FRBB_20210420_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements Associated with Regulation BB
(FR BB; OMB No. 7100-0197)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority delegated
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended for three years, without revision,
the Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements Associated with Regulation BB
(FR BB; OMB No. 7100-0197). The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)1 was enacted in 1977
and is implemented by Regulation BB - Community Reinvestment (12 CFR Part 228). The CRA
directs the Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency (collectively, the agencies) to evaluate financial institutions’ (banks and savings
associations) records of helping to meet the credit needs of their entire communities, including
low- and moderate-income areas, consistent with the safe and sound operation of the institutions.
The CRA is implemented through regulations issued by the agencies. The Board’s regulation
applies to state member banks (SMBs).
The estimated total annual burden for the FR BB is 75,116 hours.
Background and Justification
In 1995, the agencies issued substantially identical regulations under the CRA to reduce
unnecessary compliance burden, promote consistency in CRA assessments, and encourage
improved performance.2 The current reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements under
Regulation BB are tailored to bank size in order to minimize burden on smaller banks, as
discussed below.
Under Regulation BB, large banks are defined as those with assets of $1.305 billion or
more at the past two consecutive year-ends; all other banks are considered small banks or
intermediate small banks.3 The agencies annually adjust for inflation the relevant asset-size
thresholds and amend in their CRA regulations accordingly. This adjustment was most recently
completed in December 2019 (effective January 1, 2020).4

1

See 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.
See 60 FR 22156 (May 4, 1995). On May 20, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a final
rule amending the CRA regulatory framework applicable to its supervised institutions. 85 FR 34734 (June 5, 2020).
The final rule has an October 1, 2020, effective date; January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, compliance dates; and a
January 1, 2024, expiration date (for the agency’s existing CRA regulations).
3
Beginning January 1, 2020, banks or savings associations that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two
calendar years, had assets of less than $1.305 billion are small banks or small savings associations. Small banks or
small savings associations with assets of at least $326 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar
years and less than $1.305 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years are intermediate small
banks or intermediate small savings associations. For the Paperwork Reduction Act respondent burden analysis
included in this information collection renewal, the Board used the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) small
entity definition (entities with less than $600 million in total assets).
4
See 84 FR 71738 (December 30, 2019).
2

Other than the information collections pursuant to Regulation BB (and, as referenced
below, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which is implemented by Regulation C Home Mortgage Disclosure (12 CFR Part 1003)), the Board has no information collection that
supplies data regarding the community reinvestment activities of SMBs. Accordingly, the
Board’s ability to fulfill the statutory requirement to evaluate SMBs’ CRA activities is dependent
upon these information collections.
Description of Information Collection
The reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements associated with Regulation BB
are summarized below and also listed in Attachment 1. An SMB that qualifies for evaluation
under the small bank performance standards but elects evaluation under the lending, investment,
and service tests associated with large banks will collect, maintain, and report the data required
for large banks.5
Reporting Requirements
Section 228.25(b) - Request for designation as a wholesale or a limited purpose bank
The Board evaluates the performance of a wholesale or a limited purpose bank under the
community development test specified in the regulation. An SMB wishing to be designated as a
wholesale or limited purpose bank must file a request, in writing, with the Board at least three
months prior to the proposed effective date of the designation.
Section 228.27 - Strategic plan
An SMB may elect to be assessed under a strategic plan if the SMB has submitted the
plan to the Board, the Board has approved the plan, the plan is in effect, and the SMB has been
operating under an approved plan for at least one year. The Board’s approval of this plan does not
affect the SMB’s obligation, if any, to comply with the data collecting and reporting requirements
under section 228.42.6 The plan may have a term of no more than five years; multi-year plans
must include annual interim measurable goals. Before submitting a plan to the Board or
amending7 a plan during its term, an SMB must seek suggestions from members of the public in
its assessment area(s), formally solicit public comment for at least 30 days, and during the period
of formal public comment make copies of the plan available for public review at its offices at no
cost and by mail for a reasonable cost.
A strategic plan must include measurable goals for helping meet the credit needs of each
assessment area covered by the plan, addressing the lending, investment, and service tests, as
appropriate. A plan must specify goals that constitute “satisfactory” performance and also may
specify goals that constitute “outstanding” performance. If an institution fails to meet its own
goals for “satisfactory” performance, an SMB may elect in its plan to be evaluated under the
5

12 CFR 228.42(f).
See 12 CFR 228.27(b).
7
See 12 CFR 228.27(h) (requiring that amendments to existing plans follow the public participation requirements
associated with adoption of a new strategic plan).
6

2

other applicable performance test(s) specified in the regulation.
Section 228.42(b) - Loan information to be reported
Small business and small farm loan data. A large bank is required to report annually by
March 1 to the Board in machine-readable form the following data for the preceding calendar
year. For each geographical location in which a large bank originated or purchased a small
business or small farm loan, it must report the aggregate number and amount of loans:
• of $100,000 or less at origination,
• of more than $100,000 at origination, but less than or equal to $250,000 at origination,
• of more than $250,000 at origination, and
• made to businesses and farms with gross annual revenues of $1 million or less (using the
revenues that the bank considered in making its credit decision).
Community development loan data. A large bank is also required to report annually by
March 1 to the Board in machine-readable form the aggregate number and aggregate amount of
community development loans originated or purchased in the preceding calendar year.
Home mortgage loan data. A large bank that is subject to reporting of home mortgage
loan data under Regulation C is also required under Regulation BB to report annually by March 1
to the Board in machine-readable form certain home mortgage loan data. The paperwork burden
for providing this data is associated with other clearances.8
Section 228.42(d) - Affiliate lending data
An SMB that elects to have the Board consider loans by an affiliate, for purposes of the
lending or the community development test or an approved strategic plan, must collect, maintain,
and report for those loans the data that the SMB would have collected, maintained, and reported
had the loans been originated or purchased by the SMB. For home mortgage loans, the bank must
also be prepared to identify the home mortgage loans reported by the affiliate under HMDA and
Regulation C.
Section 228.42(e) - Data on lending by a consortium or a third party
An SMB may elect to have the Board consider community development loans made by a
consortium or a third party, for purposes of the lending or the community development tests or an
approved strategic plan. If so, the SMB must report for those loans the data that the bank would
have reported had the loans been originated or purchased by the SMB.
Section 228.42(g) - Assessment area delineation
Each SMB must delineate one or more assessment areas within which the Board evaluates
its record of helping to meet the credit needs of its community.9 Large banks must also report the
8

See HMDA Loan/Application Register (FR HMDA-LAR; OMB No. 7100-0247 (Board) and OMB No. 3170-0008
(Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)).
9
See 12 CFR 228.41.

3

list of assessment areas to the Board by March 1 each year. Assessment areas consist generally of
one or more metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) or one or more contiguous political
subdivisions, such as counties, cities, or towns. Assessment areas include the geographies in
which a bank has its main office, branches, and deposit-taking automated teller machines, as well
as the surrounding geographies in which the bank has originated or purchased a substantial
portion of its loans. There are rules designed to prevent redlining (arbitrary exclusion of lowerincome or minority neighborhoods) in the designation of assessment areas.
Recordkeeping Requirements
Section 228.42(a) - Loan information to be collected and maintained
A large bank is required to collect and maintain, in machine-readable form, until the
completion of its next CRA examination, the following data for each small business or small farm
loan originated or purchased:
• a unique number or alpha-numeric symbol used to identify the relevant loan file,
• the loan amount at origination,
• the loan location, and
• an indicator whether the loan was made to a business or a farm with gross annual
revenues of $1 million or less.
Section 228.42(c) - Consumer loan data
An SMB has the option to collect and maintain, in machine-readable form, data for
consumer loans originated or purchased by the bank for consideration under the lending test. An
SMB may maintain data for one or more of the following categories of consumer loans: motor
vehicle, credit card, home equity, other secured, and other unsecured. If the SMB maintains data
for loans in a certain category, it must maintain data for all loans originated or purchased within
that category. The SMB must maintain data separately for each category and must include for
each loan:
• a unique number or alpha-numeric symbol used to identify the relevant loan file,
• the loan amount at origination or purchase,
• the loan location, and
• the gross annual income of the borrower that the SMB considered in making its credit
decision.
At its option, an SMB may also provide other information concerning its lending
performance, including additional loan distribution data.
Disclosure Requirements
Section 228.43 - Public file
All SMBs are required to maintain and make available to the public a file containing
comments received from the public for the current year and each of the prior two calendar years
and any response to the comments from the bank. The file also must contain a copy of the public

4

section of the SMB’s most recent CRA performance evaluation prepared by the Board, a list of
the bank’s open branches with addresses and geographies, a list of bank branches opened or
closed during the current year and each of the prior two calendar years, a list of the services
generally offered by the bank, and a map of each assessment area. The bank may include in the
file any other information that it chooses.
Large banks must also include in the public file the CRA Disclosure Statement (section
228.42(h)) prepared by the Board for each of the prior two calendar years and, if applicable,
information about consumer loan data. SMBs required to report data under HMDA and
Regulation C must include in the public file a copy of the HMDA Disclosure Statement prepared
by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for each of the prior two calendar years. In
addition, any SMB that elects to have home mortgage lending of an affiliate in any of those years
considered in its CRA evaluation must include in the public file the affiliate’s HMDA Disclosure
Statement for those years.
A small bank or an intermediate small bank must include in the public file the bank’s
loan-to-deposit ratio for each quarter of the prior calendar year, and if it elects to be evaluated
under the lending, service, and investment tests the information required under the disclosure
rules applicable to large banks.
An SMB that has, in accordance with section 228.27, submitted and been approved by the
Board for assessment under a strategic plan must include a copy of the plan in the public file.
An SMB that received a rating worse than “satisfactory” during its most recent CRA
examination must include in the public file a description of its efforts to improve its performance
and update the description quarterly.
Section 228.44 - Public notice by banks
An SMB must provide in the public lobby of its main office and in each branch a
prescribed notice informing consumers of their rights to certain information about the bank’s
operations and CRA performance as evaluated by the Board.
Respondent Panel
The FR BB panel comprises SMBs, but does not apply to special purpose banks that do
not perform commercial or retail banking services by granting credit to the public in the ordinary
course of business, other than as incident to their specialized operations. These banks include
bankers’ banks and banks that engage only in one or more of the following activities: providing
cash management controlled disbursement services or serving as correspondent banks, trust
companies, or clearing agents. As referenced above, applicable reporting, recordkeeping, and
disclosure requirements are tailored to bank size.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
The reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements required by Regulation BB are

5

either mandatory or required to obtain a benefit and depend on bank size and other factors.
SMBs that are required to collect assessment area information, small business and small farm
data, community development data, and home mortgage loan data must collect and report the
data for the prior calendar year (as of December 31) to the Board in machine-readable form
annually by March 1.
The Board uses the data to examine and assess SMBs’ CRA records; to prepare the public
sections of CRA performance evaluations; and to help evaluate applications for bank acquisitions
and other transactions. The Board prepares annually for each SMB a public disclosure statement
that contains, on a state-by-state basis, information on small farm, small business, and community
development loans.
Together with the other agencies, the Board prepares annually for each MSA (including
an MSA that crosses a state boundary) and for each non-MSA portion of each state, an aggregate
disclosure statement of small business and small farm lending by all institutions subject to
reporting requirements under the agencies’ CRA regulations. These disclosure statements
indicate, for each geography, the number and amount of all small business and small farm loans
originated or purchased by reporting institutions, except that the Board may adjust the form of the
disclosure if necessary to protect the privacy of a borrower or the competitive position of an
institution. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) also makes both
statements available on the FFIEC CRA website https://www.ffiec.gov/cra/. The statements are
usually available at each SMB and on the FFIEC website in late July.
Any SMB electing to submit a strategic plan to the Board must do so at least three
months prior to the proposed effective date of the plan. The Board will act upon a plan within 60
calendar days after the Board receives the complete plan and other required material. If the Board
fails to act within this 60 days, the plan shall be deemed approved unless the Board extends the
review period for good cause. As indicated above, an SMB may not be evaluated under a
strategic plan unless it has been operating under an approved plan for at least one year.
Public Availability of Data
The data described in this information collection may be found in SMBs’ CRA
performance evaluations and public files, on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s
website, and on the FFIEC website.
Legal Status
The FR BB is authorized by section 806 of the CRA, which permits the Board to issue
“[r]egulations to carry out the purposes of [the CRA]” (12 U.S.C. § 2905); section 11 of the
Federal Reserve Act, which permits the Board to “require such statements and reports as it
deems necessary” of state member banks (12 U.S.C. § 248(a)(1)); and section 9 of the Federal
Reserve Act, which permits the Board to examine state member banks (12 U.S.C. § 325). Most
of the reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements of Regulation BB are mandatory.
However, there are several limited parts of the collection that are required to obtain a benefit:
specifically, the request for designation as a wholesale or limited purpose bank, the strategic

6

plan, and the reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with data regarding consumer
loans and lending performance, affiliate lending data, and data on lending by a consortium or a
third party.
Most of the information collected under Regulation BB is not considered confidential.
However, if a respondent elects to submit a strategic plan pursuant to 12 CFR 228.27, the
respondent may submit additional information to the Board relating to the strategic plan on a
confidential basis, so long as the goals in the plan are sufficiently specific to enable the public
and the Board to judge the merits of the plan. The Board will determine whether the additional
information is entitled to confidential treatment on a case-by-case basis.
To the extent a respondent submits information contained in or related to examination,
operating, or condition reports prepared by, or on behalf of, or for the use of an agency
responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions, the respondent may request
confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 8 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
(5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(8)). To the extent a respondent submits nonpublic commercial or financial
information which is both customarily and actually treated as private by the respondent, the
respondent may request confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 4 of the FOIA (5 U.S.C. §
552(b)(4)).
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside of the Federal Reserve System.
Public Comments
On December 11, 2020, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register
(85 FR 80097) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of the
FR BB. The comment period for this notice expired on February 9, 2021. The Board did not
receive any comments. The Board adopted the extension, without revision, of the FR BB as
originally proposed. On March 31, 2021, the Board published a final notice in the Federal
Register (86 FR 16730).
Estimates of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR BB is 75,116
hours. The burden estimates for reporting requirements related to loan data, other than
community development loan data, include time estimates for geocoding easy- and hard-to-find
loan geographies. The number of respondents for the non-optional reporting requirements (loan
data and assessment area delineation) and optional reporting requirements (third-party and
affiliate lending) are based on the number of CRA data respondents regulated by the Board using
2018 data reported by March 1, 2019. Optional reporting requirements for requests for strategic
plan approvals and designations as a wholesale or a limited purpose bank are based on previous
experience.10 Optional recordkeeping requirement burden estimates for consumer loan data and
10

On average, the Board receives requests for two strategic plan approvals a year and less than one request for
designation as a wholesale or a limited purpose bank a year.

7

other loan data are estimated based on a review of CRA performance evaluations. The burden for
the public file disclosure requirements includes estimates for both the large and small bank
requirements. The public file requirement burden estimate also includes an estimate of the time
required for small banks, including intermediate small banks, to delineate an assessment area.
These reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements represent less than 1 percent of the
Board’s total paperwork burden.

FR BB
Reporting
Sections 228.41 and 228.42(g)
Assessment area delineation
Section 228.42(b)
Loan data:
Small business and small farm
Community development
HMDA out of MSA
Optional Reporting
Section 228.25(b)
Request for designation as a
wholesale or a limited purpose
bank
Section 228.27
Request for strategic plan approval
Section 228.42(d)
Affiliate lending data
Section 228.42(e)
Data on lending by a consortium
or a third party
Recordkeeping
Section 228.42(a)
Small business and small farm
loan register
Optional Recordkeeping
Section 228.42(c):
Consumer loan data
Other loan data
Disclosure
Sections 228.43 and 228.44
Public file and public notice11
Total

Estimated
number of
respondents

Annual
frequency

117

1

2

234

113
98
117

1
1
1

8
13
253

904
1,274
29,601

1

1

4

4

2

1

275

550

5

1

38

190

12

1

17

204

113

1

219

24,747

28
20

1
1

326
25

9,128
500

778

1

10

7,780
75,116

11

Estimated
Estimated
average hours annual burden
per response
hours

Of these respondents, 528 are considered small entities as defined by the Small Business Administration (i.e.,
entities with less than $600 million in total assets), https://www.sba.gov/document/support--table-size-standards.

8

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR BB is $4,443,111.12
Sensitive Questions
These collections of information contain no questions of a sensitive nature, as defined by
OMB guidelines.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The estimated cost to the Federal Reserve System for collecting and processing this
information collection is $677,300.

12

Total cost to the public was estimated using the following formula: percent of staff time, multiplied by annual
burden hours, multiplied by hourly rates (30% Office & Administrative Support at $20, 45% Financial Managers at
$73, 15% Lawyers at $72, and 10% Chief Executives at $95). Hourly rates for each occupational group are the
(rounded) mean hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wages
May 2020, published March 31, 2021, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Occupations are defined
using the BLS Standard Occupational Classification System, https://www.bls.gov/soc/.

9

Attachment 1
Summary of Annual Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements
Associated with Regulation BB
Requirements

Reporting

Recordkeeping

Disclosure

Assessment area (228.41, 228.42(g))
Large banks13
Report list of geographies Collect list of
in assessment area(s)
geographies in
assessment area(s)
Small business and small farm loan data (228.42(b)(1))
Large banks
Report aggregate number
and amount of loans:
• $100,000 or less at
origination,
• More than $100,000,
but less than or equal
to $250,000 at
origination,
• More than $250,000
at origination, and
• to business or farm
with gross annual
revenue of $1 million
or less
Community development loan data (228.42(b)(2))
Large banks
Aggregate number and
amount of community
development loans
originated or purchased
Home mortgage loan data (228.42(b)(3))
Large banks
If applicable:
Location of each loan
application, origination,
or purchase outside of
MSAs where bank has
offices (property
location)

13

For the purpose of this attachment, large banks are defined as any bank other than a small bank or an intermediate
small bank, as defined by Regulation BB, or any small bank or an intermediate small bank electing not to employ the
reporting exemptions available to small banks.

10

Requirements

Reporting

Recordkeeping

Disclosure

Request for designation as a wholesale or a limited purpose bank (optional) (228.25(b))
All banks
Request in writing filed
with the Board three
months in advance of
proposed effective date
of designation
Strategic plan (optional) (228.27)
All banks
Submitted to and
approved by the Board
Affiliate lending data (optional) (228.42(d))
All banks
Loan data the bank
Loan data the bank
would have reported had would have collected
the loans been
and maintained had
originated or purchased the loans been
by the bank
originated or
purchased by the
bank14
Data on lending by a consortium or a third party (optional) (228.42(e))
All banks
Loan data the bank
would have reported had
the loans been
originated or purchased
by the bank
Small business and small farm loan register (228.42(a))
Large banks
Must collect and
maintain:
• unique number or
alpha-numeric
symbol,
• loan amount,
• loan location, and
• indicator whether
loan was to
business or farm
with gross annual
revenues of $1
million or less

14

For home mortgage loans, the bank must be prepared to identify the home mortgage loans reported by the affiliate
under HMDA and Regulation C.

11

Requirements

Reporting

Recordkeeping

Disclosure

Consumer loan data (optional) (228.42(c)(1))
All banks
Loans originated or
purchased:
• unique number or
alpha-numeric
symbol,
• loan amount,
• loan location, and
• borrower’s gross
income
considered in
making credit
decision
Other loan data (optional) (228.42(c)(2))
All banks
Other lending
performance
information
Public file (228.43)
All banks
•

comment letters
and responses
(current and
prior two years)
• public section of
most recent CRA
performance
evaluation
• list of bank
branches
• list of branch
openings and
closings
• list of services
offered
• map of each
assessment area
if applicable:
• strategic plan
• description of
current efforts to
improve its CRA
performance

12

Requirements

Reporting

Recordkeeping

Disclosure
•

Large banks

CRA Disclosure
Statements (prior
two years)
if applicable:
• consumer loan
data (prior two
years)
• HMDA
Disclosure
Statements (prior
two years)
• loan-to-deposit
ratio; each
quarter prior year
if applicable:
• information
required under
disclosure rules
for large banks

Small banks and
intermediate
small banks

Public notice (228.44)
All banks

Prescribed notices
informing
consumers of their
rights to certain
information

13