6712 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 25 / Friday, February 6, 2015 / Notices 

1See 12 U.S.C. 1424(a), 1430(a). 

2See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10)(A); 12 CFR 1263.1. 

3See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10); 12 CFR 1263.1 (defining 

the term CFI asset cap). 

4See 79 FR 1862 (Jan. 10, 2014). 

• Email: comments@fdic.gov Include 

the name of the collection in the subject 

line of the message. 

• Mail: Gary A. Kuiper, Counsel, 

(202.898.3877), or John Popeo, Counsel, 

(202.898.6923), MB–3007, Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20429. 

Hand Delivery: Comments may be 

hand-delivered to the guard station at 

the rear of the 17th Street Building 

(located on F Street), on business days 

between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 

All comments should refer to the 

relevant OMB control number. A copy 

of the comments may also be submitted 

to the OMB desk officer for the FDIC: 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary 

A. Kuiper or John Popeo, at the FDIC 

address above. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposal To Renew the Following 

Currently-Approved Collection of 

Information 

1. Title: Assessment Rate Adjustment 

Guidelines for Large and Highly 

Complex Institutions. 

OMB Number: 3064–0179. 

Affected Public: Large and highly 

complex depository institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

11. 

Estimated Time per Response: 80 

hours. 

Frequency of Response: Annual. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 880 

hours. 

Total Annual Burden: 880 hours. 

General Description of Collection: 

These guidelines established process 

through which large and highly 

complex depository institutions could 

request a deposit insurance assessment 

rate adjustment from the FDIC. 

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. 

All comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Dated at Washington, DC, this 3rd day of 

February 2015. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Robert E. Feldman, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–02423 Filed 2–5–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6714–01–P 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE 

AGENCY 

[No. 2015–N–01] 

Notice of Annual Adjustment of the 

Cap on Average Total Assets That 

Defines Community Financial 

Institutions 

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance 

Agency. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance 

Agency (FHFA) has adjusted the cap on 

average total assets that defines a 

‘‘Community Financial Institution’’ to 

$1,123,000,000, based on the annual 

percentage increase in the Consumer 

Price Index for all urban consumers 

(CPI–U) as published by the Department 

of Labor (DOL). These changes took 

effect on January 1, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Tran, Division of Federal Home 

Loan Bank Regulation, (202) 649–3319, 

Amy.Tran@fhfa.gov, or Eric M. 

Raudenbush, Assistant General Counsel, 

(202) 649–3084, Eric.Raudenbush@

fhfa.gov, (not toll-free numbers), Federal 

Housing Finance Agency, Constitution 

Center, 400 Seventh Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background 

The Federal Home Loan Bank Act 

(Bank Act) confers upon insured 

depository institutions that meet the 

statutory definition of a ‘‘Community 

Financial Institution’’ (CFI) certain 

advantages over non-CFI insured 

depository institutions in qualifying for 

Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) 

membership, and in the purposes for 

which they may receive long-term 

advances and the collateral they may 

pledge to secure advances.1 Section 

2(10)(A) of the Bank Act and § 1263.1 of 

FHFA’s regulations define a CFI as any 

Bank member the deposits of which are 

insured by the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation and that has 

average total assets below a statutory 

cap.2 The Bank Act was amended in 

2008 to set the statutory cap at $1 

billion and to require the Director of 

FHFA to adjust the cap annually to 

reflect the percentage increase in the 

CPI–U, as published by the DOL, for the 

prior year.3 For 2014, FHFA set the CFI 

asset cap at $1,108,000,000, which 

reflected a 1.2 percent increase over 

2013, based upon the increase in the 

CPI–U between 2012 and 2013.4

II. The CFI Asset Cap for 2015 

As of January 1, 2015, FHFA has 

increased the CFI asset cap from 

$1,108,000,000 to $1,123,000,000, 

which reflects a 1.3 percent increase in 

the unadjusted CPI–U from November 

2013 to November 2014. The new 

amount was obtained by rounding to the 

nearest million, as has been the practice 

for all prior adjustments. Consistent 

with the practice of other Federal 

agencies, FHFA bases the annual 

adjustment to the CFI asset cap on the 

percentage increase in the CPI–U from 

November of the year prior to the 

preceding calendar year to November of 

the preceding calendar year, because the 

November figures represent the most 

recent available data as of January 1st of 

the current calendar year. 

In calculating the CFI asset cap, FHFA 

uses CPI–U data that have not been 

seasonally adjusted (i.e., the data have 

not been adjusted to remove the 

estimated effect of price changes that 

normally occur at the same time and in 

about the same magnitude every year). 

The DOL encourages use of unadjusted 

CPI–U data in applying ‘‘escalation’’ 

provisions such as that governing the 

CFI asset cap, because the factors that 

are used to seasonally adjust the data 

are amended annually, and seasonally 

adjusted data that are published earlier 

are subject to revision for up to five 

years following their original release. 

Unadjusted data are not routinely 

subject to revision, and previously 

published unadjusted data are only 

corrected when significant calculation 

errors are discovered. 

Dated: January 27, 2015. 

Melvin L. Watt, 

Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2015–02402 Filed 2–5–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8070–01–P 

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

AGENCY: Federal Maritime Commission. 

TIME AND DATE: February 11, 2015; 10:00 

a.m. 


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