25044 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice

have applied to the Board for approval,

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company

Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.)

(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part

225), and all other applicable statutes

and regulations to become a bank

holding company and/or to acquire the

assets or the ownership of, control of, or

the power to vote shares of a bank or

bank holding company and all of the

banks and nonbanking companies

owned by the bank holding company,

including the companies listed below.

The applications listed below, as well

as other related filings required by the

Board, are available for immediate

inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank

indicated. The application also will be

available for inspection at the offices of

the Board of Governors. Interested

persons may express their views in

writing on the standards enumerated in

the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the

proposal also involves the acquisition of

a nonbanking company, the review also

includes whether the acquisition of the

nonbanking company complies with the

standards in section 4 of the BHC Act.

Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking

activities will be conducted throughout

the United States.

Unless otherwise noted, comments

regarding each of these applications

must be received at the Reserve Bank

indicated or the offices of the Board of

Governors not later than May 29, 1998.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

(Lois Berthaume, Vice President) 104

Marietta Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia

30303-2713:

1. First American Corporation,

Nashville, Tennessee; to acquire 100

percent of the voting shares of Peoples

Bank, Dickson, Tennessee.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas

City (D. Michael Manies, Assistant Vice

President) 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas

City, Missouri 64198-0001:

1. First Commerce Bancshares, Inc.,

Lincoln, Nebraska; to acquire 100

percent of the voting shares of Western

Nebraska National Bank, Valentine,

Nebraska.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, April 30, 1998.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 98–11975 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–F

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Notice of Proposals to Engage in

Permissible Nonbanking Activities or

to Acquire Companies that are

Engaged in Permissible Nonbanking

Activities

The companies listed in this notice

have given notice under section 4 of the

Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C.

1843) (BHC Act) and Regulation Y, (12

CFR Part 225) to engage de novo, or to

acquire or control voting securities or

assets of a company, including the

companies listed below, that engages

either directly or through a subsidiary or

other company, in a nonbanking activity

that is listed in § 225.28 of Regulation

Y (12 CFR 225.28) or that the Board has

determined by Order to be closely

related to banking and permissible for

bank holding companies. Unless

otherwise noted, these activities will be

conducted throughout the United States.

Each notice is available for inspection

at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated.

The notice also will be available for

inspection at the offices of the Board of

Governors. Interested persons may

express their views in writing on the

question whether the proposal complies

with the standards of section 4 of the

BHC Act.

Unless otherwise noted, comments

regarding the applications must be

received at the Reserve Bank indicated

or the offices of the Board of Governors

not later than May 20, 1998.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of New

York (Betsy Buttrill White, Senior Vice

President) 33 Liberty Street, New York,

New York 10045-0001:

1. The Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto,

Canada; to acquire American Securities

Transfer & Trust Incorporated, Denver,

Colorado, and thereby engage in certain

shareholder services, including acting as

a stock transfer and dividend disbursing

agent and providing similar custodial or

agency services, pursuant to §

225.28(b)(5) of the Board’s Regulation Y.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

(Philip Jackson, Applications Officer)

230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago,

Illinois 60690-1413:

1. First Chicago NBD Corporation,

Chicago, Illinois; to acquire indirectly

through First Chicago Trust Company,

New York, New York, 50 percent of the

voting shares of Boston EquiServe, L.P.,

Canton, Massachusetts, and thereby

engage in the nonbanking activities of

providing data processing services and

performing trust company operations

pursuant to §§ 225.28(b)(14) and

225.28(b)(5) of the Board’s Regulation Y.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, April 30, 1998.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 98–11976 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–F

FEDRAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Monday, May

11, 1998.

PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal

Reserve Board Building, 20th and C

Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

1. Personnel actions (appointments,

promotions, assignments,

reassignments, and salary actions)

involving individual Federal Reserve

System employees.

2. Any items carried forward from a

previously announced meeting.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Joseph R. Coyne, Assistant to the Board;

202–452–3204.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You may

call 202–452–3206 beginning at

approximately 5 p.m. two business days

before the meeting for a recorded

announcement of bank and bank

holding company applications

scheduled for the meeting; or you may

contact the Board’s Web site at http://

www.bog.frb.fed.us for an electronic

announcement that not only lists

applications, but also indicates

procedural and other information about

the meeting.

Dated: May 1, 1998

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 98–12097 Filed 5–1–98; 5:08 pm]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Survey of Rent-to-Own Customers;

Proposed Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission

(FTC).

ACTION: Proposed information

collection; comment request.

SUMMARY: The FTC invites comments on

a proposed telephone survey before

submitting a request for OMB review

under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Comments on the proposed

survey must be submitted on or before

July 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to Elaine W. Crockett,
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices 25045

Attorney, Office of the General Counsel,

Room 598, 6th Street & Pennsylvania

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20850.

Telephone: (202) 326–2453. E-mail:

ECrockett@FTC.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Signe-Mary McKernan, Economist,

Federal Trade Commission, 6th Street

and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20580. Telephone:

(202) 326–3480. E-mail:

SMcKernan@FTC.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FTC

seeks comments concerning a proposed

telephone survey of consumers in order

to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the FTC, including whether

the information will have practical

utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the

FTC’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (3)

Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity

of the information to be collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submission of

responses.

Title: Survey of Rent-to-Own

Customers.

Type of review: New.

Frequency: Once.

Affected public: Consumers.

Response Hour Burden:

Pre-test questionnaire: approximately

10 minutes × 50 people=8 hours.

Screening question: One initial

question within a survey of 20,000

people (other topics are also

submitted from third party entities).

Approximately 30 seconds × 20,000

people=167 hours.

Questionnaire response:

Approximately 300–500 consumers

× 10 minutes=83 hours.

Total burden hours: Approximately

260.

Abstract: The FTC proposes to survey

rent-to-own customers in order to

evaluate their experiences with rent-toown transactions. This information will

be used to assess reported consumer

protection concerns and in

consideration of possible future

Commission actions. All information

will be collected on a voluntary basis

and the identities of respondents will

remain confidential.

If OMB approves, the FTC will

contract with a survey firm to identify

300 to 500 rent-to-own consumers and

to briefly obtain information about their

experience with the rent-to-own

industry. Survey respondents will be

identified through screening questions

included in a preexisting random digit

dialing survey of a nationally

representative sample of approximately

1,000 individuals. The screening survey

will include routine demographic

questions as well as specific questions

contracted by other firms and

organizations. Given the low (roughly

2%) incidence rate of rent-to-own

customers within the general

population, the FTC estimates that

approximately 20,000 people will be

screened in order to obtain a sample of

300 to 500 customers.

The survey questionnaire will be

pretested on approximately 50

respondents to ensure that all questions

are easily understood. The pretest will

take approximately 10 minutes apiece,

for a total of 8 hours. The final survey

will involve 300–500 respondents, again

for approximately 10 minutes apiece, for

a total of 83 hours.

By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–11941 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–M

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

‘‘Year 2000’’ Consumer Issues;

Request for Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) seeks

comment on the various types of ‘‘Year

2000’’ problems that consumers are

likely to face. The term ‘‘Year 2000

problems’’ (hereinafter ‘‘Y2K

problems’’) as used in this Federal

Register Notice (hereinafter ‘‘Notice’’)

refers to problems caused by the

inability of software and/or electronic

products, including personal computers

(hereinafter ‘‘PCs’’) and other computer

systems, to process, store, display, or

otherwise utilize dates correctly

beginning in the year 2000. This

inability usually stems from a failure to

distinguish between the year 2000 (and

subsequent years) and the year 1900

(and subsequent years). Additionally, it

might include an inability to recognize

the year 2000 as a leap year.

Specifically, the Commission seeks

comment on what types of consumer

software and electronic products are

likely to experience Y2K problems, as

well as what steps have been taken or

will be taken by software publishers,

electronics manufacturers, and others to

notify consumers of any anticipated

Y2K problems and to remedy any such

problems. The Commission also seeks

comment on potential Y2K problems

likely facing various segments of the

consumer financial services industry,

such as finance entities, consumer

reporting agencies (some of which are

commonly referred to as credit bureaus),

and other businesses involved in

consumer financial services. Lastly, the

Commission seeks comment regarding

interest in participating in or attending

one or more workshops to discuss the

issues raised in this Notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before June 22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be submitted to: Secretary, Federal

Trade Commission, Room H–159, Sixth

Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,

Washington, D.C. 20580. The

Commission requests that the original

comment be filed with five copies, if

feasible. The Commission also requests,

if possible, that the comment be

submitted in electronic form on a

computer disk. (Programs based on DOS

or Windows are preferred. Files from

other operating systems should be

submitted in ASCII text format.) The

disk label should identify the

commenter’s name and the name and

version of the word processing program

used to create the comment.

Alternatively, the Commission will

accept comments submitted to the

following e-mail address <y2k@ftc.gov>.

All submissions should be captioned:

‘‘Year 2000 Consumer Issues—

Comment, FTC File No. P984238.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

questions concerning consumer

software or electronic products:

Jonathan M. Cowen, Attorney, Division

of Enforcement, Federal Trade

Commission, Sixth Street &

Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington,

DC 20580, telephone 202–326–2533, email (for questions or information only)

<jcowen@ftc.gov>. For questions

concerning consumer financial services:

Rolando Berrelez, Attorney, Division of

Credit Practices, Federal Trade

Commission, Sixth Street and

Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington,

DC 20580, telephone 202–326–3211, email (for questions or information only)

<rberrelez@ftc.gov>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Commission believes that

consumers might potentially experience