Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 22, 1996 / Notices 25671

the UGESP recordkeeping requirement,

the Commission proposed to conduct a

practical utility survey to obtain

estimates of burden hours. The intended

survey was not approved by OMB,

however, and the Commission relied

instead on data obtained from the

Business Roundtable study on ‘‘Cost of

Government Regulation’’ conducted by

the Arthur Anderson Company.

In its initial estimate of recordkeeping

burden the Commission relied on data

from that study to derive the estimate of

1.91 million hours. In a subsequent

submission to OMB for clearance of the

UGESP collection, the Commission

made an adjustment to reflect the

increase in the incidence of

computerized recordkeeping that had

resulted in a reduction of total burden

hours of approximately 300,000, and

had brought the total burden down to

1.6 million hours.

In the calculation of the initial burden

of UGESP compliance, the estimated

number of employees covered by the

guidelines was 71.1 million. Average

cost per employee was taken to be

$1.79. Since most of this cost, however,

was for employers’ administrative

functions and represented the time

spent in reviewing their selection

processes for ‘adverse impact’ and in

reviewing and validating their testing

procedures, the actual recordkeeping

function was estimated to be in the

range of 10 to 15 percent of the total peremployee costs, or between $.179 and

$.2685 per employee. The Commission

used these per-employee costs, even

though it believed that they were an

over-estimate. In the initial estimate the

Commission used the higher end of the

range.

The Commission now believes that a

better estimate is the midpoint of the

range or $.22 per employee. The number

of employees also has grown by 15

million since the initial estimate, so that

there now are 86 million subject to

UGESP. In addition, from the private

employer survey the Commission has

been conducting for the past 30 years

(the EEO–1), it is aware that 29.7

percent of the private employers file

their employment reports on magnetic

tapes, on diskettes, or on computer

printouts. Thus, at a minimum, that

proportion of employers has

computerized recordkeeping. From the

same survey the Commission also has

learned that when records are

computerized, the burden hours for

reporting, and thus for recordkeeping,

are about one-fifth of the burden hours

associated with non-computerized

records. Therefore, the Commission’s

current estimate of recordkeeping

burden hours is as follows:

Computerized recordkeepers—(.29) × 86

mil × ($.044)=$1,097,360

All other recordkeepers—(.71) × 86

mil × ($.22)=$13,433,200

Total recordkeeping cost = $14,530,560

Total Burden Hours are then computed

by dividing the total cost of

recordkeeping by $10, the hourly rate of

staff recordkeepers. The total new

estimate of burden hours associated

with the UGESP recordkeeping then is

1.45 million hours. Assumptions made

in deriving the estimate are as follows:

Cost per employee for manual records is

$.22*

Cost per employee for computerized

records is $.044*

Hourly rate of pay for recordkeeping

staff is $10,00**

* Both of these are derived from a

private employer study.

** To the extent that this is an underestimate, the reporting burden is overestimated.

Dated: May 16, 1996.

For the Commission.

Maria Borrero,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 96–12767 Filed 5–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–M

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Change in Bank Control Notices;

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies;

Correction

This notice corrects a notice (FR Doc.

96-9394) published on pages 16791 and

16792 of the issue for Wednesday, April

17, 1996.

Under the Federal Reserve Bank of

New York heading, the entry for HSBC

Holdings plc, London, England, and

HSBC Holdngs BV, Amsterdam, The

Netherlands, is revised to read as

follows:

1. HSBC Holdings plc, London,

England; and HSBC Holdings BV,

Amsterdam, The Netherlands; to engage

de novo through its subsidiary, HSBC

Futures, Inc., New York, New York, in

executing and clearing, executing

without clearing, clearing without

executing, and providing other related

services, including incidental advisory

services, with respect to futures and

options on futures on certain nonfinancial commodities. Also, to execute

without clearing, and clear without

executing, futures on certain financial

products. The proposed activities would

be provided to institutional investors

and employees trading for their own

accounts throughout the world. (See,

J.P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated, 80 Fed.

Res. Bull. 151 (1994); and Northern

Trust Corporation, 79 Fed. Res. Bull.

723 (1993)).

Comments on this application must

be received by May 31, 1996.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, May 16, 1996.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 96-12794 Filed 5-21-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210-01-F

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. Once the application has

been accepted for processing, it will also

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,

including whether the acquisition of the

nonbanking company can ‘‘reasonably

be expected to produce benefits to the

public, such as greater convenience,

increased competition, or gains in

efficiency, that outweigh possible

adverse effects, such as undue

concentration of resources, decreased or

unfair competition, conflicts of

interests, or unsound banking practices’’

(12 U.S.C. 1843). Any request for

a hearing must be accompanied by a

statement of the reasons a written

presentation would not suffice in lieu of

a hearing, identifying specifically any

questions of fact that are in dispute,

summarizing the evidence that would

be presented at a hearing, and indicating

how the party commenting would be

aggrieved by approval of the proposal.

Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking
25672 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 22, 1996 / Notices

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 June 17, 1996.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

(James A. Bluemle, Vice President) 230

South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois

60690:

1. First Financial Corporation, Terre

Haute, Indiana; to merge with Crawford

Bancorp, Inc., Robinson, Illinois, and

thereby indirectly acquire Crawford

County State Bank, Robinson, Illinois.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, May 16, 1996.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 96-12793 Filed 5-21-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210-01-F

FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Government in the Sunshine Meeting

Notice

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Tuesday,

May 28, 1996.

PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal

Reserve Board Building, C Street

entrance between 20th and 21st 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:

Mr. Joseph R. Coyne, Assistant to the

Board; (202) 452–3204. You may call

(202) 452–3207, beginning at

approximately 5 p.m. two business days

before this meeting, for a recorded

announcement of bank and bank

holding company applications

scheduled for the meeting.

Dated: May 17, 1996.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 96–12931 Filed 5–20–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 931–0084]

The Loewen Group, Inc; Loewen Group

International, Inc.; Propose Consent

Agreement With Analysis To Aid

Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

SUMMARY: In settlement of alleged

violations of federal law prohibiting

unfair or deceptive acts or practices and

unfair methods of competition, this

consent agreement, accepted subjected

to final Commission approval, would

require, among other things, the

Covington, Kentucky-based company to

divest the Castelwood Funeral Home in

Castelwood, Virginia within nine

months of acquiring it. The Consent

Agreement settles allegations that

Lowen’s proposed acquisition of

Heritage Family Funeral Services, Inc.,

would substantially reduce competition

in Castlewood, because Loewen and

heritage are the only firms providing

funeral services in the Castlewood area.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before July 22, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

directed to: FTC/Office of the Secretary,

Room 159, 6th St. and Pa. Ave., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas B. Carter, Dallas Regional

Office, Federal Trade Commission, 100

N. Central Expressway, Suite 500,

Dallas, TX 75201. (214) 767–5518.

Gary D. Kennedy, Dallas Regional

Office, Federal Trade Commission,

100 N. Central Expressway, Suite 500,

Dallas, TX 75201. (214) 767–5512.

James R. Golder, Dallas Regional Office,

Federal Trade Commission, 100 N.

Central Expressway, Suite 500, Dallas,

TX 75201. (214) 767–5508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to Section 6(f) of the Federal Trade

Commission Act, 38 Stat. 721, 15 U.S.C.

46 and Section 2.34 of the Commission’s

Rules of Practice (16 CFR 2.34), notice

is hereby given that the following

consent agreement containing a consent

order to cease and desist, having been

filed with and accepted, subject to final

approval, by the Commission, has been

placed on the public record for a period

of sixty (60) days. Public comment is

invited. Such comments or views will

be considered by the Commission and

will be available for inspection and

copying at its principal office in

accordance with Section 4.9(b)(6)(ii) of

the Commission’s Rules of Practice (16

CFR 4.9(b)(6)(ii)).

The Federal Trade Commission

(‘‘Commission’’) having initiated an

investigation of the proposed

acquisition of the voting securities of

Heritage Family Funeral Services, Inc.

by The Loewen Group Inc., a

corporation, and Loewen Group

International, Inc., a corporation

(hereinafter collectively referred to as

‘‘Loewen’’), and it now appearing that

Loewen is willing to enter into an

agreement containing an order to divest

certain assets, and to cease and desist

from certain acts.

It is hereby agreed by and between

Loewen, its duly authorized officers and

attorneys, and counsel for the

Commission that:

1. Proposed respondent The Loewen

Group Inc. is a corporation organized,

existing and doing business under and

by virtue of the laws of the province of

British Columbia, Canada, with its office

and principal place of business located

at 4126 Norland Avenue, Burnaby,

British Columbia, Canada V5G 3S8.

2. Proposed respondent Loewen

Group International, Inc. is a

corporation organized, existing and

doing business under and by virtue of

the laws of the State of Delaware, with

its office and principal place of business

located at 50 East River Center

Boulevard, Covington, Kentucky 41011.

Proposed respondent Loewen Group

International, Inc. is a wholly-owned

subsidiary of The Loewen Group Inc.

3. Loewen admits all the

jurisdictional facts set forth in the draft

of complaint.

4. Loewen waives:

a. Any further procedural steps;

b. The requirement that the

Commission’s decision contain a

statement of findings of fact and

conclusions of law;

c. All rights to seek judicial review or

otherwise to challenge or contest the

validity of the order entered pursuant to

this agreement; and

d. Any claim under the Equal Access

to Justice Act.

5. This agreement shall not become

part of the public record of the

proceeding unless and until it is

accepted by the Commission. If this

agreement is accepted by the

Commission, it, together with the draft

of complaint contemplated thereby, will

be placed on the public record for a

period of sixty (60) days and

information in respect thereto publicly

released. The Commission thereafter

may either withdraw its acceptance of

this agreement and so notify Loewen, in

which even it will take such action as

it may consider appropriate, or issue

and serve its complaint (in such form as