Federal Reserve System November 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given of the final approval of a proposed information collection by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board- approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Notice is hereby given of the final approval of a proposed information collections by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Board and the Bureau are publishing final rules amending the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). Effective July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by increasing the threshold for exempt consumer leases from $25,000 to $50,000 and requiring that, on or after December 31, 2011, this threshold be adjusted annually by any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Accordingly, the exemption threshold was adjusted to $51,800 effective January 1, 2012. Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2012, the Board and the Bureau are adjusting the exemption threshold from $51,800 to $53,000, effective January 1, 2013. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Truth in Lending Act's threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions, the Board and the Bureau are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Truth in Lending Act elsewhere in the Federal Register.

On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board under conditions set forth in 5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1. Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. On November 21, 2011, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on a proposal to extend, with revision, the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report), which are currently approved collections of information. After considering the comments received on the proposal, the FFIEC and the agencies announced their final decisions regarding certain proposed revisions on February 17, 2012. The agencies also announced they were continuing to evaluate two new proposed Call Report schedules (Schedule RI-C, Disaggregated Data on the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses, and Schedule RC-U, Loan Origination Activity (in Domestic Offices)) in light of the comments received. The FFIEC and the agencies have completed their evaluation of Schedule RI-C and will proceed with a modified version of the schedule, which will be completed by institutions with $1 billion or more in total assets beginning March 31, 2013. However, the FFIEC and the agencies are continuing their evaluation of proposed Schedule RC-U. The FFIEC's and the agencies' decision regarding proposed Schedule RC-U will be addressed in a future Federal Register notice, and any resulting new reporting requirements for loan origination data will not take effect before the June 30, 2013, report date.

The Board has approved modifications to its method for calculating the private-sector adjustment factor (PSAF). The PSAF is part of the Board's calculation, as required by the Monetary Control Act of 1980 (MCA), to establish the fees that Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) charge for certain financial services provided to depository institutions. Because the Federal Reserve priced services have historically had characteristics most analogous to correspondent banks, clearing balances held by depository institutions at Reserve Banks were a primary component in computing the PSAF. The clearing balance program was largely modeled after similar programs offered by correspondent banks, wherein banks maintain balances with their correspondents. The Board was prompted to consider a new PSAF methodology because clearing balances held at Reserve Banks were declining following the Board's implementation of the payment of interest on required reserve and excess balances held at Reserve Banks. Effective July 2012, the Board eliminated the contractual clearing balance program in connection with its simplification of reserve policies. Changes in the priced services market and the elimination of clearing balances have made the correspondent bank analogy less applicable to the priced services provided by the Federal Reserve. Accordingly, the Board is adopting a publicly traded firm model to set the PSAF. Use of the new methodology is reflected in priced services fees for 2013, which is published elsewhere in today's Federal Register.

The Board is delaying the effective date for implementation of certain provisions of its final rule amending the Board's Regulation D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions) published in the Federal Register on April 12, 2012. The final rule's effective date is being delayed to allow for further development and testing of the automated systems necessary to support the implementation of certain provisions.