Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 146 / Wednesday, July 30, 1997 / Notices 40815

Washington, DC 20426. Please include

the project number (2114–032) on any

comments filed.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–19976 Filed 7–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5865–5]

Proposed Prospective Purchaser

Agreement Pursuant to the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation and Liability

Act of 1980, as Amended by the

Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice; request for public

comment.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a

proposed prospective purchaser

agreement associated with the Bonne

Terre Superfund Site, located in St.

Francois County, Missouri, was

executed by the Agency on May 30,

1997, and concurred upon by the United

States Department of Justice on July 4,

1997. This agreement is subject to final

approval after the comment period. The

Prospective Purchaser Agreement would

resolve certain potential EPA claims

under the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation

and Liability Act of 1980, as amended

by the Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act of 1986

(‘‘CERCLA’’), against Kenneth and

Shirley David, the prospective

purchasers (‘‘the purchasers’’).

The settlement would require the

purchasers to perform cleanup actions

at the property which include

establishing and maintaining a

protective cover over potentially

contaminated soil on-site. The

purchasers must record a deed

restriction limiting the use of the

property to industrial and commercial

uses and must provide EPA access to

the Site.

For thirty (30) days following the date

of publication of this notice, the Agency

will receive written comments relating

to the proposed settlement.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before August 29, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should reference

the ‘‘Bonne Terre Superfund Site

Prospective Purchaser Agreement’’ and

should be forwarded to Jack Generaux,

Remedial Project Manager, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue,

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. The

Agency’s response to any comments

received will be available for public

inspection at the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region VII, 726

Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas

66101.

The proposed settlement is available

for public inspection at the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue,

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. A copy of

the proposed agreement may be

obtained from Jack Generaux, Remedial

Project Manager, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region VII, 726

Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas

66101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Cozad, Senior Associate Regional

Counsel, United States Environmental

Protection Agency, Region VII, 726

Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas

66101, (913) 551–7587.

Dated: July 18, 1997.

William Rice,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–20059 Filed 7–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY: The FDIC, 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 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).

Currently, the FDIC is soliciting

comments concerning an information

collection titled ‘‘Acquisition Services

Information Requirements.’’

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before September 29, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are

invited to submit written comments to

Steven F. Hanft, FDIC Clearance Officer,

(202) 898–3907, Office of the Executive

Secretary, Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation, 550 17th Street N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20429. All comments

should refer to ‘‘Acquisition Services

Information Requirements.’’ Comments

may be hand-delivered to Room F–400,

1776 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20429, on business days between 8:30

a.m. and 5:00 p.m. [FAX number (202)

898–3838; Internet address:

comments@fdic.gov].

A copy of the comments may also be

submitted to the OMB desk officer for

the FDIC: Alexander Hunt, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget, New

Executive Office Building, Room 3208,

Washington, D.C. 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven F. Hanft, at the address

identified above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposal

to renew the following currently

approved collection of information:

Title: Acquisition Services

Information Requirements.

OMB Number: 3064–0072.

Frequency of Response: Occasional.

Affected Public: Contractors and

vendors who wish to do business with

the FDIC.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

3,000.

Estimated Time per Response: 45

minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

1.050 hours.

General Description of Collection: The

collection involves the submission of

information on various forms by

contractors and vendors who wish to do

business with the FDIC. The

information is used to evaluate bids and

proposals from offerors, to award

contracts, to make purchases of goods

and services, and to monitor contracts

that support FDIC’s mission.

Request for Comment

Comments are invited on: (A)

Whether the collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of

the FDIC’s functions, including whether

the information has practical utility; (b)

the accuracy of the estimates of the

burden of the information collection,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the information collection on

respondents, including through the use

of automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

At the end of the comment period, the

comments and recommendations

received will be analyzed to determine

the extent to which the collection

should be modified prior to submission

to OMB for review and approval.

Comments submitted in response to this

notice also will be summarized or
40816 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 146 / Wednesday, July 30, 1997 / Notices

1Repurchase agreements, generally used by

owners of securities as financing vehicles are, in

certain respects, closely analogous to securities

lending. Repurchase agreements however, are not

the direct focus of these guidelines. A typical

repurchase agreement has the following

distinguishing characteristics:

—The sale and repurchase (loan) of U.S.

government or federal agency securities.

—Cash is received by the seller (lender) and the

party supplying the funds receives the collateral

margin.

—The agreement is for a fixed period of time.

—A fee is negotiated and established for the

transaction at the outset and no rebate is given to

the borrower from interest earned on the investment

of cash collateral.

—The confirmation received by the financial

institution from a borrower broker/dealer classifies

the transaction as a repurchase agreement.

included in the FDIC’s requests to OMB

for renewal of this collection. All

comments will become a matter of

public record.

Dated at Washington, D.C., this 25th day of

July, 1997.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–20045 Filed 7–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6714–01–M

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

Revised Policy Statement on

Securities Lending

AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Notice of revised policy

statement.

SUMMARY: As part of the FDIC’s

systematic review of its regulations and

written policies under section 303(a) of

the Riegle Community Development and

Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994

(CDRI), the FDIC is adopting revisions

recently made by the Federal Financial

Institutions Examination Council

(FFIEC) to its policy statement on

securities lending (policy statement).

The policy statement provides guidance

to insured depository institutions about

conducting securities lending in a safe

and sound manner. The FDIC is

adopting certain minor changes to the

policy statement which the FFIEC has

made to update outdated and

duplicative cross-references to other

supervisory documents, but is otherwise

retaining the policy statement in its

present form.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 30, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William A. Stark, Assistant Director,

(202/898–6972), Kenton Fox, Senior

Capital Markets Specialist, (202/898–

7119), Division of Supervision; Jamey

Basham, Counsel, (202/898–7265), Legal

Division, FDIC, 550 17th Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20429.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FDIC

is conducting a systematic review of its

regulations and written policies. Section

303(a) of the CDRI (12 U.S.C. 4803(a))

requires the FDIC, the Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the

Board of Governors of the Federal

Reserve System (FRB), and the Office of

Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively,

the federal banking agencies) to each

streamline and modify its regulations

and written policies in order to improve

efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs,

and eliminate unwarranted constraints

on credit availability. Section 303(a)

also requires each of the federal banking

agencies to remove inconsistencies and

outmoded and duplicative requirements

from its regulations and written

policies.

The FFIEC developed the Policy

Statement to provide general

supervisory guidance to insured

depository institutions that lend their

own securities or customers’ securities

to securities brokers, commercial banks,

and others. The policy statement

requires banks to establish written

policies and procedures governing

securities lending operations. Areas

addressed in the policy statement

include recordkeeping, administration,

credit analysis, credit limits, collateral

management, and the use of finders. The

OCC, FRB, and FDIC adopted the policy

statement, with the FDIC’s adoption

taking place on May 6, 1985. 2 FDIC,

Law, Regulations, and Related Acts

(FDIC) 5249.

On July 21, 1997, FFIEC published a

notice making minor changes to the

Policy Statement, in order to update

certain outdated cross-references to

other supervisory documents. 62 FR

38991. First, the extended discussion of

how to report securities lending

activities on the Consolidated Reports of

Condition and Income (call report) has

been replaced with a cross-reference to

the call report instructions themselves,

which have superseded the material in

the Policy Statement. Second, footnote

3, which recited the types of collateral

a broker/dealer was permitted to pledge

under the FRB’s Regulation T (12 CFR

220.16), has been removed because it no

longer accurately reflected all types of

collateral permitted under Regulation T.

These two changes will also eliminate

unnecessary duplication and reduce the

possibility of error in the event of future

changes to the call report instructions or

Regulation T. Third, two citations to

Prohibited Transaction Exemptions

issued by the Department of Labor

concerning securities lending programs

for employee benefit plans covered by

the Employee Retirement Income

Security Act have been corrected.

Consistent with the goals of the CDRI

review, the FDIC is adopting FFIEC’s

modifications to the Policy Statement,

thereby eliminating certain outdated

and duplicative material contained

therein. The modified Policy Statement

reads as follows.

Federal Financial Institutions

Examination Council Supervisory

Policy

Securities Lending

Purpose

Financial institutions are lending

securities with increasing frequency. In

some instances a financial institution

may lend its own investment or trading

account securities. More and more

often, however, financial institutions

lend customers’ securities held in

custody, safekeeping, trust or pension

accounts. Not all institutions that lend

securities or plan to do so have relevant

experience. Because the securities

available for lending often greatly

exceed the demand for them,

inexperienced lenders may be tempted

to ignore commonly recognized

safeguards. Bankruptcies of brokerdealers have heightened regulatory

sensitivity to the potential for problems

in this area. Accordingly, we are

providing the following discussion of

guidelines and regulatory concerns.

Securities Lending Market

Securities brokers and commercial

banks are the primary borrowers of

securities. They borrow securities to

cover securities fails (securities sold but

not available for delivery), short sales,

and option and arbitrage positions.

Securities lending, which used to

involve principally corporate equities

and debt obligations, increasingly

involves loans of large blocks of U.S.

government and federal agency

securities.

Securities lending is conducted

through open-ended ‘‘loan’’ agreements,

which may be terminated on short

notice by the lender or borrower.1 The

objective of such lending is to receive a

safe return in addition to the normal

interest or dividends. Securities loans

are generally collateralized by U.S.

government or federal agency securities,