Published 30-Day PRA Federal Register Notice - Members of the Banks 2590-0003

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 28, 2016 / Notices
advances, or other products provided by
that Bank.
Section 6 of the Bank Act establishes
capital requirements for the Banks and
requires FHFA to issue regulations
prescribing uniform capital standards
applicable to all of the Banks.1 Section
6 also establishes parameters relating to
the Banks’ capital structures and
requires that each Bank adopt a ‘‘capital
structure plan’’ (capital plan) to
establish, within those statutory
parameters, its own capital structure
and to establish requirements for, and
govern transactions in, the Bank’s
capital stock.2 FHFA has designated 12
CFR part 1277 as the location for its
regulations on Bank Capital
Requirements, Capital Stock, and
Capital Plans. Part 1277 currently
includes regulations establishing
requirements for the Banks’ capital
stock (Subpart C; §§ 1277.20–1277.27)
and for the Banks’ capital plans
(Subpart D; §§ 1277.28–1277.29).
Regulations governing the Banks’ capital
requirements are currently located at 12
CFR parts 930 and 932 (in the
regulations of the former Federal
Housing Finance Board), but will be
moved into part 1277 in the near future.
Both the Bank Act and FHFA’s
regulations state that a Bank’s capital
plan must require its members to
maintain a minimum investment in the
Bank’s capital stock, but both permit
each Bank to determine for itself what
that minimum investment is and how
each member’s required minimum
investment is to be calculated.3
Although each Bank’s capital plan
establishes a slightly different method
for calculating the required minimum
stock investment for its members, each
Bank’s method is tied to some degree to
both the level of assets held by the
member institution (typically referred to
as a ‘‘membership stock purchase
requirement’’) and the amount of
advances or other business engaged in
between the member and the Bank
(typically referred to as an ‘‘activitybased stock purchase requirement’’).
A Bank must collect information from
its members to determine the minimum
capital stock investment each member is
required to maintain at any point in
time. Although the information needed
to calculate a member’s required
minimum investment and the precise
method through which it is collected
differ somewhat from Bank to Bank, the
Banks typically collect two types of
information. First, in order to calculate
1 See

12 U.S.C. 1426(a).
12 U.S.C. 1426(b), (c).
3 See 12 U.S.C. 1426(c)(1); 12 CFR 1277.22,
1277.28(a).
2 See

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and monitor compliance with its
membership stock purchase
requirement, a Bank typically requires
each member to provide and/or confirm
an annual report on the amount and
types of assets held by that institution.
Second, each time a Bank engages in a
business transaction with a member, the
Bank typically confirms with the
member the amount of additional Bank
capital stock, if any, the member must
acquire in order to satisfy the Bank’s
activity-based stock purchase
requirement and the method through
which the member will acquire that
stock.
The OMB number for the information
collection is 2590–0002, which is due to
expire on December 31, 2016. The likely
respondents include current and former
Bank members and institutions applying
for Bank membership.
B. Burden Estimate
FHFA has analyzed the time burden
imposed on respondents by the two
collections under this control number
and estimates that the average total
annual hour burden imposed on all
respondents over the next three years
will be 15,230 hours. The estimate for
each collection was calculated as
follows:
I. Membership Stock Purchase
Requirement Submissions
FHFA estimates that the average
annual number of current and former
members and applicants for
membership required to report
information needed to calculate a
membership stock purchase
requirement will be 7,320, and that each
institution will submit one report per
year, resulting in an estimated total of
7,320 submissions annually. The
estimate for the average time required to
prepare, review, and submit each report
is 0.5 hours. Accordingly, the estimate
for the annual hour burden associated
with membership stock purchase
requirement submissions is (7,320
reports × 0.5 hours per report) = 3,660
hours.
II. Activity-Based Stock Purchase
Requirement Submissions
FHFA estimates that the average
number of daily transactions between
Banks and members that will require the
exchange of information to confirm the
member’s activity-based stock purchase
requirement will be 341, and that there
will be an average of 261 working days
per year, resulting in an estimated
89,001 submissions annually. The
estimate for the average preparation
time per submission is 0.13 hours.
Accordingly, the estimate for the annual

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hour burden associated with activitybased stock purchase requirement
submissions is (89,001 submissions ×
0.13 hours per submission) = 11,570
hours.
C. Comment Request
In accordance with the requirements
of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA published an
initial notice requesting comments
regarding this information collection in
the Federal Register on October 7,
2016.4 The 60 day comment period
closed on December 6, 2016. No
comments were received. However,
during the pendency of the comment
period, FHFA consulted with several of
the Banks regarding the burden
estimates for this information collection.
As a result of the Banks’ input, FHFA
has made some revisions to the burden
estimates, so that those appearing above
differ from those that appeared in the
60-day notice.
In accordance with the requirements
of 5 CFR 1320.10(a), FHFA is publishing
this second notice to request comments
regarding 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
members and project sponsors,
including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology. Comments
should be submitted in writing to both
OMB and FHFA as instructed above in
the Comments section.
Dated: December 22, 2016.
Kevin Winkler,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing
Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2016–31389 Filed 12–27–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070–01–P

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE
AGENCY
[No. 2016–N–15]

Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Federal Housing Finance
Agency.
ACTION: 30-Day notice of submission of
information collection for approval from
Office of Management and Budget.
AGENCY:

4 See

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81 FR 69819 (Oct. 7, 2016).

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95594

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 28, 2016 / Notices

In accordance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the
Agency) is seeking public comments
concerning the information collection
known as ‘‘Members of the Banks,’’
which has been assigned control
number 2590–0003 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 December 31, 2016.
DATES: Interested persons may submit
comments on or before January 27,
2017.
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–
3047, Email: OIRA_submission@
omb.eop.gov. Please also submit
comments to FHFA, identified by
‘‘Proposed Collection; Comment
Request: ‘Members of the Banks, (No.
2016–N–##)’ ’’ by any 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
[email protected] to ensure
timely receipt by the agency.
• Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal
Housing Finance Agency, Eighth Floor,
400 Seventh Street SW., Washington,
DC 20219, ATTENTION: Proposed
Collection; Comment Request:
‘‘Members of the Banks, (No. 2016–N–
15)’’.
• U.S. Mail, United Parcel Service,
Federal Express, or Other Mail Service:
The mailing address for comments is:
Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel,
Attention: Comments/2016–N–15,
Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400
Seventh Street SW., Eighth Floor,
Washington, DC 20219.
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

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Street SW., Washington, DC 20219. To
make an appointment to inspect
comments, please call the Office of
General Counsel at (202) 649–3804.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jonathan F. Curtis, Financial Analyst,
Division of Federal Home Loan Bank
Regulation, by email at
[email protected] or by
telephone at (202) 649–3321; or Eric
Raudenbush, Associate General
Counsel, by email at Eric.Raudenbush@
fhfa.gov or by telephone at (202) 649–
3084, (these are not toll-free numbers),
Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC
20219. The Telecommunications Device
for the Hearing Impaired is (800) 877–
8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Need For and Use of the Information
Collection
The Federal Home Loan Bank System
consists of eleven regional Federal
Home Loan Banks (Banks) and the
Office of Finance (a joint office that
issues and services the Banks’ debt
securities). The Banks are wholesale
financial institutions, organized under
the authority of the Federal Home Loan
Bank Act (Bank Act) to serve the public
interest by enhancing the availability of
residential housing finance and
community lending credit through their
member institutions and, to a limited
extent, through certain eligible
nonmembers. Each Bank is structured as
a regional cooperative that is owned and
controlled by member institutions
located within its district, which are
also its primary customers. The Banks
carry out their public policy functions
primarily by providing low cost loans,
known as advances, to their members.
With limited exceptions, an institution
may obtain advances and access other
products and services provided by a
Bank only if it is a member of that Bank.
The Bank Act limits membership in
any Bank to specific types of financial
institutions located within the Bank’s
district that meet specific eligibility
requirements. Section 4 of the Bank Act
specifies the types of institutions that
may be eligible for membership and
establishes eligibility requirements that
each type of applicant must meet in
order to become a Bank member.1 That
provision also specifies that (with
limited exceptions) an eligible
institution may become a member only
of the Bank of the district in which the
institution’s ‘‘principal place of
business’’ is located.2 With respect to
the termination of Bank membership,
1 See
2 See

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12 U.S.C. 1424(a).
12 U.S.C. 1424(b).

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section 6(d) of the Bank Act sets forth
requirements pursuant to which an
institution may voluntarily withdraw
from membership or a Bank may
terminate an institution’s membership
for cause.3
FHFA’s regulation entitled ‘‘Members
of the Banks,’’ located at 12 CFR part
1263, implements those statutory
provisions and otherwise establishes
substantive and procedural
requirements relating to the initiation
and termination of Bank membership.
Many of the provisions in the
membership regulation require that an
institution submit information to a Bank
or to FHFA, in most cases to
demonstrate compliance with statutory
or regulatory requirements or to request
action by the Bank or Agency.
In total, there are four types of
information collections that may occur
under part 1263. First, the regulation
provides that (with limited exceptions)
no institution may become a member of
a Bank unless it has submitted to that
Bank an application that documents the
applicant’s compliance with the
statutory and regulatory membership
eligibility requirements and that
otherwise includes all required
information and materials.4 Second, the
regulation provides applicants that have
been denied membership by a Bank the
option of appealing the decision to
FHFA. To file such an appeal, an
applicant must submit to FHFA a copy
of the Bank’s decision resolution
denying its membership application and
a statement of the basis for the appeal
containing sufficient facts, information,
and analysis to support the applicant’s
position.5 Third, the regulation provides
that, in order to initiate a voluntary
withdrawal from Bank membership, a
member submit to its Bank a written
notice of intent to withdraw.6 Fourth,
under certain circumstances, the
regulation permits a member of one
Bank to transfer its membership to a
second Bank ‘‘automatically’’ without
either initiating a voluntary withdrawal
from the first Bank or submitting a
membership application to the second
Bank. Despite the regulatory reference to
such a transfer as being ‘‘automatic,’’ a
member meeting the criteria for an
automatic transfer must initiate the
transfer process by filing a request with
its current Bank, which will then
arrange the details of the transfer with
the second Bank.7
3 See

12 U.S.C. 1426(d).
12 CFR 1263.2(a), 1263.6–1263.9, 1263.11–
1263.18.
5 See 12 CFR 1263.5.
6 See 12 CFR 1263.26.
7 See 12 CFR 1263.4(b), 1263.18(d), (e).
4 See

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 28, 2016 / Notices
The Banks use most of the
information collected under part 1263 to
determine whether an applicant satisfies
the statutory and regulatory
requirements for Bank membership and
should be approved as a Bank member.
The Banks may use some of the
information collected under part 1263
as a means of learning that a member
wishes to withdraw or to transfer its
membership to a different Bank so that
the Bank can begin to process those
requests. In rare cases, FHFA may use
the collected information to determine
whether an institution that has been
denied membership by a Bank should
be permitted to become a member of
that Bank.
The OMB control number for this
information collection is 2590–0003,
which is due to expire on December 31,
2016. The likely respondents are
financial institutions that are, or are
applying to become, Bank members.

the average time to prepare and submit
a notice will be 1.5 hours. Accordingly,
the estimate for the annual hour burden
associated with preparation and
submission of notices of intent to
withdraw is (4 withdrawing members ×
1.5 hours per application) = 6 hours.

Dated: December 22, 2016.
Kevin Winkler,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing
Finance Agency.

IV. Requests for Transfer of Membership
to Another Bank District

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE
AGENCY

FHFA estimates that the average
number of Bank members submitting a
request for transfer to another Bank will
be 35 and that the average time to
prepare and submit a request will be 2
hours. Accordingly, the estimate for the
annual hour burden associated with
preparation and submission of requests
for automatic transfer is (35 transferring
members × 2 hours per request) = 70
hours.

[No. 2016–N–13]

B. Burden Estimate
FHFA has analyzed the time burden
imposed on respondents by the four
collections under this control number
and estimates that the average annual
burden imposed on all respondents by
those collections over the next three
years will be 2,351 hours. This estimate
is derived from the following
calculations:

In accordance with the requirements
of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA published an
initial notice requesting comments
regarding this information collection in
the Federal Register on October 7,
2016.8 The 60-day comment period
closed on December 6, 2016. No
comments were received. However,
during the pendency of the comment
period, FHFA consulted with several of
the Banks regarding the burden
estimates for this information collection.
As a result of the Banks’ input, FHFA
has made some revisions to the burden
estimates, so that those appearing above
are somewhat different than those that
appeared in the 60-day notice.
In accordance with the requirements
of 5 CFR 1320.10(a), FHFA is publishing
this second notice to request comments
regarding 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
members and project sponsors,
including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology. Comments
should be submitted in writing to both
OMB and FHFA as instructed above in
the COMMENTS section.

I. Membership Applications
FHFA estimates that the average
number of applications for Bank
membership submitted annually will be
151 and that the average time to prepare
and submit an application and
supporting materials will be 15 hours.
Accordingly, the estimate for the annual
hour burden associated with
preparation and submission of
applications for Bank membership is
(151 applications × 15 hours per
application) = 2,265 hours.

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II. Appeals of Membership Denials
FHFA estimates that the average
number of applicants that have been
denied membership by a Bank that will
appeal such a denial to FHFA will be 1
and that the average time to prepare and
submit an application for appeal will be
10 hours. Accordingly, the estimate for
the annual hour burden associated with
the preparation and submission of
membership appeals is (1 appellants ×
10 hours per application) = 10 hours.
III. Notices of Intent To Withdraw From
Membership
FHFA estimates that the average
number of Bank members submitting a
notice of intent to withdraw from
membership annually will be 4 and that

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C. Comment Request

8 See

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[FR Doc. 2016–31383 Filed 12–27–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070–01–P

Privacy Act of 1974; System of
Records
Federal Housing Finance
Agency.
ACTION: Notice of revision to an existing
system of records; request for
comments.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974,
as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy
Act), the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) is making a revision to
an existing system of records entitled
‘‘National Mortgage Database Project’’
(FHFA–21). The system of records
covers the National Mortgage Database
Project which is comprised of the
National Mortgage Database, the
National Survey of Mortgage
Originations (formerly known as the
National Survey of Mortgage
Borrowers), and the American Survey of
Mortgage Borrowers. The National
Mortgage Database Project is for
monitoring, researching, analyzing, and
reporting information relevant to the
functioning of the mortgage markets.
DATES: To be assured of consideration,
comments must be received on or before
January 26, 2017. The revisions to the
existing system will become effective on
February 6, 2017 unless comments
necessitate otherwise. FHFA will
publish a new notice if, in order to
review comments, the effective date is
delayed or if changes are made based on
comments received.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments,
identified by ‘‘2016–N–13,’’ using only
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
[email protected] to ensure
timely receipt by FHFA. Please include
‘‘2016–N–13’’ in the subject line of the
message.
• Hand Delivered/Courier: The hand
delivery address is: Alfred M. Pollard,
SUMMARY:

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