Office of Thrift Supervision February 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to extend this information collection.

The proposed information collection request (ICR) described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. OTS is soliciting public comments on the proposal.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Department of the Treasury, Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), gives notice of a proposed new system of records entitled ``Mass Communication SystemTreasury/OTS.013.''

The OTS is requesting public comment on its proposal to cease collection of data used to calculate and publish the Monthly Median Cost of Funds Index (MMCOF), the Quarterly Cost of Funds Index (QCOF), the Semiannual Cost of Funds Index (SCOF), and other related cost of funds ratios currently published monthly in the OTS's Cost of Funds (COF) Report.\1\ At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the OTS should modify the proposal prior to giving final approval. The OTS will then submit the revisions to OMB for review and approval.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, and the OTS (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 agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, have approved the publication for public comment of a proposal to require savings associations currently filing the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) to convert to filing the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) beginning with the reporting period ending on March 31, 2012. In addition, the Board is publishing a notice of its intent to require savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs) to submit to the Board all regulatory reports that are currently required to be filed by bank holding companies (BHCs), beginning with the reporting period ending on March 31, 2012. See the Board's separate Notice of Intent for its plans regarding SLHC reporting in today's Federal Register. The TFR and the Call Report are currently approved collections of information. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the agencies should modify the proposal for savings associations to convert to filing the Call Report prior to giving final approval. The agencies will then submit the proposal to OMB for review and approval.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), the OTS 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 October 5, 2010, the OTS requested public comment for 60 days (75 FR 61563) \1\ on a proposal to extend, with revisions, the Thrift Financial Report (TFR), which is currently an approved collection of information. On November 17, 2010, the OTS published an amended notice to correct an error in the initial notice (75 FR 70355).\2\ These notices described regulatory reporting revisions proposed for the TFR. After considering the comments received on the proposal, the OTS will proceed with most, but not all, of the reporting changes that had been proposed and will also revise two other TFR items in response to commenters' recommendations. For some of the reporting changes that the OTS plans to implement, limited modifications have been made to the original proposals in response to the comments. All proposed changes to the TFR for 2011 that would increase the differences between the TFR and the Call Report have been eliminated. Proposed changes to the TFR for 2011, announced on October 5, 2010 (75 FR 61563), included changes that parallel proposed changes to the Call Report as well as changes unique to the TFR. Proposed changes unique to the TFR included proposed data collections for classified assets by major loan category and loan loss allowances by major loan category. The OTS will curtail all proposed TFR changes that increase differences with the Call Report in an effort to reduce the initial burden of converting to the Call Report. The changes are proposed to become effective in March 2011.