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1See 12 U.S.C. 1427(a)(1). 

2See 12 U.S.C. 1427(b) and (d). 

[FR Doc. 2014–25871 Filed 10–30–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6714–01–P 

FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

EXAMINATION COUNCIL 

[Docket No. AS14–10] 

Appraisal Subcommittee Notice of 

Meeting 

AGENCY: Appraisal Subcommittee of the 

Federal Financial Institutions 

Examination Council. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 

1104 (b) of Title XI of the Financial 

Institutions Reform, Recovery, and 

Enforcement Act of 1989, as amended, 

notice is hereby given that the Appraisal 

Subcommittee (ASC) will meet in open 

session for its regular meeting: 

Location: Federal Reserve Board— 

International Square location, 1850 K 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20006. 

Date: November 12, 2014. 

Time: 10:30 a.m. 

Status: Open. 

Reports 

Chairman 

Executive Director 

Delegated State Compliance Reviews 

Financial Report 

Appraisal Subcommittee Advisory 

Committee 

Action Items 

September 10, 2014 minutes—Open 

Session 

FY15 Appraisal Foundation Grant 

Proposal 

How To Attend and Observe an ASC 

Meeting 

If you plan to attend the meeting in 

person, we ask that you notify the 

Federal Reserve Board via email at 

appraisal-questions@frb.gov, requesting 

a return meeting registration email. The 

Federal Reserve Law Enforcement Unit 

will then send an email message with a 

Web link where you may provide your 

date of birth and social security number 

through their encrypted system. You 

may register until close of business 

November 6, 2014. You will also be 

asked to provide identifying 

information, including a valid 

government-issued photo ID, before 

being admitted to the meeting. 

Alternatively, you can contact Kevin 

Wilson at 202–452–2362 for other 

registration options. The meeting space 

is intended to accommodate public 

attendees. However, if the space will not 

accommodate all requests, the ASC may 

refuse attendance on that reasonable 

basis. The use of any video or audio 

tape recording device, photographing 

device, or any other electronic or 

mechanical device designed for similar 

purposes is prohibited at ASC meetings. 

Dated: October 27, 2014. 

James R. Park, 

Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25932 Filed 10–30–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6700–01–P 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE 

AGENCY 

[No. 2014–N–12] 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance 

Agency. 

ACTION: 30-day Notice of Submission of 

Information Collection for Approval 

from the Office of Management and 

Budget. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Federal Housing Finance Agency 

(FHFA) is seeking public comments 

concerning the information collection 

known as ‘‘Federal Home Loan Bank 

Directors,’’ which has been assigned 

control number 2590–0006 by the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB). 

FHFA intends to submit the information 

collection to OMB for review and 

approval of a three-year extension of the 

control number, which is due to expire 

on October 31, 2014. 

DATES: Interested persons may submit 

comments on or before December 1, 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs of the Office of Management and 

Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the 

Federal Housing Finance Agency, 

Washington, DC 20503, Fax: 202–395– 

6974, Email: OIRA_Submisson@

omb.eop.gov. Please also submit 

comments to FHFA using any one of the 

following methods: 

• Agency Web site: www.fhfa.gov/

open-for-comment-or-input. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. If 

you submit your comment to the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also 

send it by email to FHFA at 

RegComments@fhfa.gov to ensure 

timely receipt by the agency. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal 

Housing Finance Agency, Eighth Floor, 

400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, 

DC 20024, Attention: Public Comments/ 

Proposed Collection; Comment Request: 

‘‘Federal Home Loan Bank Directors 

(No. 2014–N–12).’’ 

We will post all public comments we 

receive without change, including any 

personal information you provide, such 

as your name and address, email 

address, and telephone number, on the 

FHFA Web site at http://www.fhfa.gov. 

In addition, copies of all comments 

received will be available for 

examination by the public on business 

days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 

3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance 

Agency, Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh 

Street SW., Washington, DC 20024. To 

make an appointment to inspect 

comments, please call the Office of 

General Counsel at (202) 649–3804. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patricia Sweeney, Management Analyst, 

Division of Bank Regulation, by email at 

Patricia.Sweeney@fhfa.gov or by 

telephone at (202) 649–3311; or Eric 

Raudenbush, Assistant General Counsel, 

by email at Eric.Raudenbush@fhfa.gov 

or by telephone at (202) 649–3084 (not 

toll-free numbers); or by regular mail at 

Federal Housing Finance Agency, 

Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. The telephone 

number for the Telecommunications 

Device for the Hearing Impaired is (800) 

877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Need For and Use of the Information 

Collection 

Section 7 of the Federal Home Loan 

Bank Act (Bank Act) vests the 

management of each Federal Home Loan 

Bank (Bank) in its board of directors.1

As required by section 7, each Bank’s 

board comprises two types of directors: 

(1) Member directors, who are drawn 

from the officers and directors of 

member institutions located in the 

Bank’s district and who are elected 

every four years to represent members 

in a particular state in that district; and 

(2) independent directors, who are 

unaffiliated with any of the Bank’s 

member institutions, but who reside in 

the Bank’s district and are elected every 

four years on an at-large basis.2 Section 

7 and FHFA’s implementing regulation, 

codified at 12 CFR part 1261, establish 

the eligibility requirements for both 

types of Bank directors and the required 

professional qualifications for 

independent directors, and set forth the 

procedures for their election. 

Part 1261 of the regulations requires 

each Bank, as part of its responsibility 

to administer its annual director 

election process, to determine the 


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64768 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Notices 

3See 12 CFR 1261.7(c) and (f); 12 CFR 1261.14(b). 

4See 12 CFR 1261.12. 

5See 79 FR 35960 (June 25, 2014). The proposed 

rule would also apply to the Bank System’s Office 

of Finance. 

6See 12 U.S.C. 1427(a)(3)(B)(ii). 

eligibility of candidates to serve as 

member and independent directors on 

its board. Specifically, each Bank must 

require each candidate for either type of 

directorship, including any incumbent 

that may be a candidate for reelection, 

to complete and return to the Bank a 

form that solicits information about the 

candidate’s statutory eligibility to serve 

and, in the case of independent director 

candidates, about his or her professional 

qualifications for the directorship being 

sought.3 Member director candidates are 

required to complete the Federal Home 

Loan Bank Member Director Eligibility 

Certification Form (Member Director 

Eligibility Certification Form), while 

independent director candidates must 

complete the Federal Home Loan Bank 

Independent Director Application Form 

(Independent Director Application 

Form). 

Under part 1261, each Bank must also 

require each of its incumbent directors 

to certify annually that he or she 

continues to meet all of the applicable 

statutory eligibility requirements.4

Member directors do this by completing 

the Member Director Eligibility 

Certification Form again every year, 

while independent directors complete 

the abbreviated Federal Home Loan 

Bank Independent Director Annual 

Certification Form (Independent 

Director Annual Certification Form) to 

certify their ongoing eligibility. 

The OMB control number for the 

information collection is 2590–0006, 

which is due to expire on October 31, 

2014. The likely respondents are 

individuals who are prospective and 

incumbent Bank directors. Copies of 

each of the forms appear at the end of 

this notice. 

B. Burden Estimate 

FHFA estimates the total annual hour 

burden imposed upon respondents by 

this information collection is 145 hours. 

This estimate is based on the following 

calculations: 

1. Member Director Eligibility 

Certification Form 

FHFA estimates the total annual hour 

burden on all member director 

candidates and incumbent member 

directors associated with review and 

completion of the Member Director 

Eligibility Certification Form is 37 

hours. This includes a total annual 

average of 68 member director 

candidates, with 1 response per 

individual taking an average of 15 

minutes (.25 hours) (68 respondents × 

.25 hours = 17 hours). It also includes 

a total annual average of 80 incumbent 

member directors, with 1 response per 

individual taking an average of 15 

minutes (.25 hours) (80 individuals × 

.25 hours = 20 hours). 

2. Independent Director Application 

Form 

FHFA estimates the total annual hour 

burden on all independent director 

candidates associated with review and 

completion of the Independent Director 

Application Form is 75 hours. This 

includes a total annual average of 25 

independent director candidates, with 1 

response per individual taking an 

average of 3 hours (25 individuals × 3 

hours = 75 hours). 

3. Independent Director Annual 

Certification Form 

FHFA estimates the total annual hour 

burden on all incumbent independent 

directors associated with review and 

completion of the Independent Director 

Annual Certification Form is 33 hours. 

This includes a total annual average of 

66 incumbent independent directors, 

with 1 response per individual taking an 

average of 30 minutes (.5 hours) (66 

individuals × .5 hours = 33 hours). 

C. Comment Request 

1. Comment Received in Response to the 

Initial Notice 

In accordance with the requirements 

of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA published a 

request for public comments regarding 

this information collection in the 

Federal Register on August 11, 2014. 

See 79 FR 46801 (Aug. 11, 2014). The 

60-day comment period closed on 

October 10, 2014. FHFA received one 

comment letter, signed jointly by two 

Members of Congress, that suggested 

several revisions to the forms and 

questioned the accuracy of FHFA’s 

burden estimate pertaining to 

completion of the Independent Director 

Application Form. For the reasons 

stated below, the agency has decided 

against making any of the suggested 

revisions or changing the burden 

estimate. 

Citing the importance of diversity 

among Bank directors, the commenters 

suggested that FHFA revise the forms to 

include questions regarding the gender, 

race, ethnicity, and geographic location 

of the respondent. With respect to a 

respondent’s geographic location, the 

application forms already address that 

issue by requiring respondents to 

provide their home and business 

addresses. With respect to the other 

three elements, FHFA anticipates 

obtaining that information through a 

separate rulemaking. In June 2014 FHFA 

issued a proposed rule to amend its 

regulations on Minority and Women 

Inclusion (MWI), located at 12 CFR part 

1207. That proposal would require each 

Bank annually to request that each 

member of its board of directors 

voluntarily provide the Bank with 

information about his or her minority 

and gender classification. The Banks 

would then provide that information, on 

an aggregate basis and without 

including personally identifiable 

information, to FHFA as part of their 

annual MWI reports to the agency.5 The 

comment period for that rulemaking 

ended on August 25, 2014, and FHFA is 

in the process of reviewing the 

comments received and developing a 

final rule. Because FHFA anticipates 

having in place another avenue for 

receiving information about the 

diversity of Bank boards of directors, it 

does not believe that it is necessary to 

collect that same information through 

the director application forms. 

The Bank Act requires that at least 

two of each Bank’s independent 

directors qualify as ‘‘public interest’’ 

directors—i.e., that they have more than 

four years of experience representing 

consumer or community interests on 

banking services, credit needs, housing, 

or consumer financial protections.6 The 

commenters’ second suggested revision 

relates to question 3 in the ‘‘Statutory 

Eligibility Requirements’’ section of the 

Independent Director Application Form, 

which asks respondents who are 

interested in serving as a ‘‘public 

interest’’ director to ‘‘provide 

information on how you have 

represented such consumer or 

community interests for more than four 

years.’’ The commenters suggest that 

FHFA revise this question to require 

that each such respondent also be 

required to specify the ‘‘leadership role’’ 

that the individual has held in a 

‘‘mission-driven organization.’’ 

The agency has declined to make this 

revision for several reasons. First, the 

principal purpose of the form is to 

determine whether the respondent 

satisfies the statutory and regulatory 

eligibility requirements for being a 

public interest director. While it has 

been FHFA’s experience that most, if 

not all, of the Banks’ ‘‘public interest’’ 

director candidates have in fact served 

in a leadership position with a 

‘‘mission-driven’’ organization, the Bank 

Act does not require that an individual 

fulfill the ‘‘public interest’’ requirement 

in this particular manner in order to be 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Notices 64769 

eligible. If the question were to be 

revised as suggested, it would then 

imply that serving in such a position is 

a necessary means of fulfilling the 

eligibility requirements and would 

likely cause confusion among potential 

applicants about the actual eligibility 

requirements. Second, FHFA, which 

reviews the completed form for every 

individual a Bank proposes to nominate 

for an independent directorship, is 

unaware of any instance in recent years 

in which an applicant responding to 

question 3 has failed to specify the 

position or positions he or she held with 

any organization mentioned therein. In 

most cases, respondents have provided 

additional detail as to the duties 

undertaken while holding those 

positions. Both the Banks and FHFA 

review the information provided in 

order to confirm that the persons 

actually satisfy the statutory eligibility 

requirements for the public interest 

directorships. If an applicant for a 

‘‘public interest’’ independent 

directorship did not include such 

information, it is likely that the Bank, or 

FHFA, would require the respondent to 

provide such information before he or 

she could be considered for the 

directorship. Finally, question 1 in the 

‘‘Selection Criteria’’ section of the 

Independent Director Application Form 

already requests that applicants provide 

detailed information about their 

leadership experience, and their 

responses to that question should 

provide the Banks and FHFA with 

information about the leadership roles 

they have had with any consumer- or 

community interest-focused 

organizations. 

The commenters’ third suggested 

revision relates to question 2(G) in the 

‘‘Selection Criteria’’ section of the 

Independent Director Application Form, 

which is intended to elicit information 

on experience that the respondent may 

have that is related to ‘‘the mission of 

the Banks.’’ The question characterizes 

the Banks’ mission as being ‘‘to support 

the housing finance activities of their 

members, which includes residential 

mortgage finance and community and 

economic development lending 

activities.’’ Noting that ‘‘Congress has 

consistently defined the [Banks’] 

mission as serving both housing and 

community economic development 

needs of people and their 

communities,’’ the commenters suggest 

that FHFA revise question 2(G) so that 

it instead describes the mission of the 

Banks as being to support the ‘‘housing 

and community economic development 

activities of its members.’’ There is no 

specific definition of the Banks’ 

mission. Nonetheless, since its 

inception in 1932, the principal activity 

of the Banks has been to support their 

members’ residential housing finance 

business by providing loans to their 

members (known as ‘‘advances’’) that 

are secured by the members’ assets, 

most typically other residential 

mortgage loans. In 1989, Congress 

further required the Banks to establish 

Affordable Housing Programs, through 

which members can support access to 

housing for persons with lower or 

moderate incomes, and to support their 

members’ community and economic 

development activities. Thereafter, the 

Federal Housing Finance Board, FHFA’s 

predecessor agency as regulator of the 

Banks, construed the ‘‘housing finance 

mission’’ of the Banks broadly, and to 

include two elements: Providing 

support for their members’ residential 

mortgage lending, and providing 

support for their members’ community 

and economic development activities. 

FHFA has embraced the view that 

support for the members’ community 

and economic development activities is 

a core aspect of the Banks’ housing 

finance mission and believes that the 

existing language of the form, which 

explicitly refers to ‘‘community and 

economic development activities,’’ is 

consistent with that view and need not 

be changed. 

Finally, the commenters assert that 

FHFA’s estimate that it will take a 

respondent an average of 3 hours to 

complete the Independent Director 

Application Form is too high and 

suggest that an estimate of one hour 

would be more accurate. The 

commenters argue that the types of 

individuals being considered for a Bank 

directorship would be likely to have 

already prepared similar information for 

other purposes, which could be drawn 

upon to reduce the time needed to 

complete the form. In deciding upon a 

burden estimate of 3 hours per form, 

FHFA considered the amount of time it 

would take an individual completing 

the form for the first time to: (1) Read 

through the questions and background 

information to understand the statutory 

requirements and the reasoning behind 

the questions; (2) gather the information 

requested on the form and any 

additional materials he or she wishes to 

provide; (3) prepare narrative answers of 

sufficient detail to demonstrate his or 

her eligibility and qualifications to 

serve; and (4) sign the form and transmit 

it to the Bank. Undoubtedly, many 

respondents will have materials at hand 

containing relevant information that can 

be readily incorporated into the 

electronic version of the form, which 

may reduce the amount of time it will 

take them to complete the form. It may 

also be true that an incumbent seeking 

reelection may require less time to 

update a previously completed version 

of the form. Those situations will not 

necessarily be the case for all 

respondents, however, because FHFA 

has observed that a number of 

applicants still complete the eligibility 

forms by hand, which takes longer to 

do. Moreover, in developing its burden 

estimates for collections of information, 

it has been the agency’s practice to err 

on the high side and not to assume that 

all respondents will use the most 

efficient methods for completing the 

forms. Because there is no way of 

knowing what time-saving resources a 

respondent may be able to draw upon in 

completing the form, the agency has 

decided to retain the existing estimate of 

3 hours. 

2. Further Comments Requested in 

Response to This Notice 

In response to this notice, FHFA 

requests written comments on the 

following: (1) Whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of FHFA functions, 

including whether the information has 

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of 

FHFA’s estimates of the burdens of the 

collection of information; (3) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information collected; and (4) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Date: October 27, 2014. 

Kevin Winkler, 

Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing 

Finance Agency. 

BILLING CODE 8070–01–P 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Notices 64783 

[FR Doc. 2014–25923 Filed 10–30–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8070–01–C 


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