[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2983-2985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01046]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board or 
Federal Reserve) invites comment on a proposal to extend, with 
revision, the mandatory Reporting Requirements associated with 
Regulation QQ (OMB No. 7100-0346).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 23, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Reg QQ, by any of the 
following methods:
    <bullet> Agency website: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4a382f2d3964292527272f243e390a2c2f2e2f382b26382f392f383c2f642d253c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="86f4e3e1f5a8e5e9ebebe3e8f2f5c6e0e3e2e3f4e7eaf4e3f5e3f4f0e3a8e1e9f0">[email protected]</span></a>. Include OMB 
number in the subject line of the message.
    <bullet> Fax: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
    <bullet> Mail: Ann Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available from the Board's website at 
http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as submitted, 
unless modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments will 
not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Public 
comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper form in Room 
3515, 1801 K Street (between 18th and 19th Streets NW)

[[Page 2984]]

Washington, DC 20006 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office 
Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by 
fax to (202) 395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the PRA OMB submission, 
including the proposed reporting form and instructions, supporting 
statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public 
docket files, once approved. These documents will also be made 
available on the Federal Reserve Board's public website at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested 
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office of 
the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, Washington, DC 20551, (202) 452-3829. Telecommunications Device 
for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact (202) 263-4869, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board authority under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to 
collection of information requests and requirements conducted or 
sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the 
Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In 
determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board 
will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposal

    The Board invites public comment on the following information 
collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the 
OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Federal Reserve's functions; including 
whether the information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Federal Reserve's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed 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;
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and
    e. Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
    At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations 
received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Federal 
Reserve should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final 
approval.

Proposal To Approve Under OMB Delegated Authority the Extension for 
Three Years, With Revision, of the Following Report:

    Report title: Reporting Requirements Associated with Regulation QQ.
    Agency form number: Reg QQ.
    OMB control number: 7100-0346.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondents: Bank holding companies \1\ with assets of $50 billion 
or more and nonbank financial firms designated by the Financial 
Stability Oversight Council for supervision by the Board.
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    \1\ This includes any foreign bank or company that is, or is 
treated as, a bank holding company under section 8(a) of the 
International Banking Act of 1978, and that has $50 billion or more 
in total consolidated assets.
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    Estimated number of respondents: Reduced Reporters: 82; Tailored 
Domestic Reporters: 13; Tailored Foreign Reporters: 2; Full Domestic 
Reporters: 3; Full Foreign Reporters: 16; Complex, Domestic Filers: 9; 
Complex, Foreign Filers: 4.
    Estimated average hours per response: Reduced Reporters: 60 hours; 
Tailored Domestic Reporters: 9,000 hours; Tailored Foreign Reporters: 
1,130 hours; Full Domestic Reporters: 26,000 hours; Full Foreign 
Reporters: 2,000 hours; Complex, Domestic Filers: 79,522 hours; \2\ 
Complex, Foreign Filers: 55,500 hours.
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    \2\ This estimate captures the annual time that complex, 
domestic filers will spend complying with this collection, given 
that eight of these filers will only submit two resolution plans 
over the period covered by this notice. The estimate therefore 
represents two-thirds of the time these eight firms are estimated to 
spend on each resolution plan submission.
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    Estimated annual burden hours: Reduced Reporters: 4,920 hours; 
Tailored Domestic Reporters: 117,000 hours; Tailored Foreign Reporters: 
2,260 hours; Full Domestic Reporters: 78,000 hours; Full Foreign 
Reporters: 32,000 hours; Complex, Domestic Filers: 715,697 hours; 
Complex Foreign Filers: 222,000 hours. Total estimated annual burden: 
1,171,877.
    General Description of Report: Regulation QQ (12 CFR part 243) 
requires each bank holding company (BHC) with assets of $50 billion or 
more and nonbank financial firms designated by the Financial Stability 
Oversight Council (FSOC) for supervision by the Board (collectively, 
covered companies) to report annually to the Board and the FDIC the 
plan of such company for rapid and orderly resolution under the U.S. 
Bankruptcy Code in the event of the company's material financial 
distress or failure. The plans submitted pursuant to Regulation QQ, and 
identified in this information collection, are reviewed jointly by the 
Board and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, 
the Agencies). On September 28, 2017, the Board and the FDIC announced 
the postponement of the next plan submission of the largest and most 
complex, domestic BHCs \3\ from July 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019, to 
permit the agencies to provide meaningful feedback on the July 2017 
plans and provide the BHCs with sufficient time to incorporate the 
feedback into their next plans. If these firms were filing each year 
covered by this notice, instead of only twice, the total estimated 
annual burden for the reporting of this information collection would be 
1,473,180 hours instead of the aforementioned 1,171,877.
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    \3\ This group currently consists of Bank of America 
Corporation; Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Citigroup, Inc.; 
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Morgan Stanley; 
State Street Corporation; and Wells Fargo & Company.
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    The Board is exploring ways to improve the resolution planning 
process. Such improvements could include, for example, extending the 
cycle for plan submissions; focusing certain filings on key topics of 
interest and material changes; or reducing the submission requirements 
for firms with small, simple, and domestically focused activities. The 
Board will solicit comments on the effects that any such changes would 
have on paperwork burden if and when the changes are proposed.
    Proposed revisions: The Federal Reserve proposes to revise its 
original burden estimates based on a reassessment of the burden hours 
associated with responding to the informational requirements of 
Regulation QQ and to guidance, feedback, and additional requests for 
information by the agencies as part of the iterative resolution 
planning process. The burden increase also is mitigated by the 
postponement of the

[[Page 2985]]

July 2018 submission date for the resolution plans of the complex, 
domestic filers, which account for the largest percentage of overall 
burden hours.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: This information 
collection is mandatory pursuant to section 165(d)(8) of the Dodd-Frank 
Act (Pub. L. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376, 1426-1427), 12 U.S.C. 5365(d)(8), 
which requires the Board and the FDIC to jointly issue rules 
implementing the provisions of section 165(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act. 
The Board's Legal Division has determined that under section 
112(d)(5)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Board and the FDIC ``shall 
maintain the confidentiality of any data, information, and reports 
submitted under'' Title I (which includes section 165(d), the authority 
this regulation is promulgated under) of the Dodd-Frank Act.
    The Board and the FDIC will assess the confidentiality of 
resolution plans and related material in accordance with FOIA and the 
Board's and the FDIC's implementing regulations (12 CFR part 261 
(Board); 12 CFR part 309 (FDIC)). The Board and the FDIC expect that 
large portions of the submissions will contain or consist of ``trade 
secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person 
and privileged or confidential'' and information that is ``contained in 
or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, 
on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the 
regulation or supervision of financial institutions.'' This information 
is subject to withholding under exemptions 4 and 8 of the FOIA, 5 
U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and 552(b)(8).\4\ The Board and the FDIC also 
recognize, however, that the regulation calls for the submission of 
details regarding covered companies that are publicly available or 
otherwise are not sensitive and should be made public. In order to 
address this, the regulation requires resolution plans to be divided 
into two portions: a public section and a confidential section.
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    \4\ Depending upon the circumstances of any specific FOIA 
request, other exemptions may also apply.
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    In addition to any responses to guidance from the Agencies, the 
public section of the resolution plan should consist of an executive 
summary of the resolution plan that describes the business of the 
covered company and includes, to the extent material to an 
understanding of the covered company: (i) The names of material 
entities; (ii) a description of core business lines; (iii) consolidated 
or segment financial information regarding assets, liabilities, capital 
and major funding sources; (iv) a description of derivative activities 
and hedging activities; (v) a list of memberships in material payment, 
clearing, and settlement systems; (vi) a description of foreign 
operations; (vii) the identities of material supervisory authorities; 
(viii) the identities of the principal officers; (ix) a description of 
the corporate governance structure and processes related to resolution 
planning; (x) a description of material management information systems; 
and (xi) a description, at a high level, of the covered company's 
resolution strategy, covering such items as the range of potential 
purchasers of the covered company, its material entities and core 
business lines.
    While the information in the public section of a resolution plan 
should be sufficiently detailed to allow the public to understand the 
business of the covered company, such information can be high level in 
nature and based on publicly available information. The public section 
will be made available to the public exactly as submitted by the 
covered companies as soon as possible following receipt by the 
agencies. A covered company should submit a properly substantiated 
request for confidential treatment of any details in the confidential 
section that it believes are subject to withholding under exemption 4 
of the FOIA. In addition, the Board and the FDIC will make formal 
exemption and segregability determinations if and when a plan is 
requested under the FOIA.
    Consultation outside the agency: The Board consulted with FDIC 
staff regarding the revised burden estimate. In addition, to inform the 
Board's estimates, Board staff sought information from all respondents 
concerning each respondent's estimate of the burden associated with 
this collection. A total of 33 respondents provided burden information.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 17, 
2018.
Ann E. Misback,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2018-01046 Filed 1-19-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P


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