The charter statutes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks (collectively, the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) vest in the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) the authority and responsibility to approve the issuance of debt obligations by each GSE. Treasury seeks the collection of information from the GSEs about their planned debt issuances to fulfill its statutory authorities and responsibilities to approve debt issuances by the GSEs, and the collection of information about their actual debt issuances to verify that the debt actually issued by the GSEs was debt that Treasury had approved.
The Department of the Treasury respectfully requests emergency processing and approval of the collection of information contained in the forms to be used by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks (collectively, the government-sponsored enterprises or ÂGSEsÂ) to request Treasury approval of their debt issuances and to report on their actual debt issuances. The collection of information is needed prior to the expiration of the time periods set out in 5 C.F.R Part 1320, and is essential to fulfill TreasuryÂs responsibilities under sections 304(b), (d), and (e) of the Fannie Mae Charter Act (12 U.S.C. § 1719(b), (d), and (e)), section 306(j)(l) of the Freddie Mac Charter Act (12 U.S.C. § 1455(j)(1)), and section 9108(a) of title 31, United States Code, and section 11(j) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (12 U.S.C. § 1431(j)) (collectively, the ÂGSE Charter ActsÂ). The GSE Charter Acts vest in Treasury the authority and responsibility to approve the issuance of debt obligations by the GSEs. The purpose underlying the collection of information is to improve and clarify the existing procedures and practices of approving GSE debt issuances. This year, Treasury has been meeting directly with each GSE to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, and reporting format and data elements by which Treasury would collect information from the GSEs to use to fulfill TreasuryÂs statutory authorities and responsibilities to approve debt issuances by the GSEs and to verify that the debt actually issued by the GSEs was debt that Treasury had approved. Treasury cannot reasonably comply with the normal clearance procedures under 5 C.F.R. Part 1320 because an unanticipated event has occurred, namely the current turmoil in the mortgage markets. While Treasury had not originally intended to request OMB to authorize emergency processing of this submission of collections of information, the current turmoil in the mortgage markets leads Treasury to conclude that prompt commencement of the improved information flow that will result from using the debt approval forms is necessary.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.