Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 100 / Tuesday, May 24, 2022 / Notices 31561 

1 See 12 U.S.C. 4001 et seq. 

2 See 12 U.S.C. 5001 et seq. 

3 For purposes of Regulation CC, banks are 

commercial banks, savings associations, credit 

unions, and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign 

banks. 

4 12 U.S.C. 4008. 

5 12 U.S.C. 5014. 

6 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8). 

inflation adjustments for disclosures, 8; 

Annual notice of new ATMs, 5; Changes 

in policy, 20; Notification of 

quinquennial inflation adjustments 

(annualized), 4; Notice of nonpayment 

on paying bank, 0.02; Notification to 

customer, 0.02; Expedited recredit for 

consumers, 0.25; Expedited recredit for 

banks, 0.25; Consumer awareness, 0.02; 

Expedited recredit claim notice, 0.25. 

Estimated annual burden hours: 

Specific availability policy disclosures 

and initial disclosures, 6,860; Longer 

delays on a case-by-case basis—Notice 

in specific policy disclosure, 24,010; 

Notice of exceptions, 68,600; Locations 

where employees accept consumer 

deposits and ATMs, 172; Quinquennial 

inflation adjustments for disclosures, 

5,488; Annual notice of new ATMs, 

3,430; Changes in policy, 4,000; 

Notification of quinquennial inflation 

adjustments (annualized), 2,744; Notice 

of nonpayment on paying bank, 480; 

Notification to customer, 5,076; 

Expedited recredit for consumers, 6,003; 

Expedited recredit for banks, 2,573; 

Consumer awareness, 4,116; Expedited 

recredit claim notice, 4,288. 

General description of collection: 

Regulation CC—Availability of Funds 

and Collection of Checks (12 CFR 229), 

which implements the Expedited Funds 

Availability Act of 1987 (EFA Act) 1 and 

the Check Clearing for the 21st Century 

Act of 2003 (Check 21 Act),2 requires 

banks 3 to make funds deposited in 

transaction accounts available within 

specified time periods, disclose their 

availability policies to customers, and 

begin accruing interest on such deposits 

promptly. The disclosures are intended 

to alert customers that their ability to 

use deposited funds may be delayed, 

prevent unintentional (and potentially 

costly) overdrafts, and allow customers 

to compare the policies of different 

banks before deciding at which bank to 

deposit funds. Regulation CC also 

requires notice to the depositary bank 

and to a customer of nonpayment of a 

check. Model disclosure forms, clauses, 

and notices are appended to the 

regulation to ease compliance. 

Legal authorization and 

confidentiality: Section 609 of the EFA 

Act, as amended by section 1086 of the 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank 

Act),4 states that, ‘‘the Board, jointly 

with the Director of the Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection, shall 

prescribe regulations—(1) to carry out 

the provisions of this chapter; (2) to 

prevent the circumvention or evasion of 

such provisions; and (3) to facilitate 

compliance with such provisions.’’ 

Additionally, section 15 of the Check 21 

Act 5 authorizes the Board to ‘‘prescribe 

such regulations as the Board 

determines to be necessary to 

implement, prevent circumvention or 

evasion of, or facilitate compliance with 

the provisions of this chapter.’’ The 

Board is therefore authorized by these 

statutory provisions to promulgate the 

disclosure and recordkeeping 

requirements contained in Regulation 

CC. The disclosure and recordkeeping 

requirements in Regulation CC are 

mandatory. The information that 

Regulation CC requires of consumers 

who are making an expedited recredit 

claim is required to obtain a benefit. 

Because records required by 

Regulation CC are maintained at each 

banking organization, the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) would only be 

implicated if the Board obtained such 

records as part of the examination or 

supervision of a banking organization. 

In the event the records are obtained by 

the Board as part of an examination or 

supervision of a financial institution, 

this information may be considered 

confidential pursuant to exemption 8 of 

the FOIA, which protects information 

contained in ‘‘examination, operating, 

or condition reports’’ obtained in the 

bank supervisory process.6

Consultation outside the agency: 

Pursuant to sections 1086 and 1100H of 

the Dodd-Frank Act, the Board and the 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

(CFPB) assumed joint rulemaking 

authority with respect to subpart B of 

Regulation CC. Given this joint 

authority, the Board has communicated 

with the CFPB regarding this 

information collection. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, May 17, 2022. 

Michele Taylor Fennell, 

Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11091 Filed 5–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Public Meeting: Proposal by Bank of 

Montreal and BMO Financial Corp. To 

Acquire BancWest Holding Inc. and 

Bank of the West, and for Bank of the 

West To Merge With and Into BMO 

Harris Bank National Association 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System (Board) and 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency (OCC). 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: A virtual public meeting will 

be held regarding the proposals by Bank 

of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 

and BMO Financial Corp., Wilmington, 

Delaware, to acquire BancWest Holding 

Inc. and thereby indirectly acquire Bank 

of the West, both of San Francisco, 

California, pursuant to the Bank 

Holding Company Act; and for Bank of 

the West, San Francisco, California, to 

merge with and into BMO Harris Bank 

National Association, Chicago, Illinois, 

pursuant to the Bank Merger Act. The 

purpose of the meeting is to collect 

information related to factors the Board 

and OCC consider when making 

determinations under the Bank Holding 

Company Act and the Bank Merger Act. 

DATES: The meeting date is July 14, 

2022, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Members 

of the public seeking to make oral 

comments during the virtual meeting 

must register by 12:00 p.m. EDT on June 

23, 2022, to be placed on a list of 

registered commenters and receive 

specific instructions for participation. 

Members of the public seeking to watch 

the virtual meeting (but not provide oral 

comments) must register any time prior 

to 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 13, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

OCC: Jason Almonte, Director for 

Large Bank Licensing, Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th 

Street SW, Washington, DC 20219, via 

email at jason.almonte@occ.treas.gov, or 

via telephone at (917) 344–3405. 

Federal Reserve: Colette A. Fried, 

Assistant Vice President, Federal 

Reserve Bank of Chicago, 230 South 

LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60604, 

via email at colette.a.fried@chi.frb.org, 

or via telephone at 312–322–6846, or 

Lisa Smith, Lead Examiner—Mergers 

and Acquisitions, Federal Reserve Bank 

of Chicago, 230 South LaSalle Street, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604, via email at 

lisa.a.smith@chi.frb.org, or via 


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31562 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 100 / Tuesday, May 24, 2022 / Notices 

1Materials related to the applications are 

available on the Board’s website at https://

www.federalreserve.gov/foia/bank-of-montrealbank-of-the-west-application-materials.htm and the 

OCC’s website at https://occ.gov/topics/chartersand-licensing/public-comment/businesscombination-or-merger-applicationscomments.html. 

2The agencies will review written materials 

submitted through the comment submission process 

and, as described below, written comments relating 

to the application will be posted to the agencies’ 

respective public websites. 

telephone at (515) 241–1477. For users 

who have hearing or speech 

impairments, please call 711 from any 

telephone, anywhere in the United 

States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Public Meeting 

Notice 

On January 17, 2022, BMO Harris 

Bank National Association, Chicago, 

Illinois (BMO Harris Bank), applied to 

the OCC to merge Bank of the West, San 

Francisco, California with and into 

BMO Harris Bank pursuant to section 

18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(c)) (Bank 

Application). That same day, the Board 

received an application from Bank of 

Montreal, Montreal, Canada, and BMO 

Financial Corp., Wilmington, Delaware, 

to acquire BancWest Holding Inc., San 

Francisco, California, parent of Bank of 

the West, pursuant to the Bank Holding 

Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) 

(Holding Company Application). The 

Board and OCC (agencies) hereby 

announce that a public meeting on the 

applications will be held, as described 

below. 

II. Purpose and Procedures 

The public meeting will be held 

virtually. A virtual meeting will help 

protect the health and safety of all 

participants in light of the continuing 

occurrence of COVID–19 cases. The 

virtual format also will expand public 

access to the proceedings for both 

viewers and those who testify, and it 

will reduce travel and related costs 

associated with attending in-person 

proceedings. 

The purpose of the public meeting is 

to collect information relating to the 

factors that the agencies consider under 

the applicable statutes in acting on the 

applications. These factors include the 

effects of the proposal on the 

convenience and needs of the 

communities to be served by the 

combined organization; the insured 

depository institutions’ performance 

under the Community Reinvestment 

Act; the impact of the proposal on 

competition in the relevant markets; the 

effects of the proposal on the stability of 

the U.S. banking or financial system; the 

financial and managerial resources and 

future prospects of the companies and 

banks involved in the proposal; and the 

effectiveness of the companies and 

banks in combatting money laundering 

activities. Witnesses may present oral 

testimony in support of the proposed 

transactions, in opposition to the 

proposed transactions, or without taking 

a position in support or opposition. 

Testimony at the public meeting will 

be presented virtually to a panel 

consisting of Presiding Officers and 

other panel members appointed by the 

Presiding Officers. The Presiding 

Officers will have the authority and 

discretion to ensure that the meeting 

proceeds in a fair and orderly manner. 

The rules for taking evidence in an 

administrative proceeding will not 

apply to the public meeting. In general, 

the role of the panel members will be to 

listen to the oral testimony. The 

panelists may ask questions of those 

who testify; however, the questions 

generally will be limited to seeking 

clarification of statements made. Panel 

members may question witnesses, but 

no cross-examination of witnesses will 

be permitted. The public meeting will 

be transcribed, and the transcript will be 

posted on the respective public websites 

of the Board and the OCC.1

Information for Persons Wishing To 

Testify 

All persons wishing to testify at the 

public meeting must submit a written 

request to testify no later than 12:00 

p.m. EDT on June 23, 2022, through the 

online registration website available at: 

https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/ 

bank-of-montreal-bank-of-the-westapplication-materials.htm. The Board 

will provide the OCC with a copy of 

each request to testify. 

The online registration site will 

collect the following information from 

persons requesting to testify: (i) The 

name, city and state, telephone number, 

organization (if applicable), and email 

address of the person testifying; (ii) a 

brief statement of the nature of the 

expected testimony (including whether 

the testimony will support, oppose, or 

neither support nor oppose the 

proposed transactions); and (iii) the 

identification of any special needs, such 

as translation services, or disabilities 

requiring assistance. Translators or 

interpreters will be provided to the 

extent available if a need for such 

services is noted in the request to 

testify. 

Those wishing to submit a written 

version of their oral testimony may, but 

need not, file the written submission 

with the Presiding Officers via email to 

both comments.applications@chi.frb.org 

and to LargeBanks@occ.treas.gov before 

the meeting begins, or within three 

business days after the date of the 

meeting, and the subject line of the 

email should state ‘‘PUBLIC MEETING.’’ 

Persons who wish to testify must be 

able to access the online meeting 

platform using a computer, tablet, smart 

phone, or similar mobile device and 

have a video camera on their computer 

or mobile device. Persons who have 

registered to testify will be contacted by 

agency staff prior to the meeting and 

provided with specific instructions on 

participation (e.g., how to connect to the 

online meeting), as well as an 

opportunity to attend a technical 

session on how to connect to audio and 

video for the meeting. 

Information for Persons Watching or 

Listening to the Meeting Without 

Testifying 

Persons interested in watching the 

meeting (but not testifying) must register 

by submitting their name and email 

address through the online registration 

web page at https://

www.federalreserve.gov/foia/bank-ofmontreal-bank-of-the-west-applicationmaterials.htm. Registrants will be 

provided information on accessing the 

online meeting platform. 

Persons who wish to listen to the 

meeting (but not watch it or testify) 

need not register online and may access 

audio of the meeting using a call-in 

number that will be available on July 13, 

2022, on the registration web page at: 

https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/ 

bank-of-montreal-bank-of-the-westapplication-materials.htm. Persons 

attending via telephone will only be 

able to listen to the meeting audio, and 

all phone lines will be placed on mute 

to minimize disruption. Persons 

listening to the public meeting via 

telephone will not be able to provide 

testimony and will not have the ability 

to view the speakers or any other 

information that may be shown on 

screen during the meeting. 

Transcript of the Meeting 

The agencies anticipate that a 

transcript of the meeting will be posted 

on each agency’s respective public 

website. An audio or video recording of 

the meeting will not be retained by the 

agencies. No presentation materials will 

be permitted to be used during the 

public meeting due to technical 

considerations associated with a virtual 

format.2


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 100 / Tuesday, May 24, 2022 / Notices 31563 

Meeting Procedures 

The Presiding Officers will prepare a 

schedule for persons wishing to testify 

and establish the order of presentation. 

To ensure an opportunity for all 

interested commenters to present their 

views, the Presiding Officers may limit 

the time for providing oral comments 

and may establish other procedures 

related to the conduct of the public 

meeting as appropriate. For instance, 

each person may be permitted up to 

three minutes to testify. In order to 

verify the identity of persons scheduled 

to testify at the virtual public meeting, 

individuals who register to testify will 

be required to join a virtual waiting 

room in advance of the public meeting, 

where they must present a valid, 

government-issued photo identification 

using the video conference feature. 

Individuals who register to testify will 

be contacted by email to schedule their 

identity verification sessions. The 

Presiding Officers may extend the end 

time of the meeting beyond 7:00 p.m. 

EDT, if additional time is needed to 

accommodate demonstrated public 

interest. 

Reasonable Accommodations 

Persons who wish to request 

reasonable accommodations should 

submit a request through the online 

registration website at https://

www.federalreserve.gov/foia/bank-ofmontreal-bank-of-the-west-applicationmaterials.htm, or by calling Jason 

Bouleris, Program Analyst in the OCC’s 

Community Affairs Division, at (202) 

649–6382. Requests should be made no 

later than 12:00 p.m. EDT on June 23, 

2022. Requests submitted after this time 

may not be possible to accommodate. 

Requests should include a detailed 

description of the accommodation 

needed and a way for agency staff to 

contact the requester if more 

information is needed regarding the 

request. 

Extension of the Comment Period 

The Board is extending the comment 

period on the Holding Company 

Application, and the OCC is extending 

the comment period on the Bank 

Application, through 5:00 p.m. EDT on 

July 19, 2022. 

Written comments regarding the 

Holding Company Application may be 

submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank 

of Chicago, Colette A. Fried, Assistant 

Vice President, 230 South LaSalle 

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60604, or 

electronically to 

comments.applications@chi.frb.org; or 

the offices of the Board of Governors, 

Ann E. Misback, Secretary of the Board, 

20th Street and Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20551–0001. In 

general, all written comments will be 

made available on the Board’s website at 

https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/ 

bank-of-montreal-bank-of-the-westapplication-materials.htm as submitted, 

and will not be edited to remove any 

confidential, contact, or other 

identifying information. 

Written comments on the Bank 

Application may be submitted to Jason 

Almonte, Director for Large Bank 

Licensing at LargeBanks@occ.treas.gov 

or at 340 Madison Avenue, Fifth Floor, 

New York, New York 10173. Written 

comments will be made available on 

OCC’s website at https://www.occ.gov/ 

topics/charters-and-licensing/publiccomment/business-combination-ormerger-applications-comments.html. In 

general, the OCC will publish each 

comment without change, including any 

business or personal information, name 

and address, email addresses, and 

phone numbers. Comments received, 

including attachments and other 

supporting material, are part of the 

public record and subject to public 

disclosure. Do not enclose any 

information in a comment or supporting 

material that is confidential or 

inappropriate for public disclosure. 

Privacy Note 

The Board will make the public 

record of the Holding Company 

Application, including all comments 

received, the written copy of a person’s 

oral testimony at the public meeting (if 

a written copy is provided to the 

agencies), and the transcript of the 

public meeting, available on the Board’s 

public website at: https://

www.federalreserve.gov/foia/bank-ofmontreal-bank-of-the-west-applicationmaterials.htm. The OCC will make the 

public record of the Bank Application, 

including all comments received, the 

written copy of a person’s oral 

testimony at the public meeting (if a 

written copy is provided to the 

agencies), and the transcript of the 

public meeting, available on the OCC’s 

public website at: https://occ.gov/ 

topics/charters-and-licensing/publiccomment/business-combination-ormerger-applications-comments.html. 

Persons submitting comments and/or 

testimony are reminded to include only 

information that they wish to make 

available to the public. 

Michael J. Hsu, 

Acting Comptroller of the Currency. 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

Ann Misback, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11070 Filed 5–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Food and Drug Administration 

[Docket No. FDA–2012–D–0307] 

Recommendations To Reduce the 

Possible Risk of Transmission of 

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Variant 

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease by Blood 

and Blood Components; Guidance for 

Industry; Availability 

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA, Agency, or we) is 

announcing the availability of a final 

guidance entitled ‘‘Recommendations to 

Reduce the Possible Risk of 

Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob 

Disease and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob 

Disease by Blood and Blood 

Components.’’ The guidance document 

provides blood establishments that 

collect blood and blood components 

with recommendations intended to 

reduce the possible risk of transmission 

of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and 

variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) 

by blood and blood components. The 

recommendations in the guidance apply 

to the collection of Whole Blood and 

blood components intended for 

transfusion or for use in further 

manufacturing, including Source 

Plasma. The guidance removes the 

recommendations to defer indefinitely 

blood donors for geographic risk of 

possible exposure to bovine spongiform 

encephalopathy for time spent in the 

United Kingdom (U.K.) from 1980 to 

1996 and for time spent in France and 

Ireland from 1980 to 2001, and receipt 

of a blood transfusion in the U.K., 

France, and Ireland from 1980 to the 

present. The guidance also provides 

recommendations for requalification of 

individuals previously deferred for 

these geographic risk factors, provided 

they meet all other eligibility 

requirements. The guidance announced 

in this notice supersedes the guidance 


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