66862 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 248 / Wednesday, December 27, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

PART 3404—PUBLIC INFORMATION

Sec.

3404.1 General statement.

3404.2 Public inspection, copying, and

indexing.

3404.3 Requests for records.

3404.4 Denials.

3404.5 Appeals.

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 552; 7 CFR part 1,

subpart A.

§ 3404.1 General statement.

This part is issued in accordance with

the regulations of the Secretary of

Agriculture in part 1, subpart A of this

title, implementing the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552).

The Secretary’s regulations, as

implemented by the regulations in this

part, govern the availability of records of

the Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service to the

public.

§ 3404.2 Public inspection, copying, and

indexing.

5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2) requires that certain

materials be made available for public

inspection and copying and that a

current index of these materials be

published quarterly or otherwise be

made available. Members of the public

may request access to such materials

maintained by CSREES at the following

office: Information Staff, Agricultural

Research Service, USDA, 6303 Ivy Lane,

Room 456, Greenbelt, MD 20770;

Telephone (301) 344–2207. Office hours

are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

§ 3404.3 Requests for records.

Requests for records of CSREES under

5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3) shall be made in

accordance with § 1.6 of this title and

submitted to the FOIA Coordinator at

the following address: Information Staff,

Agricultural Research Service, USDA,

6303 Ivy Lane, Room 456, Greenbelt,

MD 20770; Telephone (301) 344–2207;

Facsimile (301) 344–2325; TDD (301)

344–2435. The FOIA Coordinator is

delegated authority to make

determinations regarding such requests

in accordance with § 1.3(a)(3) of this

title.

§ 3404.5 Denials.

If the FOIA Coordinator determines

that a requested record is exempt from

mandatory disclosure and that

discretionary release would be

improper, the FOIA Coordinator shall

give written notice of denial in

accordance with § 1.8(a) of this title.

§ 13404.6 Appeals.

Any person whose request is denied

shall have the right to appeal such

denial. Appeals shall be made in

accordance with § 1.6(e) of this title and

should be addressed as follows:

Administrator, Cooperative State

Research, Education, and Extension

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Washington, DC 20250.

Done at Washington, D.C., this 15th day of

December 1995.

Colien Hefferan,

Acting Administrator, Cooperative State

Research, Education, and Extension Service.

[FR Doc. 95–31183 Filed 12–26–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–22–M

Economic Research Service

7 CFR Part 3701

Availability of Information

AGENCY: Economic Research Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document amends

regulations of the Economic Research

Service (ERS) regarding the availability

of information to the public in

accordance with the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) to notify the

public of a change in the location of the

ERS FOIA Coordinator and the location

where published data is available.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 27, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stasia A.M. Hutchison, FOIA

Coordinator, Agricultural Research

Service, USDA, 6303 Ivy Lane, Room

456, Greenbelt, MD 20770, (301) 344–

2207.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FOIA

(5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1)) requires Federal

agencies to publish in the Federal

Register regulations describing how the

public may obtain information from the

agency. This part is issued in

accordance with the regulations of the

Secretary of Agriculture at 7 CFR part 1,

subpart A, implementing FOIA. This

document amends 7 CFR part 3701 to

inform the public of the change in

location of the FOIA Coordinator for

ERS delegated the authority to make

initial determinations on FOIA requests

in accordance with 7 CFR 1.3(a)(3), and

the location where published data are

available to the public.

This rule relates to internal agency

management. Therefore, pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 553, notice of proposed

rulemaking and opportunity for

comment are not required, and this rule

may be made effective less than 30 days

after publication in the Federal Register.

Further, since this rule relates to

internal agency management, it is

exempt from the provisions of Executive

Orders 12778 and 12866. Also, this rule

will not cause a significant economic

impact or other substantial effect on

small entities. Therefore, the

requirements of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., do

not apply.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 3701

Freedom of information.

Accordingly, 7 CFR part 3701 is

revised to read as follows:

PART 3701—PUBLIC INFORMATION

Sec.

3701.1 General statement.

3702.2 Public inspection, copying, and

indexing.

3701.3 Request for records.

2701.4 Denials.

3701.5 Appeals.

3701.6 Requests for published data and

information.

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 552; 7 CFR

part 1, subpart A.

§ 3701.1 General statement.

This part is issued in accordance with

the regulations of the Secretary of

Agriculture in part 1, subpart A of this

title, implementing the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552).

The Secretary’s regulations, as

implemented by the regulations in this

part, govern the availability of records of

the Economic Research Service (ERS) to

the public.

§ 3701.2 Public inspection, copying, and

indexing.

5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2) requires that certain

materials be made available for public

inspection and copying and that a

current index of these materials be

published quarterly or otherwise be

made available. Members of the public

may request access to such materials

maintained by ERS at the following

office: Information Staff, Agricultural

Research Service, USDA, 6303 Ivy Lane,

Room 456, Greenbelt, MD 20770;

Telephone (301) 344–2207. Office Hours

are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

§ 3701.3 Request for records.

Requests for records of ERS shall be

made in accordance with § 1.6 (a) and

(b) of this title and submitted to the

FOIA Coordinator, Agricultural

Research Service, USDA, 6303 Ivy Lane,

Room 456, Greenbelt, MD 20770;

Telephone (301) 344–2207, Facsimile

(301) 344–2325, TDD (301) 344–2425.

The FOIA Coordinator is delegated

authority to make determinations

regarding such requests in accordance

with § 1.3(a)(3) of this title.

§ 3701.4 Denials.

If the FOIA Coordinator determines

that a requested record is exempt from

mandatory disclosure and that
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 248 / Wednesday, December 27, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 66863

1The definition of central government includes

departments and ministries of the central

government, as well as central banks, but does not

extend to state, provincial, or local governments or

commercial enterprises owned by central

governments. Nor does it extend to securities of

local government entities or commercial enterprises

guaranteed by the central government. 12 CFR part

325, II.C., note 17 (1995).

discretionary release would be

improper, the FOIA Coordinator shall

give written notice of denial in

accordance with § 1.8(a) of this title.

§ 3701.5 Appeals.

Any person whose request is denied

shall have the right to appeal such

denial. Appeals shall be made in

accordance with Section 1.6(e) of this

title and should be addressed as follows:

Administrator, Economic Research

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Washington, DC 20250.

§ 3701.6 Requests for published data and

information.

Information on published data from

ERS programs is contained in the ERS

‘‘Reports’’ newsletter, available without

cost from the Economic Research

Service, Information Center, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, 1301 New

York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20005.

Done at Washington, DC, this 19th day of

December 1995.

John Dunmore,

Acting Administrator, Economic Research

Service.

[FR Doc. 95–31185 Filed 12–26–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–18–M

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

12 CFR Part 360

RIN 3064–AB69

Definition of Qualified Financial

Contracts

AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation (FDIC or

Corporation) has adopted a rule to

include spot and other short-term

foreign exchange agreements and

repurchase agreements on qualified

foreign government securities within the

definition of ‘‘qualified financial

contracts’’ under the Federal Deposit

Insurance Act (FDI Act). The FDI Act

authorizes the FDIC to expand the

definition of qualified financial contract

by promulgation of regulations to

include agreements similar to those

currently identified as qualified

financial contracts within the FDI Act.

The FDIC has determined that spot and

other short-term foreign exchange

agreements are similar to swap

agreements, which are included within

the qualified financial contract

provisions of the statute and that

repurchase agreements on qualified

foreign government securities are

similar to those repurchase agreements

already recognized as qualified financial

contracts under the statute.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 27, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sharon Powers Sivertsen, Assistant

General Counsel, Legal Division, (202)

736–0112; Keith A. Ligon, Senior

Counsel, Legal Division, (202) 736–

0160; or Christine M. Bradley, Attorney,

Legal Division, (202) 736–0106, Legal

Division.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Sections 11(e)(8) through (10) of the

FDI Act, 12 U.S.C. 1821(e)(8) through

(10), provide special rules for the

treatment of qualified financial

contracts in the event the FDIC is

appointed receiver or conservator for an

insured depository institution. The

statute seeks, among other things, to

protect parties to qualified financial

contracts by allowing for the

liquidation, termination, and netting of

their agreements. The statute defines

certain securities contracts, commodity

contracts, forward contracts, repurchase

agreements and swap agreements as

qualified financial contracts.

Section 11(e)(8)(D) of the FDI Act

identifies in some detail the types of

contracts to be treated as qualified

financial contracts, but additionally

affords the FDIC express authority to

adopt regulations extending the

definition to any similar agreement. 12

U.S.C. 1821(e)(8)(D)(i).

Proposed Rule

In September 1995, the FDIC

requested comment on a proposed

regulation that would expand the

definition of qualified financial contract

to include agreements similar to the

agreements identified within the FDI

Act as qualified financial contracts. (60

FR 48935, Sept. 21, 1995). The FDIC

proposed that spot and other short-term

foreign exchange agreements and that

repurchase agreements on securities

issued or guaranteed by the central

governments belonging to the

Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development (OECD), or that have

concluded special lending arrangements

with the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) associated with the IMF’s General

Arrangements to Borrow, be considered

as qualified financial contracts under

the FDI Act.

The FDIC intended that the definition

of qualified financial contract be

expanded to include certain instruments

that facilitate appropriate liquidity,

hedging and financial intermediation

operations in financial institutions.

Adoption of the regulation to include

spot and other short-term foreign

exchange contracts and repurchase

agreements on qualified foreign

government securities within the

definition of qualified financial contract

is not intended to exclude other

agreements that may otherwise qualify

to be qualified financial contracts under

the language of section 11(e)(8)(D) itself.

Final Rule

The final rule adopted by the

Corporation includes spot and other

short-term foreign exchange agreements

within the definition of qualified

financial contract. The final rule

clarifies that short-dated foreign

exchange transactions such as spots,

tomorrow/next day and same day/

tomorrow transactions are similar

agreements to those agreements

identified within the statute as swap

agreements.

The final rule also expands the

definition of qualified financial contract

to include repurchase agreements on

securities issued or guaranteed by the

central governments of countries that

are either full members of the OECD or

that have concluded special lending

arrangements with the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) associated with

the IMF’s General Arrangements to

Borrow (repurchase agreement on

qualified foreign government securities).

The final rule incorporates by reference

the definition of ‘‘central government’’

as set forth in 12 CFR part 325,

appendix A, II.C note 17 1 and ‘‘OECDbased group of countries’’ as set forth in

12 CFR part 325, appendix A, II.B.2,

note 12 (and incorporating any changes

to these definitions that should occur by

future amendment).

Summary of Comments

The FDIC received 8 comment letters

on the proposed regulation on the

Definition of Qualified Financial

Contracts. All commenters strongly

support the Corporation’s expansion of

the definition of qualified financial

contract to include spot and other shortterm foreign exchange agreements and

repurchase agreements on qualified

foreign government securities. The

commenters generally agree that

promulgation of the proposed regulation