Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 88877 

23That may be true even when the assessment is 

performed through a software program licensed to 

employers, because the software provider furnishes 

the reports. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff 

opined more than two decades ago that a seller of 

particular software that allowed users to compile 

and de-duplicate credit report information from the 

three major nationwide consumer reporting 

agencies was not itself a consumer reporting 

agency, reasoning that the software seller was not 

‘‘assembling or evaluating’’ any information itself. 

FTC Advisory Opinion (Oct. 27, 1997), https://

www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/advisoryopinions/advisory-opinion-cast-10-27-97; see also 

FTC, 40 Years of Experience with the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act: An FTC Staff Report with Summary 

of Interpretations at 12–13, 29 (July 2011). The 

FTC’s guidance, however, focused on technology 

that was in existence at the time the guidance was 

drafted. Significant changes in the software and 

general technological landscape have taken place in 

the years since, rendering the FTC’s prior guidance 

inapplicable to many of the kinds of technology 

used today. For example, software developers today 

often take a more active role in providing ongoing 

services to clients, such as by performing ongoing 

maintenance of the software, or by licensing 

services to clients instead of selling software as a 

point-in-time product. Accordingly, a third-party 

software provider could meet the definition of a 

consumer reporting agency where it assembles or 

evaluates consumer information to develop 

software that produces reports used to evaluate a 

worker ‘‘for employment, promotion, reassignment 

or retention,’’ or where the software itself assembles 

or evaluates information about a worker to produce 

reports used for those purposes. Judicial decisions 

declining to find software providers to be CRAs are 

likewise distinguishable. For instance, in Zabriskie 

v. Fed. Nat’l Mortg. Ass’n, 940 F.3d 1022, 1029 (9th 

Cir. 2019), the court determined that Fannie Mae 

did not act as a CRA by licensing a proprietary 

software that allowed lenders to determine whether 

their loans met requirements for Fannie Mae to 

purchase, but relied on reasoning inapplicable to 

third-party software developers that analyze worker 

data that companies use for employment purposes. 

Id. (reasoning that Congress intended to exclude 

Fannie Mae from the definition of a ‘‘consumer 

reporting agency’’ and that Fannie Mae did not have 

the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to a 

third party, but rather to determine the loans’ 

eligibility for purchase). 

Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, some 

companies collect consumer data from 

third parties for dissemination to 

employers in background reports. 

Traditional background screening 

companies ‘‘assemble’’ or ‘‘evaluate’’ 

information about workers, often from 

public sources, such as criminal history 

records. Other firms might collect 

information from employers about 

workers’ collective bargaining activity, 

or job performance, and then sell it to 

other employers to make hiring 

decisions. 

In addition, an entity could 

‘‘assemble’’ or ‘‘evaluate’’ consumer 

information within the meaning of the 

term ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’ if the 

entity collects consumer data in order to 

train an algorithm that produces scores 

or other assessments about workers for 

employers. For example, the developer 

of a phone app that monitors a 

transportation worker’s driving activity 

and provides driving scores to 

companies for employment purposes 

could ‘‘assemble’’ or ‘‘evaluate’’ 

consumer information if the developer 

obtains or uses data from sources other 

than an employer receiving the report, 

including from other employercustomers or public data sources, to 

generate the scores.23

Not all third parties that assemble or 

evaluate data will qualify as ‘‘consumer 

reporting agencies.’’ For example, 

section 603(d)(2)(A)(i) of the FCRA 

excludes from the definition of 

‘‘consumer report’’ any ‘‘report 

containing information solely as to 

transactions or experiences between the 

consumer and the person making the 

report.’’ But this exception applies only 

to reports containing information solely 

about transactions or experiences 

between the consumer and the reportmaker. The exception by its own terms 

does not apply to a report containing 

information not about transactions or 

experiences between the report-maker 

and the consumer, such as when the 

report includes algorithmic scores, as 

described above. 

About Consumer Financial Protection 

Circulars 

Consumer Financial Protection 

Circulars are intended to promote 

consistency in approach across the 

various enforcement agencies and 

parties, pursuant to the CFPB’s statutory 

objective to ensure Federal consumer 

financial law is enforced consistently. 

12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(4). 

Consumer Financial Protection 

Circulars are also intended to provide 

transparency to partner agencies 

regarding the CFPB’s intended approach 

when cooperating in enforcement 

actions. See, e.g., 12 U.S.C. 5552(b) 

(consultation with CFPB by State 

attorneys general and regulators); 12 

U.S.C. 5562(a) (joint investigatory work 

between CFPB and other agencies). 

Consumer Financial Protection 

Circulars are general statements of 

policy under the Administrative 

Procedure Act. 5 U.S.C. 553(b). They 

provide background information about 

applicable law, articulate considerations 

relevant to the Bureau’s exercise of its 

authorities, and, in the interest of 

maintaining consistency, advise other 

parties with authority to enforce Federal 

consumer financial law. They do not 

restrict the Bureau’s exercise of its 

authorities, impose any legal 

requirements on external parties, or 

create or confer any rights on external 

parties that could be enforceable in any 

administrative or civil proceeding. The 

CFPB Director is instructing CFPB staff 

as described herein, and the CFPB will 

then make final decisions on individual 

matters based on an assessment of the 

factual record, applicable law, and 

factors relevant to prosecutorial 

discretion. 

Rohit Chopra, 

Director, Consumer Financial Protection 

Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26099 Filed 11–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Part 209 

[Regulation I; Docket No. R–1844] 

RIN 7100—AG 85 

Federal Reserve Bank Capital Stock 

AGENCIES: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors 

(Board) is publishing a final rule that 

applies an inflation adjustment to the 

threshold for total consolidated assets in 

Regulation I. Federal Reserve Bank 

(Reserve Bank) stockholders that have 

total consolidated assets above the 

threshold receive a different dividend 

rate on their Reserve Bank stock than 

stockholders with total consolidated 

assets at or below the threshold. The 

Federal Reserve Act requires that the 

Board annually adjust the total 

consolidated asset threshold to reflect 

the change in the Gross Domestic 

Product Price Index, published by the 

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). 

Based on the change in the Gross 

Domestic Product Price Index as of 

September 26, 2024, the total 

consolidated asset threshold will be 

$12,841,000,000 through December 31, 

2025. 

DATES: 

Effective date: December 12, 2024. 

Applicability date: The adjusted 

threshold for total consolidated assets 

will apply beginning on January 1, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Benjamin Snodgrass, Senior Counsel 

(202/263–4877), Legal Division; or 

Kelsey Cassidy, Senior Financial 

Institutions Policy Analyst (202/465– 

6817), Reserve Bank Operations and 

Payments Systems Division. For users of 

TTY–TRS, please contact 711 from any 

telephone, anywhere in the United 

States or (202) 263–4869. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Regulation I governs the issuance and 

cancellation of capital stock by the 


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88878 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 12, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1 12 U.S.C. 287. 

2 12 CFR 209.4(a). 

3 12 U.S.C. 287 and 12 CFR 209.4(c)(2). 

4 12 U.S.C. 289(a)(1). 

5 12 CFR 209.1(d)(3). 

6 12 CFR 209.4(e), (c)(1)(ii), and (d)(1)(ii); 

209.2(a); and 209.3(d)(5). 

7 12 CFR 209.4(f). 

8 81 FR 84415, 84417 (Nov. 23, 2016). 

9The BEA makes ongoing revisions to its 

estimates of the Gross Domestic Product Price Index 

for historical calendar quarters. The Board 

calculates annual adjustments from the baseline 

year (rather than from the prior-year total 

consolidated asset threshold) to ensure that the 

adjusted total consolidated asset threshold 

accurately reflects the cumulative change in the 

BEA’s most recent estimates of the Gross Domestic 

Product Price Index. 

10See 12 CFR 209.4(f) and n. 8 and accompanying 

text, supra. 

11 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. 

12 44 U.S.C. 3506; 5 CFR 1320. 

Reserve Banks. Under section 5 of the 

Federal Reserve Act 1 and Regulation I,2

a member bank must subscribe to 

capital stock of the Reserve Bank of its 

district in an amount equal to six 

percent of the member bank’s capital 

and surplus. The member bank must 

pay for one-half of this subscription 

when the Reserve Bank issues the 

capital stock, while the remaining half 

of the subscription shall be subject to 

call by the Board.3

Section 7(a)(1) of the Federal Reserve 

Act 4 provides that Reserve Bank 

stockholders with $10 billion or less in 

total consolidated assets shall receive a 

six percent dividend on paid-in capital 

stock, while stockholders with more 

than $10 billion in total consolidated 

assets shall receive a dividend on paidin capital stock equal to the lesser of six 

percent and ‘‘the rate equal to the high 

yield of the 10-year Treasury note 

auctioned at the last auction held prior 

to the payment of such dividend.’’ 

Section 7(a)(1) requires that the Board 

adjust the threshold for total 

consolidated assets annually to reflect 

the change in the Gross Domestic 

Product Price Index, published by the 

BEA. 

Regulation I implements section 

7(a)(1) of the Federal Reserve Act by (1) 

defining the term ‘‘total consolidated 

assets,’’ 5 (2) incorporating the statutory 

dividend rates for Reserve Bank 

stockholders 6 and (3) providing that the 

Board shall adjust the threshold for total 

consolidated assets annually to reflect 

the change in the Gross Domestic 

Product Price Index.7 The Board has 

explained that it ‘‘expects to make this 

adjustment [to the threshold for total 

consolidated assets] using the final 

second quarter estimate of the Gross 

Domestic Product Price Index for each 

year, published by the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis.’’ 8

II. Adjustment 

The Board annually adjusts the $10 

billion total consolidated asset 

threshold based on the change in the 

Gross Domestic Product Price Index 

between the second quarter of 2015 (the 

baseline year) and the second quarter of 

the current year.9 The second quarter 

2024 Gross Domestic Product Price 

Index estimate published by the BEA in 

September 2024 (124.942) is 28.41 

percent higher than the second quarter 

2015 Gross Domestic Product Price 

Index estimate published by the BEA in 

September 2024 (97.302). Based on this 

change in the Gross Domestic Product 

Price Index, the threshold for total 

consolidated assets in Regulation I will 

be $12,841,000,000 as of January 1, 

2025. 

III. Administrative Law Matters 

Administrative Procedure Act 

The provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) 

relating to notice of proposed 

rulemaking have not been followed in 

connection with the adoption of these 

amendments. The amendments involve 

expected, ministerial adjustments that 

are required by statute and Regulation I 

and are consistent with a method 

previously set forth by the Board.10

Accordingly, the Board finds good cause 

for determining, and so determines, that 

notice in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

553(b) is unnecessary. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

does not apply to a rulemaking where a 

general notice of proposed rulemaking 

is not required.11 As noted previously, 

the Board has determined that it is 

unnecessary to publish a general notice 

of proposed rulemaking for this final 

rule. Accordingly, the RFA’s 

requirements relating to an initial and 

final regulatory flexibility analysis do 

not apply. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995,12 the Board has 

reviewed this final rule. No collections 

of information pursuant to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act are contained 

in the final rule. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 209 

Banks and banking, Federal Reserve 

System, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Securities. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Board amends Regulation 

I, 12 CFR part 209, as follows: 

PART 209—ISSUE AND 

CANCELLATION OF FEDERAL 

RESERVE BANK CAPITAL STOCK 

(REGULATION I) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 209 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 12 U.S.C. 222, 248, 

282, 286–288, 289, 321, 323, 327–328, and 

466. 

§ 209.2 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 209.2 by removing 

‘‘$12,517,000,000’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘$12,841,000,000’’. 

§ 209.3 [Amended] 

■ 3. Amend § 209.3 by removing 

‘‘$12,517,000,000’’ and adding in its 

place ‘‘$12,841,000,000’’. 

§ 209.4 [Amended] 

■ 4. Amend § 209.4 by removing 

‘‘$12,517,000,000’’ and adding in their 

place ‘‘$12,841,000,000’’, wherever they 

appear. 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System, acting through the 

Secretary of the Board under delegated 

authority. 

Ann E. Misback, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26091 Filed 11–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2024–0464; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2022–01556–T; Amendment 

39–22875; AD 2024–22–04] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus 

Canada Limited Partnership (Type 

Certificate Previously Held by C Series 

Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP); 

Bombardier, Inc.) Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is superseding 

Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2021–09– 

03, which applied to certain Airbus 

Canada Limited Partnership Model BD– 

500–1A10 and BD–500–1A11 airplanes. 

AD 2021–09–03 required repetitive 

replacements of the emergency locator 


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