FFIEC030_FFIEC030S_200910_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Foreign Branch Report of Condition
(FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S; OMB No. 7100-0071)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) requests approval from the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend, without revision, the Federal Financial
Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Foreign Branch Report of Condition (FFIEC 030 and
FFIEC 030S; OMB No. 7100-0071). Insured domestically chartered commercial banks (U.S. banks)
are required to submit, to the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank, a limited balance sheet for all their
foreign branches. This report is collected annually as of December 31 or quarterly for significant
branches as of the last day of each calendar quarter. The Federal Reserve receives reports for all
foreign branches of U.S. banks, regardless of charter type, on behalf of the U.S. banks’ primary
federal bank regulatory agency, which includes the Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively the
agencies). The agencies use this report to fulfill their statutory obligation to supervise foreign
operations of domestic banks. The current annual reporting burden for the FFIEC 030 and
FFIEC 030S is estimated to be 357 hours.
Background and Justification
The Federal Reserve and the OCC have collected some version of the Foreign Branch Report
of Condition from member banks since 1965 and 1964, respectively. The FDIC began collecting
this report in the early 1980s from a relatively small number of insured, state nonmember banks. In
1984, the FFIEC, of which the agencies are members, approved the proposal to give this report an
FFIEC number under section 1006 of the Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control
Act of 1978 (FIRA). Prior to 1984, the Federal Reserve collected these data on the FR 2105f
reporting form.
The FFIEC 030 collects information on the structure and geographic distribution of foreign
branch assets and liabilities. The agencies use this information to plan examinations and to analyze
the foreign operations of domestic banks. Growth trends can be measured by bank, by country, and
by bank within country. Aggregate data are a useful source of information on bank activities for the
general public. This series is the oldest statistical series that exists for foreign branches of member
banks and is an important source for measuring the growth of these offices.
The FFIEC 030 is the only report through which the agencies collect balance sheet
information on foreign branches from insured domestically chartered commercial banks. The
Federal Reserve uses another report, the Quarterly Report of Assets and Liabilities of Large Foreign
Offices of U.S. Banks (FR 2502q; OMB No. 7100-0079), to collect less detailed balance sheet
information from parent institutions of foreign branches or subsidiaries (specifically, those with total
assets of $500 million or more). This report only collects gross assets and liabilities by the country
of the principal address of the customer, rather than the type of assets and liabilities of the branch.
Although the FR 2502q does not provide comparable information, the Federal Reserve may check

the FFIEC 030 to determine whether individual branches that report total assets greater than or equal
to $500 million, also report on the FR 2502q.
Effective with the December 2006 report date, the agencies (1) eliminated five data items on
the FFIEC 030 for branches with total assets in excess of $250 million, (2) created the abbreviated
FFIEC 030S reporting form that branches with total assets between $50 million and $250 million file
annually, and (3) exempted foreign branches with total assets below $50 million from reporting
requirements.
Description of Information Collection
The FFIEC 030 is a two-page report that collects balance sheet information on all foreign
branches from insured domestically chartered commercial banks, regardless of the size of the
branch. Some reporters may choose to file one consolidated report for all their branches located in
the same foreign country; however, reporters are not permitted to consolidate data for significant
branches with data for any other branches.
Each data item of the FFIEC 030 relates directly to one or more data items on the
Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic and Foreign Offices (Call
Report; FFIEC 031; OMB No. 7100-0036); no additional information is requested. As of June 30,
1997, the reporting instructions were revised to conform to the Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP). Banks must file quarterly for foreign branches with total assets of at least $2
billion or commitments to purchase foreign currencies and U.S. dollar exchange of at least $5 billion
(significant branches) and annually for all other foreign branches with total assets of more than $250
million.
The FFIEC 030S is an abbreviated reporting form containing five data items that branches
with total assets between $50 million and $250 million file annually. The data items for this report
are considered the minimum information needed to serve as indicators of higher business volume,
risk, and complexity in small-sized foreign branches. The reported information is also used to
monitor potential developments that may pose risks to the overall operations of the parent bank.
Branches with total assets of less than $50 million that do not meet the requirements to file the
FFIEC 030 quarterly are exempt from filing.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
The FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S is collected annually as of December 31 from insured
commercial banks with one or more branch offices in a foreign country and quarterly from banks
with significant branches as of the last calendar day of March, June, September, and December. The
FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S must be submitted by qualifying banks regardless of charter type to the
local Federal Reserve Bank within forty-five days of the report date. The Federal Reserve then
compiles the reported information and makes it available to the FDIC and the OCC four months after
the as-of date for both quarterly and annual reporters. Aggregate data are published in the Federal
Reserve Annual Report and the Department of Commerce’s Annual Statistical Digest. The
microdata are confidential.

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Legal Status
The Board’s Legal Division has determined that section 25(7) of the Federal Reserve Act
[12 U.S.C. § 602] authorizes the Board to require the report. Individual respondent data are
regarded as confidential under the Freedom of Information Act [5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4)].
Consultation Outside the Agency
On June 25, 2009, the agencies jointly published a notice in the Federal Register
(74 FR 30358) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of the
FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S. The comment period for this notice expired on August 24, 2009. The
agencies did not receive any comments. On October 1, 2009, the agencies published a final notice in
the Federal Register (74 FR 50871) for the FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S.
Estimate of Respondent Burden
The current annual reporting burden associated with the Federal Reserve’s share of the
FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S is estimated to be 357 hours. The proposed total burden represents less
than 1 percent of the total Federal Reserve System burden.

FFIEC 030
Annual (branches)
Quarterly (branches)
FFIEC 030S
Annual (branches)
Total

Number of
respondents

Annual
frequency

Estimated
average hours
per response

Estimated
annual burden
hours

23
20

1
4

3.4
3.4

78
272

14

1

0.5

7
357

The total cost to the public is estimated to be $22,009.1

1

Total cost to the public was estimated using the following formula. Percent of staff time, multiplied by annual burden
hours, multiplied by hourly rate: 30% Administrative or Junior Analyst @ $25, 45% Managerial or Technical @ $55,
15% Senior Management @ $100, and 10% Legal Counsel @ $144. Hourly rate estimates for each occupational group
are averages using data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wages 2007,
www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm. Occupations are defined using the BLS Occupational Classification System,
www.bls.gov/soc/.

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Sensitive Questions
This collection of information contains no questions of a sensitive nature, as defined by
OMB guidelines.
Estimated Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The annual cost to the Federal Reserve System for collecting and processing the FFIEC 030
is estimated to be $53,900 and FFIEC 030S is estimated to be $11,200. The Federal Reserve System
collects and processes the data for all three of the agencies.

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