49912 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 185 /Wednesday, September 24, 1997 /Rules and Regulations

Assistant Secretary on September 24,

1997.

[FR Doc. 97–25306 Filed 9–23–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Fiscal Service

31 CFR Part 343

[Department of the Treasury Circular, Public

Debt Series No. 3–68]

Regulations Governing the Offering of

United States Mortgage Guaranty

Insurance Company Tax and Loss

Bonds

AGENCY: Bureau of the Public Debt,

Fiscal Service, Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury (Department) or (Treasury) is

issuing in final form an amendment to

its regulations governing United States

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Company

Tax and Loss Bonds, referred to as tax

and loss bonds. These securities are

available for purchase only by

companies organized and engaged in the

business of writing mortgage guaranty

insurance within the United States.

Previously, these securities were issued

in definitive (paper) form. They were

only available in a ten year maturity.

The Department has determined that

maintaining and servicing these

securities in definitive form is not costeffective. The Department had also

received many requests to offer a twenty

year maturity. This final rule will

reduce administrative overhead and

costs by providing that on or after the

effective date of the regulation, the

securities will only be offered in bookentry form and that the securities may,

at the option of the holder, be converted

to book-entry form. It will also provide

for maturities of either ten or twenty

years. Minor changes to redemption

notices have been added and all

addresses have been updated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 24, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies are available for

downloading from the Bureau of the

Public Debt home page at: http://

www.publicdebt.treas.gov/or may be

obtained from the Division of Special

Investments, 200 3rd St., P.O. Box 396,

Parkersburg, WV 26106–0396.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Howard Stevens, Director, Division of

Special Investments, at 304–480–7752,

or Edward C. Gronseth, Deputy Chief

Counsel, at 304–480–5192 or Jim

Kramer-Wilt, Attorney/Adviser, Office

of the Chief Counsel, at 304–480–5190.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Department of the Treasury,

Bureau of the Public Debt, is providing

for the voluntary conversion of

outstanding definitive tax and loss

securities to book-entry form and further

providing for the issuance of only bookentry securities. This conversion will

improve the cost-effectiveness of this

program and the ease of administering

transactions involving these securities.

II. Section-by-Section Summary

Subpart A—General Information

Provisions included in the general

information paragraph apply to the

offering of these securities. Part 343 has

been substantially rewritten. Changes

from the 1968 regulations are as follows:

(1) Paragraph 343.1—This paragraph

has been renumbered from 343.6.

(2) Paragraph 343.1(a)—This

paragraph has been renumbered from

343.6(a). It is amended to state that

copies of 31 CFR part 306 may be

obtained from the Division of Special

Investments.

(3) Paragraph 343.1(b)—This is a new

paragraph titled Issuance. It states that

on or after the effective date of this

regulation, tax and loss bonds will be

issued only in book-entry form on the

books of the Treasury Department. The

bonds will now be issued with ten or

twenty year maturities designated by the

purchaser and are non-interest bearing.

Transfer by sale, exchange, assignment,

pledge, or otherwise is prohibited. The

bonds may be reissued as provided in

paragraph 343.4.

(4) Paragraph 343.1(c)—This

paragraph has been renumbered from

343.6(b). It is amended to state that

selected Federal Reserve Banks and

branches, as fiscal agents of the United

States, may be designated to perform

such services requested of them by the

Secretary of the Treasury in connection

with purchases, transactions and

redemptions of these bonds.

(5) Paragraph 343.1(d)—This is a new

paragraph titled Debt limit contingency.

It states that the Department of the

Treasury reserves the right to change or

suspend the terms and conditions of the

offering of tax and loss securities. This

right includes provisions relating to the

purchase and redemption of these bonds

and any related notices. This may be

done at any time the Secretary

determines that the issuance of

obligations sufficient to conduct the

orderly financing operations of the

United States cannot be made without

exceeding the statutory debt limit.

Announcement of such changes shall be

provided by such means as the

Secretary deems appropriate.

(6) 343.1(3)—This paragraph has been

renumbered from 343.3. It is amended

to state that upon maturity of a bond,

the Department will make payment of

the principal amount due to the owner.

A bond scheduled for maturity on a

non-business day will be redeemed on

the next business day with the same

force and effect as if made on the

maturity date.

(7) Paragraph 343.1(f)—This

paragraph is titled Reservations. It

includes language of the former

paragraph 343.3. It is revised to state

that the Secretary of the Treasury may

supplement or amend the terms of this

circular or any related amendments and

supplements. Transaction requests,

including purchases or redemptions of

bonds, are not acceptable if unsigned,

inappropriately completed, or not

timely submitted. The non-acceptance

of inappropriate transaction requests is

final. The authority of the Secretary to

waive regulations under 31 CFR 306.126

applies to part 343.

(8) Paragraph 343.1(g)—This is a new

paragraph titled Forms and additional

information. It states that PD Form 3871

‘‘Application for Issue of United States

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Company

Tax and Loss Bonds’’, Fedwire

instructions and other information will

be furnished by the Division of Special

Investments upon request. Interested

parties may write to the Division of

Special Investments or may telephone at

(304) 480–7752. Application forms may

also be downloaded from the Internet at

Public Debt’s home page at: http://

www.publicdebt.treas.gov/.

Subpart B—Tax and Loss Bonds

This is a new subpart which includes

information on the issue date, purchase,

redemption, reissue and taxation of

these bonds.

(9) Paragraph 343.2—This paragraph

has been renumbered. It combines the

former paragraphs 343.1(c) and 343.2.

This paragraph is revised to state that

the issue date must be a business day.

The securities will also be issued as of

the date of receipt of Form PD F 3871,

along with remittance of funds for the

full amount of the bond(s). Applications

under this offering must be submitted to

the Division of Special Investments. An

application may be submitted by fax at

(304) 380–7786 or (304) 480–6818, by

mail or by other carrier. Applications

submitted by mail should be sent by

certified or registered mail.

(10) Paragraph 343.2(b)—This

paragraph has been renumbered from
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 185 /Wednesday, September 24, 1997 /Rules and Regulations 49913

343.2. It is revised to state that tax and

loss bonds may be purchased only from

the Division of Special Investments.

(11) Paragraph 343(a)—This subparagraph has been renumbered from

343.3. It has been revised to state that

partial redemptions of bonds may be

requested in any whole dollar amount;

however, an account balance of less that

$1,000 will be redeemed in total. The

address to which redemptions are sent

is changed to the address now listed in

paragraph 343.3(d).

(12) Paragraph 343.3(b)—This subparagraph has been renumbered from

343.3. This paragraph has been revised

to state that payment will be made by

the Automated Clearing House (ACH)

method to the owner’s account at a

financial institution designated by the

owner. To the extent applicable,

provisions of Paragraph 357.26 on

‘‘Payments’’, and provisions of 31 CFR

part 370, shall govern ACH payments

made under this offering. The

Department of the Treasury may employ

alternate payment procedures, in lieu of

ACH, in any case or class of cases where

operational considerations require such

action.

(13) Paragraph 343.3(c)—This is a

new paragraph titled Book-entry. It

states that bonds will be redeemed

automatically upon maturity. Payment

will be made in accordance with the

ACH payment instructions on file.

Redemptions prior to maturity will be

made upon receipt of a redemption

request. Notice of redemption prior to

maturity must be submitted by letter, on

company letterhead, to the Division of

Special Investments or faxed to (304)

480–7786 or (304) 480–6818.

The notice must be received by the

Division of Special Investments not less

than three business days prior to the

requested redemption date. It must

contain the owner’s name and Tax

Identification Number, the requested

redemption date, any changed payment

routing instructions, the case number(s)

to be redeemed, including original issue

date(s) and the amount to be redeemed.

(14) Paragraph 343.3(d)—This is a

new paragraph titled Registered and

provides for the redemption of a

registered tax and loss bond. The

bond(s) with the assignment for

redemption properly completed and

executed must be presented to the

Division of Special Investments.

Payment routing instructions must also

be included with the bond(s) at

redemption. Upon partial redemption of

a registered bond, the remaining balance

will be reissued in book-entry form with

the original issue and maturity date.

(15) Paragraph 343.4—This paragraph

has been renumbered from 343.5.

(16) 343.4(a)—This paragraph has

been renumbered from 343.5(a). It is

revised to state that reissues must be

sent to the Division of Special

Investments. It also states that a bond

will only be reissued in book-entry form

but will continue to bear the same issue

date and maturity as the original bond.

(17) 343.4(b)—This paragraph has

been renumbered from 343.5(b).

(18) 343.4(c)—This paragraph has

been renumbered from 343.5(c).

(19) 343.4(d)—This paragraph has

been renumbered from 343.5(d).

(20) 343.4(e)—This is a new

paragraph titled Conversion to bookentry. It provides that any owner of tax

and loss bonds held in registered form

after the effective date of this regulation

may submit the bonds to the Division of

Special Investments for conversion to

book-entry.

(21)—Paragraph 343.5—This

paragraph has been renumbered from

343.4.

Procedural Requirements

It has been determined that this final

rule is not a significant regulatory action

as defined in Executive Order 12866.

Therefore, an assessment of anticipated

benefits, costs and regulatory

alternatives is not required.

This final rule relates to matters of

public contract. The notice and public

procedures requirements of the

Administrative Procedure Act are

inapplicable, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.

553(a)(2). As no notice of proposed

rulemaking is required, the provisions

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601, et seq.) do not apply.

Because, as stated above, this

regulation is being issued without prior

notice and public procedure, the

collection of information contained in

this regulation has been reviewed under

the requirements of the Paperwork

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3507 (j)) and,

pending receipt and evaluation of

public comments, approved by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) under control number 1535–

0127. An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless it displays a valid control

number assigned by OMB.

Comments concerning the collection

of information should be directed to

OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the

Bureau of the Public Debt, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Washington, DC, 20503, with copies to

the Bureau of the Public Debt, Office of

Administration, Graphics, Printing and

Records Branch, Room 301, 200 Third

Street, Parkersburg, WV 26106. Any

such comments should be submitted not

later than November 24, 1997.

Comments are specifically requested

concerning:

1. Whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

Bureau of the Public Debt, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

2. The accuracy of the estimated

burden associated with the proposed

collection of information (see below);

3. How to enhance the quality, utility

and clarity of the information to be

collected;

4. How to minimize the burden of

complying with the proposed collection

of information, including the

application of automated collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology; and

5. Estimates of capital or start-up costs

and costs of operation, maintenance,

and purchase of services to provide

information.

The collection of information in this

regulation is in 31 CFR 343.2, 343.3 and

343.4. This information is required to

establish and maintain accounts for

holding Mortgage Guaranty Insurance

Company Tax and Loss Bonds. This

information will be used to issue a

Statement of Account to the entity,

establish issue and maturity dates for

the bonds, and provide electronic

payment routing instructions for the

proceeds. The collection of information

is required to obtain a benefit. The

likely respondents are companies

engaged in the business of writing

mortgage guaranty insurance with the

United States.

The estimated total annual reporting

burden: 20 hours.

The estimated average annual burden

hours per respondent: 15 minutes.

The estimated number of

respondents: 37 respondents.

The estimated annual frequency of

responses: 2.16 times.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 343

United States Mortgage Guaranty

Insurance Company Tax and Loss

Bonds.

Dated: September 19, 1997.

Gerald Murphy,

Fiscal Assistant Secretary.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, part 343 of Title 31 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is revised

to read as follows:
49914 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 185 /Wednesday, September 24, 1997 /Rules and Regulations

PART 343—REGULATIONS

GOVERNING THE OFFERING OF

UNITED STATES MORTGAGE

GUARANTY INSURANCE COMPANY

TAX AND LOSS BONDS

Subpart A—General Information

Sec.

343.0 Offering of bonds.

343.1 General provisions.

Subpart B—Tax and Loss Bonds

343.2 Issue date and purchase.

343.3 Redemption.

343.4 Reissue.

344.5 Taxation.

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 26 U.S.C. 832; 31

U.S.C. 3102.

Subpart A—General Information

§ 343.0 Offering of bonds.

The Secretary of the Treasury, under

the authority of the Second Liberty

Bond Act, as amended, and pursuant to

paragraph 832(e) of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954, offers for sale

only to companies organized and

engaged in the business of writing

mortgage guaranty insurance within the

United States, bonds of the United

States designated as Mortgage Guaranty

Insurance Company Tax and Loss

Bonds, hereinafter referred to as tax and

loss bonds. The bonds are issued in a

minimum amount of $1,000 or in any

larger amount, in increments of not less

than $1.00. This offering will continue

until terminated by the Secretary of the

Treasury.

§ 343.1 General provisions.

(a) Regulations. Tax and loss bonds

are subject to the general regulations

with respect to United States securities,

which are set forth in the Department of

the Treasury Circular No. 300 (31 CFR

part 306), to the extent applicable.

Copies of the circular may be obtained

from the Bureau of the Public Debt,

Division of Special Investments, Room

309, 200 Third St., P.O. Box 396,

Parkersburg, WV 26106–0396 or

downloaded from Public Debt’s home

page on the Internet at: http://

www.publicdebt.treas.gov/.

(b) Issuance. Tax and loss bonds are

issued in book-entry form on the books

of the Treasury that are maintained by

the Division of Special Investments. The

bonds are issued with 10 or 20 year

maturities as designated by the

purchaser. These bonds are non-interest

bearing. Any transfer by sale, exchange,

assignment, pledge or otherwise, is

prohibited. The bonds may be reissued

as provided in § 343.4.

(c) Fiscal agents. Selected Federal

Reserve Banks and Branches, as fiscal

agents of the United States, may be

designated to perform such services

requested of them by the Secretary of

the Treasury in connection with the

purchase, redemption and other

transactions involving these bonds.

(d) Debt limit contingency. The

Department of the Treasury reserves the

right to change or suspend the terms

and conditions of this offering,

including provisions relating to the

purchase of, and redemption of, the

bonds as well as notices relating hereto,

at any time the Secretary determines

that the issuance of obligations

sufficient to conduct the orderly

financing operations of the United

States cannot be made without

exceeding the statutory debt limit.

Announcement of such changes shall be

provided by such means as the

Secretary deems appropriate.

(e) General redemption provisions. A

bond may not be called for redemption

by the Secretary of the Treasury prior to

maturity. When the bond matures,

payment will be made of the principal

amount due to the owner. A bond

scheduled for maturity on a nonbusiness day will be redeemed on the

next business day.

(f) Reservations. The Secretary of the

Treasury may at any time, or from time

to time, supplement or amend the terms

of this circular or any related

amendments or supplements.

Transaction requests, including

purchases or redemptions of bonds, are

not acceptable if unsigned,

inappropriately completed, or not

timely submitted. Any of these actions

shall be final. The authority of the

Secretary to waive regulations under 31

CFR 306.126 applies to part 343.

(g) Forms and additional information.

The application form for subscriptions,

Fedwire instructions and other

information will be furnished by the

Division of Special Investments upon

request by writing to the Division of

Special Investments or by calling (304)

480–7752. Application forms may also

be downloaded from the Internet at

Public Debt’s home page at: http://

www.publicdebt.treas.gov/.

Subpart B—Tax and Loss Bonds

§ 343.2 Issue date and purchase.

(a) Issue date. The issue date must be

a business day. The bonds will be

issued as of the date of receipt of Form

PD F 3871 ‘‘Application for Issue of

United States Mortgage Guaranty

Insurance Company Tax and Loss

Bonds’’ and receipt of the remittance of

funds for the full amount of the bond(s).

Applications under this offering must be

submitted to the Division of Special

Investments. An application may be

submitted by fax at (304) 480–7786 or

(304) 480–6818, by mail, or by other

carrier. Applications submitted by mail

should be sent by certified or registered

mail.

(b) Purchase. Tax and loss bonds may

only be purchased from the Division of

Special Investments. The purchaser will

instruct their financial institution to

submit the exact amount of funds on the

requested issue date to the Division of

Special Investments via the Fedwire

funds transfer system, with credit

directed to the Treasury’s General

Account, according to wire instructions

obtained from the Division of Special

Investments (see § 343.1(g)). Full

payment should be submitted by 3:00

P.M. Eastern time to ensure that

settlement of the transaction occurs.

[Approved by the Office of Management and

Budget under control number 1535–0127.]

§ 343.3 Redemption.

(a) General. Tax and loss bonds may

not be called for redemption by the

Secretary of the Treasury prior to

maturity, but may be redeemed in whole

or in part at the owner’s option at any

time after three months from issue date.

The Director of the Internal Revenue

Service District in which the owner’s

principal place of business is located

will be given notice of all redemptions.

Partial redemptions of bonds may be

requested in any whole dollar amount;

however, an account balance of less

than $1,000 will be redeemed in total.

(b) Method of payment. Payment will

be made by the Automated Clearing

House (ACH) method for the owner’s

account at a financial institution

designated by the owner. To the extent

applicable, provisions of § 357.26,

Payments, and provisions of 31 CFR

part 370, shall govern ACH payments

made under this offering. The

Department of the Treasury may employ

alternate payment procedures in lieu of

ACH in any case or class of cases where

operational considerations require such

action.

(c) Book-entry. Bonds will be

redeemed automatically upon maturity.

Payment will be made in accordance

with the ACH payment instructions on

file. Redemptions prior to maturity will

be made upon receipt of a redemption

request. Notice of redemption prior to

maturity must be submitted in writing

on company letterhead to the Division

of Special Investments, or faxed to (304)

480–7786 or to (304) 480–6818. The

notice must be received by the Division

of Special Investments not less than

three business days prior to the

requested redemption date. It must

contain the owner’s name and Tax

Identification Number, the requested
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 185 /Wednesday, September 24, 1997 /Rules and Regulations 49915

redemption date, any changed payment

routing instructions, the case number(s)

to be redeemed, including original issue

date(s), and the amount to be redeemed.

(d) Registered. To obtain redemption,

a bond with the assignment for

redemption properly completed and

executed must be presented to the

Division of Special Investments.

Payment routing instructions must also

be included with the bond at

redemption. Upon partial redemption of

a registered bond, the remaining balance

will be reissued in book-entry form with

the original issue and maturity date.

[Approved by the Office of Management and

Budget under control number 1535–0127.]

§ 343.4 Reissue.

(a) General. Reissue of a tax and loss

bond may be made only under the

conditions specified in this paragraph.

A request for reissue must be made by

an officer of the beneficial owner who

is authorized to assign the bond for

redemption. The request must be

submitted to the Division of Special

Investments. A bond will only be

reissued in book-entry form and will

bear the same issue date and maturity as

the original bond.

(b) Correction of error. The reissue of

a bond may be made to correct an error

in the original issue upon an

appropriate request, supported by

satisfactory proof of the error.

(c) Change of name. An owner whose

name is changed in any legal manner

after the issue of the bond should

submit the bond with a request for

reissue, substituting the new name for

the name inscribed on the bond. The

signature on the request for reissue

should show the new name, the legal

reason which caused the change to be

made and the former name. It must be

supported by satisfactory proof of the

change of name.

(d) Legal succession. A bond

registered in the name of a company

which has been succeeded by another

company as the result of a merger,

consolidation, incorporation,

reincorporation, conversion,

reorganization, or which has been

lawfully succeeded in any manner

whereby the business or activities of the

original organization are continued

without substantial change, will be paid

to or reissued in the name of the

successor upon an appropriate request

on its behalf, supported by satisfactory

evidence of successorship.

(e) Conversion to book-entry.

Although not required, any owner of tax

and loss bonds held in registered form

after the effective date of this regulation,

may submit those bonds to the Division

of Special Investments, for conversion

to book-entry form.

[Approved by the Office of Management and

Budget under control number 1535–0127.]

§ 343.5 Taxation

Tax and loss bonds will be exempt

from all taxation now or hereafter

imposed on the principal by any state or

any possession of the United States or

of any local taxing authority.

[FR Doc. 97–25450 Filed 9–22–97; 12:17 pm]

BILLING CODE 4810–39–P

POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 20

Implementation of Global Package Link

Service

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: Global Package Link Service

(GPL) is an international mail service

designed for mailers sending

merchandise to other countries. To

implement an agreement previously

entered into with the postal

administration of Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region (Hong Kong),

Hong Kong is now being added as a

destination country. This action is

consistent with the Postal Service’s

original plan to add destination

countries as mailer needs dictate (59 FR

65961; December 22, 1994). GPL Service

previously has been made available to

Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France,

Germany, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, and

the United Kingdom (U.K.). To use GPL

Service, a mailer must mail at least

10,000 GPL packages a year and agree to

link its information systems with the

Postal Service’s so that the Postal

Service can extract certain information

about the contents of the mailer’s

packages for customs clearance and

other purposes. Initially, one level of

service to Hong Kong will be offered to

mailers. Interim regulations have been

developed and are set forth below for

comment and suggested revision prior

to adoption in final form.

DATES: The interim regulations take

effect September 24, 1997. Comments

must be received on or before October

24, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or delivered to Global

Package Link Service, U.S. Postal

Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room

370 IBU, Washington, DC 20260–6500.

Copies of all written comments will be

available for public inspection and

photocopying at the above address

between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert Michelson at the above address.

Telephone: (202) 268–5731. Marc

Solnick at the above address.

Telephone: (202) 268–3916.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

One of the most important goals of the

Postal Service’s international mission is

developing services that enhance the

ability of U.S. mailers to do business in

other countries. This responsibility was

delineated in 39 U.S.C. 403(b)(2) which

makes it the obligation of the Postal

Service ‘‘to provide types of mail service

to meet the needs of different categories

of mail and mail users.’’ GPL is

designed to more closely meet the needs

of mailers who send merchandise

packages from the United States to

multiple international addressees by

simplifying the process mailers use to

prepare their packages for mailing and

by reducing the costs those mailers

incur in mailing merchandise to other

countries.

In late 1994, with implementation of

International Package Consignment

Service, later renamed Global Package

Link, to Japan (59 FR 65961; December

22, 1994), the Postal Service announced

that, when feasible, it would expand

this service to other destination

countries based on mailer requests.

Consistent with this policy, the Postal

Service later expanded GPL by adding

Canada and the United Kingdom as

destination countries for qualifying

mailers (61 FR 13765; March 28, 1996),

subsequently expanded GPL further by

announcing Brazil, Chile, and Germany

as GPL destinations (62 FR 17072; April

9, 1997), added the People’s Republic of

China as a GPL destination (62 FR

25515; May 9, 1997), added Mexico and

Singapore as GPL destinations (62 FR

45160; August 26, 1997), and added

France as a GPL destination (62 FR

47558; September 10, 1997). The USPS

is hereby further expanding GPL by

adding Hong Kong as a GPL destination

for qualifying mailers. This action

implements an agreement with the

postal administration of Hong Kong

dated August 29, 1997.

II. GPL to Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region

A. Qualifying Criteria

A mailer who wants to use GPL to

Hong Kong must enter into a service

agreement with the Postal Service

providing for the following. First, the

mailer must commit to mail at least