan Bank's board of directors. The HERA amendments resulted in needed revisions to the current OMB-approved forms associated with these appointments. The first of the revisions to the forms includes renaming them respectively, the Federal Home Loan Bank Member Director Eligibility Certification Form, the Federal Home Loan Bank Independent Director Application Form, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Independent Director Annual Certification Form. A more detailed description of the remaining revisions is discussed below in Overview of the Information Collection. FHFA requested emergency review of these revisions because the revised forms are being used in January 2011. These revisions did not result in a change in burden. To allow interested persons to comment on this information collection, FHFA is publishing this notice and plans to submit a request for a three-year extension of OMB's approval. Comments regarding this information collection should be addressed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC 20503, Fax: 202- 395-6974, Email: OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov. Please also submit comments to FHFA using any one of the following methods and include ``Comments: Federal Home Loan Bank Directors (No. 2011-N-02)'' as the subject: E-mail: RegComments@fhfa.gov; 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 e- mail to FHFA at RegComments@fhfa.gov to ensure timely receipt by FHFA. U.S. Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. We will post all public comments we receive without change, including any personal information you provide, such as your name and address, on the FHFA website at https://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will be available for examination by the public on business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. To make an appointment to inspect comments, please call the Office of General Counsel at 202-414-6924.
Notice of Annual Adjustment of the Cap on Average Total Assets That Defines Community Financial Institutions
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has adjusted the cap on average total assets that defines a ``Community Financial Institution'' based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the Department of Labor (DOL). These changes took effect on January 1, 2011.
Minority and Women Inclusion
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or agency) is adopting a final rule to implement section 1116 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). Section 1116 of HERA requires FHFA, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) to promote diversity and the inclusion of women and minorities in all activities. The final rule implements the provisions of section 1116 of HERA that apply to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Banks.
Portfolio Holdings
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final regulation that will govern the portfolio holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, the Enterprises) during the pendency of the conservatorships. The final regulation adopts FHFA's interim final rule on portfolio holdings, without change. See 74 FR 5609, January 30, 2009. That interim rule adopted the portfolio limits specified in each Enterprise's Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (PSPA) with the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) as the regulation limits. Specifically, it provides that each Enterprise comply with the portfolio limits contained in the respective PSPAs, as they may be amended from time to time. The interim regulation also stipulated that the regulation is to be in effect until amended or the Enterprises are no longer subject to the PSPAs.
Members of Federal Home Loan Banks
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is undertaking a review of its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership to identify provisions that may need to be updated to ensure that they remain consistent with the statutory provisions that require a nexus between Bank membership and the housing and community development mission of the Banks. This Advance Notice reviews the statutory provisions governing Bank membership and the regulatory provisions that implement those statutory requirements, suggests various ways that the regulations might be amended within this statutory framework, and invites comments on each of the possible alternatives.
Federal Home Loan Bank Housing Goals
Section 1205 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) by adding a new section 10C(a) that requires the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to establish housing goals with respect to the Federal Home Loan Banks' (Banks) purchase of mortgages, if any. Section 10C(b) provides that the Banks' housing goals are to be consistent with the housing goals established by FHFA for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, the Enterprises) under sections 1331 through 1334 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act), as amended by HERA, taking into consideration the unique mission and ownership structure of the Banks. To implement section 10C, FHFA is adopting a final rule that is substantially the same as the proposed rule published by FHFA for notice and comment. The final rule establishes three single-family owner-occupied purchase money mortgage goals and one single-family refinancing mortgage goal applicable to the Banks' purchases of single- family owner-occupied mortgages, if any, under their Acquired Member Assets (AMA) programs, consistent with the single-family housing goals for the Enterprises. A Bank will be subject to the housing goals if its AMA-approved mortgage purchases in a given year exceed a volume threshold of $2.5 billion.
Office of Inspector General; Delegation of Authorities
This notice delegates two authorities of the Inspector General, Office of Inspector General for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA-OIG), to the FHFA-OIG Principal Deputy Inspector General, the FHFA-OIG Deputy Inspector General for Audit, the FHFA-OIG Deputy Inspector General for Investigations & Evaluations, and the FHFA-OIG Chief Counsel. These authorities are: (1) The authority to issue subpoenas; and (2) the authority to request information under 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(7).
Use of Community Development Loans by Community Financial Institutions To Secure Advances; Secured Lending by Federal Home Loan Banks to Members and Their Affiliates; Transfer of Advances and New Business Activity Regulations
Section 1211 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to expand the types of eligible collateral that community financial institution (CFI) members may pledge to secure Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) advances to include secured loans for community development activities and to allow Banks to make long term advances to CFI members for purposes of financing community development activities. Section 1211 further provides that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shall define the term ``community development activities'' by regulation. To implement these provisions, FHFA is amending the advances regulation to allow CFI members to pledge community development loans as collateral for advances and is adopting a definition of ``community development'' as proposed. The final rule also will transfer the advances and new business activities rules from parts 950 and 980 of the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) regulations, to new parts 1266 and 1272 of the FHFA regulations, respectively, and make other conforming amendments. Finally, the final rule will make a change to the advances regulation to incorporate a long-standing policy previously established by the FHFB that secured lending to a member of any Bank is an advance that must meet the requirements of the advances regulation. The final rule language has been clarified to assure that certain types of transactions, such as derivatives, will not be considered secured lending for the purposes of this provision. The new provision addressing secured lending does not include a prohibition on secured transactions with affiliates of members, as was initially proposed.
Voluntary Mergers of Federal Home Loan Banks
Section 1209 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended section 26 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to permit any Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) to merge with another Bank with the approval of its board of directors, its members, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). This proposed rule would establish the conditions and procedures for the consideration and approval of voluntary Bank mergers.
Debt Collection
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing an interim final rule with request for comments on Debt Collection. The interim final rule sets forth procedures for use by FHFA in collecting debts owed to the Federal Government. Agencies are required by law to issue a regulation on their debt collection procedures. The interim final rule includes procedures for collection of debts through salary offset, administrative offset, tax refund offset, and administrative wage garnishment. FHFA requests comments on the interim final rule.
Federal Home Loan Bank Liabilities
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is proposing to re- organize and re-adopt existing Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) regulations dealing with consolidated obligations (COs), as well as related regulations addressing other authorized Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) liabilities and book-entry procedures for COs, as new part 1270 of the FHFA regulations. The proposed rule would also make changes to the regulations governing COs to reflect recent statutory amendments which removed authority from FHFA to issue COs on which the Banks are jointly and severally liable and provided this authority to the Banks themselves. Otherwise, FHFA is proposing to re-adopt most of the regulatory provisions addressed in this rulemaking without substantive amendment.
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency review, revisions to the information collection, ``Survey of FHLBank Economic Development Programs,'' OMB No. 2590-0010. Specifically, FHFA requests review of the use of surveys at an agency-sponsored conference being held October 25-26, 2010. The surveys will be used for open-forum discussions at the conference, and will be distributed prior to the conference with the intent that they will help to initiate and focus the discussions. The surveys are part of the collection of information that was previously submitted for emergency review and subsequently approved on August 19, 2010, under OMB No. 2590-0010, in connection with open-forum discussions that were held in August and September, 2010. Since that approval, one of the surveys has been substantively revised for its use in October, therefore FHFA is requesting emergency review of these revisions, in addition to the general use of the surveys in October. This revision did not result in a change in burden. The collection of information is due to expire April 30, 2011. To allow interested persons to comment on this information collection, FHFA is publishing this notice and plans to submit a request for a three-year extension of OMB's approval. Comments regarding this information collection should be addressed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC 20503, Fax: 202-395-6974, E-mail: OIRA_ Submission@omb.eop.gov. Please also submit comments to FHFA using any one of the following methods and include ``Comments: Survey of FHLBank Economic Development Programs, No. 2010-N-16'' as the subject: E-mail: RegComments@fhfa.gov; Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. U.S. Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. We will post all public comments we receive without change, including any personal information you provide, such as your name and address, on the FHFA Web site at https://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will be available for examination by the public on business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. To make an appointment to inspect comments, please call the Office of General Counsel at 202-414-6924.
Federal Home Loan Bank Members Selected for Community Support Review
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members it has selected for the 2010 first round review cycle under the FHFA's community support requirements regulation. This notice also prescribes the deadline by which Bank members selected for review must submit Community Support Statements to FHFA.
Equal Access to Justice Act Implementation
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final regulation that establishes procedures for the submission and consideration of applications for awards of fees and other expenses by prevailing parties in adjudications against FHFA.
Information Sharing Among Federal Home Loan Banks
Section 1207 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to require the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to make available to each Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) information relating to the financial condition of all other Banks. Section 1207 also requires FHFA to promulgate regulations to facilitate the sharing of such information among the Banks. This proposed rule would implement those HERA provisions, and also would transfer to new part 1260, without substantive change, existing regulations of the former Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) relating to the filing of regulatory reports by the Banks.
2010-2011 Enterprise Housing Goals; Enterprise Book-entry Procedures
Section 1128(b) of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) to provide for the establishment, monitoring and enforcement of new housing goals effective for 2010 and 2011 for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, the Enterprises). Section 1332(a) of the Safety and Soundness Act, as amended by HERA, requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to establish three single-family owner- occupied purchase money mortgage goals and one single-family refinancing mortgage goal. Section 1333(a) of the Safety and Soundness Act requires FHFA to establish one multifamily special affordable housing goal, as well as providing for a multifamily special affordable housing subgoal. This final rule establishes new housing goals for 2010 and 2011, consistent with the Safety and Soundness Act, as amended. The final rule also revises and updates the rules for counting mortgages for purposes of the housing goals to ensure clarity and consistency with the new goals. In addition, the final rule includes provisions regarding reporting requirements and book-entry procedures.
Submission of information collection for approval From the Office of Management and Budget
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has submitted the following public information collection requirement(s) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency review, and it has been approved under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. To allow interested persons to comment on this information collection, FHFA is publishing this notice and plans to submit a request for a three-year extension of OMB's approval. Comments regarding this information collection should be addressed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC 20503, Fax: 202-395-6974, E- mail: OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov. Please also submit comments to FHFA using any one of the following methods and include ``Comments: Survey of FHLBank Economic Development Programs, No. 2010-N-14'' as the subject: E-mail: RegComments@fhfa.gov; Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. U.S. Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. We will post all public comments we receive without change, including any personal information you provide, such as your name and address, on the FHFA Web site at https://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will be available for examination by the public on business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. To make an appointment to inspect comments, please call the Office of General Counsel at 202-414-6924.
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