OPIC-52
OMB-3420-0011
Application for Political Risk Insurance
SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR APPROVAL
A. Justification
1. Legal authority for this information collection is found in 22 U.S.C, Section 234 (d) of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, as amended. OPIC must screen each applicant for investment insurance to determine the eligibility for OPIC programs of the investor and the project, and assess the political risks of the project in the host country. The information collected through the OPIC-52 form enables OPIC to comply with its congressional mandate to manage the program in a prudent manner and to ensure that projects that would have significant adverse effects on the U.S. economy and employment do not receive OPIC support.
The information provided by the applicant falls into several areas. First, information concerning the investor is necessary to determine eligibility for OPIC insurance as required by the Foreign Assistance Act.
Second, the proposed investment must be explained in detail so OPIC can determine the amount and type of investment to be covered, as well as the underwriting risks associated with insuring the U.S. investor against losses due to political events.
Information concerning the project’s impact on the environment and the economic and social development in the host country is necessary to determine its developmental effects as required by the Foreign Assistance Act.
Finally, questions concerning the effects of the project on the U.S. economy are necessary to prevent OPIC from inadvertently insuring an investment that has detrimental effects on U.S. employment or the U.S. balance of payments.
2. The information collected is used by OPIC insurance officers and analysts to determine the eligibility of the investor, the project, and the risks associated with underwriting the investment against political events. OPIC collects one response per project. OPIC continues to rely on the material representations provided by the investor in the OPIC-52 in its determinations.
3. Improved data processing and management information systems enable OPIC to reduce the burden of tracking and analyzing the information collected on these applications. OPIC has automated the application process to enable applicants to submit the information electronically to minimize the burden and reduce expenses to applicants.
4. Political risk insurance for long-term investments is not available from any other government agency. Because this is a unique government service, the information requested on this form is not duplicated elsewhere.
5. The burden of collecting information does not vary with the size of the business applying for insurance. OPIC officers make a special effort, either in person or by telephone, to assist small businesses in completing the application.
6. OPIC would not be able to fulfill its mandate to screen projects if this information were not collected. If the information were not collected, OPIC could not be assured of the eligibility of applicants for political risk insurance, the quality of their projects, or the risks associated with their investments. This would result in increased claims against OPIC and additional expense to the Federal Government.
7. No special circumstances exist that require the information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines of the Paperwork Reduction Act and OMB's implementing regulations.
For the purposes of estimation, OPIC relied upon both internal and external sources of information gathering. Internally, one of OPIC’s staff members, using proxy information, completed Form-52 from the perspective of a new investor. Externally, OPIC relied upon representations provided by investors that have previously completed Form-52 as part of the process of seeking political risk insurance for their investments.
The average public reporting burden for the collection of information was previously estimated to be 7 hours. Based upon the revision of the form, which includes the addition of developmental and environmental effects questions as well as other necessary questions, the public burden is estimated to increase by an average of 2 hours, for an average total of 9 hours.
9. Not applicable. Payments and gifts are not offered to respondents.
10. OPIC provides respondents the assurance of confidentiality by labeling the top and bottom of each page of the OPIC 52 form with the phrase, “Business Confidential Information”. Client information contained in this questionnaire will be deemed designated as privileged or confidential in accordance with OPIC’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations (22 CFR part 706) and will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted under FOIA.
11. Not applicable. No such sensitive questions are asked.
12. The estimated burden of collecting this information is as follows:
100 respondents
x 1 per respondent
100 total annual responses
x 9 hours per response
900 respondent hours
x $75 for personnel, record-keeping, overhead
$67,500 total cost to respondents
Annual reporting is not required. Information is only collected once per investment.
13. The estimated annualized cost to respondents is as follows:
Total capital and start-up costs: $0
Total operation and maintenance costs: $0.
All costs associated with the form are part of the normal cost of doing business.
Non-labor Costs to OPIC clients completing this information collection is as follows: Administrative and storage expenses for electronic & paper-based submissions: $2.40 Postage costs for paper-based submissions: $1.06
14. The estimated annualized cost to the Federal government is 100 responses x 9 hours x $27/hr.) = $24,300. No other costs are annualized as this information collection supports the mission of the Agency; all operating expenses are part of the cost of doing business.
15. The number of total respondents is based on the approximate number of companies applying for OPIC insurance each year. Given the addition of questions, the response time, as well as the OPIC review time, has increased from 7 hours to 9 hours per application.
16. Not applicable. There are no plans to publish this information for statistical use.
17. Not applicable. The OMB expiration date will be printed on each copy of the
form
Not applicable. No exceptions are being requested on the certification statement.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | 1..Pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the “Foreign Assistance Act”), OPIC must screen each applicant fo |
| Author | Carol Brock |
| Last Modified By | OPIC |
| File Modified | 2011-07-25 |
| File Created | 2011-07-25 |