7232 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 32 / Tuesday, February 18, 1997 / Notices

Bull. 192 (1989)); (2) acting as agent in

the private placement of all types of

securities (see Bankers Trust New York

Corp., 75 Fed. Res. Bull. 829 (1989)); (3)

buying and selling all types of securities

on order of customers as ‘‘riskless

principal’’ (see The Bank of New York

Company, Inc., 82 Fed. Res. Bull. 748

(1996); (4) providing investment and

financial advisory services, pursuant to

§ 225.25(b)(4) of the Board’s Regulation

Y; (5) providing full-service brokerage

services, pursuant to § 225.25(b)(15) of

the Board’s Regulation Y; (6) making

and servicing loans, pursuant to §

225.25(b)(1) of the Board’s Regulation Y;

(7) underwriting and dealing in

government obligations and money

market instruments in which state

member banks may underwrite and deal

under 12 U.S.C. §§ 335 and 24(7),

putsuant to § 225.25(b)(16) of the

Board’s Regulation Y; (8) in addition to

the securities credit activities under the

Board’s Regulation T, acting as

‘‘conduit’’ or ‘‘intermediary’’ in

securities borrowing and lending (see

Republic New York Corp., et al., 80 Fed.

Res. Bull. 249 (1994); and (9) engaging

in the following swaps-related activities:

(a) acting as agent or broker with respect

to interests in loan syndications, interest

rate and currency swap transactions and

related caps, floors, collars and options

thereon (‘‘swap derivative products’’);

(b) acting as a broker or agent with

respect to swaps and swap derivative

products, and over-the-counter options

transactions, linked to products other

than interest rates and currencies, such

as certain commodities, stock, bond, or

commodity indices, or a hybrid of

interest rates and such commodities or

indices, a specially tailored basket of

securities selected by the parties, or

single securities; (c) providing financial

and transactions advice regarding the

structuring and arranging of swaps and

swap derivative products relating to

non-financial commodity swap

transactions; and (d) providing

investment advice, including counsel,

written analyses and reports, and other

advisory services, including

discretionary portfolio management

services, with respect to futures and

options on futures on non-financial

commodities (see, e.g., Caisse Nationale

de Credit Agricole, S.A., 82 Fed. Res.

Bull. 754 (1996); First Union

Corporation, 81 Fed. Res. Bull. 726

(1995). Company would conduct these

activities in accordance with Regulation

Y and the Board’s prior orders involving

these activities. Company proposes to

conduct these activities throughout the

world.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

(James A. Bluemle, Vice President) 230

South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois

60690-1413:

1. Stichting Prioriteit ABN AMRO

Holding, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;

Stichting Administratiekantoor ABN

AMRO Holding, Amsterdam, The

Netherlands; ABN AMRO Holding N.V.,

Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ABN

AMRO Bank N.V., Amsterdam, The

Netherlands; and ABN AMRO North

America, Inc., Chicago, Illinois; to

acquire Standard Federal Bancorp, Inc.,

Troy, Michigan, and thereby indirectly

acquire Standard Federal Bank, Troy,

Michigan (a federally-chartered stock

savings bank), and Standard Brokerage

Services, Inc., Troy, Michigan, and

thereby engage in the nonbanking

activities of operating a savings

association, pursuant to § 225.25(b)(9)

of the Board’s Regulation Y, and in

providing securities brokerage services

in combination with investment

advisory services, pursuant to §

225.25(b)(15) of the Board’s Regulation

Y.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, February 11, 1997.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 97–3869 Filed 2–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–F

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 932–3023]

The Money Tree, Inc.; Vance R. Martin;

Analysis To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

SUMMARY: In settlement of alleged

violations of federal law prohibiting

unfair or deceptive acts or practices and

unfair methods of competition, this

consent agreement, accepted subject to

final commission approval, would

require, among other things, the

Georgia-based money lender and its

president to send a notice to all of its

current customers offering them the

opportunity to cancel the credit-life,

credit-disability, and accidental death

and disbursement insurance coverages

written on their loans, and to receive

cash refunds or credits. The agreement

also prohibits Money Tree and Martin

from requiring consumers to sign

statements that credit-related insurance

or auto club memberships are

voluntarily purchased if these extras

are, in fact, required to obtain the loan.

The complaint accompanying the

consent agreement alleges that Money

Tree required consumers to purchase

credit-related insurance and auto club

memberships (thus substantially

increasing the cost of their loans) but

failed to disclose to consumers the true

cost of their credit, in violation of the

Truth in Lending Act and the Federal

Trade Commission Act.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before April 21, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

directed to: FTC/Office of the Secretary,

Room 159, 6th St. and Pa. Ave., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Medicine, Federal Trade

Commission, S–4429, 6th and

Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington,

DC 20580. (202) 326–3025.

Rolando Berrele, Federal Trade

Commission, S–4429, 6th and

Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington,

DC 20580. (202) 326–3211.

Thomas Kane, Federal Trade

Commission, S–4429, 6th and

Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington,

DC 20580. (202) 326–2304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to Section 6(f) of the Federal Trade

Commission, Act, 38 Stat. 721, 15 U.S.C.

46, and Section 2.34 of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice (16 CFR

2.34), notice is hereby given that the

above-captioned consent agreement

containing a consent order to cease and

desist, having been filed with and

accepted, subject to final approval, by

the Commission, has been placed on the

public record for a period of sixty (60)

days. The following Analysis to Aid

Public Comment describes the terms of

the consent agreement, and the

allegations in the accompanying

compliant. An electronic copy of the

full text of the consent agreement

package can be obtained from the

Commission Actions section of the FTC

Home Page (for February 4, 1997), on

the World Wide Web, at ‘‘http://

www.ftc.gov/os/actions/htm.’’ A paper

copy can be obtained from the FTC

Public Reference Room, Room H–130,

Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580, either in

person or by calling (202) 326–3627.

Public comment is invited. Such

comments or views will be considered

by the Commission and will be available

for inspection and copying at its

principal office in accordance with

Section 4.9(b)(6)(ii) of the Commission’s

Rules of Practice (16 CFR 4.9(b)(6)(ii)).

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To

Aid Public Comment

The Federal Trade Commission has

accepted an agreement, subject to final
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 32 / Tuesday, February 18, 1997 / Notices 7233

approval, to a proposed consent order

from The Money Tree, Inc. (‘‘Money

Tree’’), and Vance R. Martin,

individually and as an officer of Money

Tree (collectively referred to as

‘‘respondents’’).

The proposed order would settle

charges that Money Tree, which also

does business as Money To Lend, Inc.

and Money To Lend, violated the Truth

in Lending Act (‘‘TILA’’) and its

implementing Regulation Z. The

proposed order would also resolve

allegations that Money Tree and Vance

R. Martin violated the Federal Trade

Commission Act (‘‘FTC Act’’) and the

Fair Credit Reporting Act (‘‘FCRA’’).

The TILA and Regulation Z require

creditors to provide consumers with

written disclosures of the costs and

credit terms associated with loans.

Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibits

unfair or deceptive acts or practices in

or affecting commerce. The FCRA

requires creditors to provide applicants

who are denied credit due to

information contained in a credit report

with a notice containing the name and

address of the credit reporting agency

that supplied the report.

The proposed consent order has been

placed on the public record for sixty

(60) days for reception of comments by

interested persons. Comments received

during this period will become part of

the public record. After sixty (60) days,

the Commission will again review the

agreement and the comments received

and will decide whether it should

withdraw from the agreement or make

final the agreement’s proposed order.

The complaint alleges that Money

Tree required consumers to purchase

credit-life insurance, credit-disability

insurance, accidental death and

dismemberment insurance and/or an

auto club membership (collectively

referred to as ‘‘extras’’) in connection

with its loans, but (1) failed to include

the costs of these extras in the finance

charge and annual percentage rate

(‘‘APR’’) disclosed to consumers, and (2)

wrongfully included the premiums and

fees in the amount financed, causing

customers to pay interest on the

premiums and fees for these extras.

These practices, according to the

complaint, violate sections 106, 107,

and 128 of the Truth in Lending Act

(‘‘TILA’’), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1605, 1606, and

1638, as amended, respectively, and

sections 226.4, 226.4(d), 226.22, and

226.18 (b), (d), and (e) of Regulation Z,

12 C.F.R. §§ 226.4, 226.4(d), 226.22, and

226.18(b), (d) and (e), respectively.

The complaint further alleges that

respondents violated section 5 of the

FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), by inducing

consumers to execute documents stating

that they voluntarily chose the extras

when, in fact, the extras were

mandatory to obtain a loan. Finally, the

complaint alleges that respondents

violated section 615(a) of the FCRA, 15

U.S.C. § 1681m(a), by denying credit to

consumers either wholly or partly

because of information in a report from

a consumer reporting agency but failing

to: (a) advise the applicant, at the time

the applicant was informed of such

adverse action, that the adverse action

was based in whole or in part on

information contained in a consumer

report; and (b) supply the applicant

with the name and address of the

consumer reporting agency making the

report.

The proposed order contains

injunctive provisions designed to

remedy the violations charged and to

prevent respondents from engaging in

similar acts and practices in the future.

Specifically, the order would require

that Money Tree: (1) make all

disclosures in accordance with the

TILA; (2) include in the finance charge

and the APR disclosed to consumers the

costs of extras that consumers are

required to purchase in connection with

their loans; and (3) exclude from the

amount financed disclosed to

consumers the costs of extras that

consumers are required to purchase in

connection with their loans.

The proposed order would also

prohibit respondents from referring to

the availability of any extra without at

the same time disclosing orally: (1) that

the consumer has already been

approved for the loan, (2) the amount of

the loan, (3) that the extras are optional,

(4) that the consumer’s decision about

the extras does not affect the amount of

their loan or whether the consumer will

receive a loan, (5) the amount of the

premium or fee for each extra, and (6)

that Money Tree will add premiums and

fees for the extras to the consumer’s

loan amount. The proposed order would

further require respondents to provide

future customers with a separate

document that states, inter alia, that the

consumer has already been approved for

the loan and that the consumer should

not sign the form unless they want to

buy one of the extras. The proposed

order would also require that

respondents: (a) advise rejected

applicants that they have been denied

credit in whole or in part because of

information in a consumer report; and

(b) give rejected applicants the name

and address of the consumer reporting

agency making the report.

The proposed order would provide

Money Tree customers with an

opportunity to receive refunds. Under

the proposed order, Money Tree must

offer its customers an opportunity to

cancel the credit-life insurance, creditdisability insurance, and accidental

death and dismemberment insurance

written on their loans and obtain cash

refunds or credits to their accounts.

The purpose of this analysis is to

facilitate public comment on the

proposed order, and it is not intended

to constitute an official interpretation of

the agreement and proposed order or to

modify in any way its terms.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3911 Filed 2–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–M

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

Federal Accounting Standards

Advisory Board

Notice of Meeting

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of

the Federal Advisory Committee Act

(Pub. L. No. 92–463), as amended,

notice is hereby given that the Federal

Accounting Standards Advisory Board

will meet on Thursday, February 27,

1997, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in

room 7C13 of the General Accounting

Office building, 441 G St., NW.,

Washington, DC.

The purpose of the meeting is to

discuss (1) the appropriate classification

of certain Coast Guard cutters and

aircraft, (2) options for social insurance

programs, (3) the cost-of-capital work

plan, and (4) an interpretation issue

from the Environmental Protection

Agency’s Superfund Accounting Branch

related to proper classification of

recoveries of clean-up costs.

Any interested person may attend the

meeting as an observer. Board

discussions and reviews are open to the

public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wendy Comes, Executive Director, 750

First St., NE., Room 1001, Washington,

DC 20002, or call (202) 512–7350.

Authority: Federal Advisory Committee

Act. Pub. L. No. 92–463, Section 10(a)(2), 86

Stat. 770, 774 (1972) (current version at 5

U.S.C. app. section 10(a)(2) (1988); 41 CFR

101–6.1015 (1990).

Dated: February 11, 1997.

Wendy M. Comes,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 97–3860 Filed 2–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1610–01–M