[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 168 (Thursday, September 2, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49330-49332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18951]


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FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review of Information Collection Reinstatement; Comment Request [OMB 
No. 3064-0203]

AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Submission for OMB 
review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The FDIC, as part of its obligations under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the 
reinstatement of a previously approved and subsequently discontinued 
information collection for the Small Business Lending Survey, a survey 
of banks that the FDIC has proposed to field in May 2022. On April 21, 
2021, the FDIC published a notice in the Federal Register requesting 
comment for 60 days on the proposed reinstatement of this information 
collection. No comments were received. The FDIC hereby gives notice of 
its plan

[[Page 49331]]

to submit to OMB a request to approve the reinstatement of this 
information collection, and again invites comment.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 4, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to 
the FDIC by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Agency website: https://www.fdic.gov/resources/regulations/federal-register-publications/.
    <bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b1d2dedcdcd4dfc5c2f1d7d5d8d29fd6dec7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="83e0eceeeee6edf7f0c3e5e7eae0ade4ecf5">[email protected]</span></a>. Include the name and number of 
the collection in the subject line of the message.
    <bullet> Mail: Manny Cabeza (202-898-3767), Regulatory Counsel, MB-
3128, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20429.
    <bullet> 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.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Manny Cabeza, Regulatory Counsel, 202-
898-3767, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#89e4eae8ebecf3e8c9efede0eaa7eee6ff"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7b16181a191e011a3b1d1f1218551c140d">[email protected]</span></a>, MB-3128, Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Proposal to reinstate the following collection of information:
    Title: FDIC Small Business Lending Survey.
    OMB Number: 3064-0203.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Affected Public: FDIC-insured depository institutions.
    Estimated Annual Burden:

                                                           Summary of Estimated Annual Burden
                                                                   [OMB No. 3064-0203]
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                                                                                                             Number of
            IC description                  Type of burden        Frequency of response      Number of      responses/       Hours per     Annual burden
                                        (obligation to respond)                             respondents     respondent       response         (hours)
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Respondents with Gross Annual Revenue  Reporting (Voluntary)...  One time...............           1,152               1             3.5           4,032
 Less than $1 Billion.
Respondents with Gross Annual Revenue  Reporting (Voluntary)...  One time...............             848               1             6.5           5,512
 $1 Billion or More.
                                                                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Estimated Annual Burden      ........................  .......................  ..............  ..............  ..............           9,544
     Hours.
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Source: FDIC.

General Description of Collection

    Small businesses are an important component of the U.S. economy. 
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small firms 
accounted for almost half of private-sector employment and over 65 
percent of net new jobs between 2000 and 2019.\1\ Many small businesses 
have little or no direct access to capital markets and are thus reliant 
on bank financing, both for operating expenses and for investment. For 
banks, small business lending is an important way that they help meet 
their communities' needs, especially for the many banks that primarily 
focus on commercial rather than consumer lending.
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    \1\ SBA, ``Frequently Asked Questions About Small Businesses,'' 
accessed June 9, 2021, https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/05122043/Small-Business-FAQ-2020.pdf.
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    Given the value of small businesses to the U.S. economy and the 
role of bank lending to small businesses, the proposed FDIC 2022 Small 
Business Lending Survey (SBLS 2022), which surveys banks, will provide 
important data to complement existing sources of information and will 
provide additional insight into many aspects of small business lending 
extended by banks.
    The proposed SBLS 2022 will document the current types of credit 
offered, information banks use to underwrite loans, the market area for 
small business loans, competition for small business lending, and the 
practices used to conduct small business lending. SBLS 2022 asks 
similar questions about banks' lending volumes for business purposes as 
in the 2016 collection, but by finer gradations for both business size 
and loan size and by both loans outstanding and loan originations. The 
proposed collection will also provide new information on banks' current 
or planned use of financial technology, whether and how banks use 
automated lending, and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic with 
respect to their small business loan programs.

Comment Discussion

    On April 21, 2021, the FDIC issued a request for comment (86 FR 
20697) on a proposed second collection of the SBLS to be fielded in May 
2022. No comments were received.

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; 
(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.
    The FDIC will consider all comments to determine the extent to 
which the information collection should be modified prior to submission 
to OMB for review and approval. After the comment period closes, 
comments will be summarized and/or included in the FDIC's request to 
OMB for approval of the collection. All comments will become a matter 
of public record.


[[Page 49332]]


Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

    Dated at Washington, DC, on August 27, 2021.
James P. Sheesley,
Assistant Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-18951 Filed 9-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6714-01-P


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