FR2023_20210830_omb_B

Supporting Statement Part B for the
Senior Financial Officer Surveys
(FR 2023; OMB No. 7100-0223)
Summary
For all information collections that involve surveys or require a statistical methodology,
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is required to provide a complete
justification and explanation of the use of such a methodology. For collections that employ
surveys without such a methodology, the Board should be prepared to justify its decision not to
use statistical methods in any case where such methods might reduce burden or improve
accuracy of results.
Background
The Board uses Senior Financial Officer Surveys to obtain information about deposit
pricing and behavior, bank liability management, the provision of financial services, and reserve
management practices. The FR 2023 also complements other deposit reports that, by themselves,
provide limited insight into the causes of the changing behavior of deposit holders and
depository institutions. Moreover, the FR 2023 has given the Board the opportunity to follow
periodic developments in financial markets related to extraordinary events that are beyond the
scope of other reports. Before initiating a new survey, the Board would determine if the
information to be collected is available by other means or sources within the Federal Reserve
System to avoid duplication.
Both the frequency and the content of the Senior Financial Officer Surveys have been,
and will continue to be, determined by exigencies. The surveys do not have a fixed set of
questions; each survey consists of a limited number of both qualitative and quantitative questions
directed at topics of timely interest. Since 2018, FR 2023 surveys have been used to obtain
information on the reserve management strategies and practices of depository institutions. To the
extent possible, the Federal Reserve notifies respondents in advance as to the topic(s) to be
covered in an impending survey. In extraordinary circumstances, when such notice is not
possible, the decision to waive this advance notice provision would be made only by Federal
Reserve officials. Surveys are completed by senior officers at respondent institutions. Survey
questions are sent to, and replies received from, respondents via email. Follow-up telephone
responses may be conducted, as necessary.
Universe and Respondent Selection
The FR 2023 panel is comprised of up to 80 large institutions, which could include
domestic depository institutions and foreign banking organizations. The panel of firms for each
ad hoc survey in this collection is selected based on asset size, significance of presence in

markets and activities that are the subject of the survey (e.g. overnight unsecured wholesale
funding markets, reserve balance holdings), and responsiveness to previous collections. 1
This panel of large institutions is appropriate for most survey topics. In some situations,
however, panels based on alternative criteria may be more appropriate or may provide useful
additional information. Consequently, the Board may survey other types of respondents (such as
other depository institutions, bank holding companies, or other financial entities) in addition to
the primary panel. For example, it may be useful to survey non-bank depository institutions to
gain better insight into the demand for reserves at these institutions, or institutional loan
investors to gain a better understanding of the syndicated loan market. This option enhances the
potential scope and utility of the survey.
Procedures for Collecting Information
The survey is generally completed through electronic submission by a senior financial
officer at each respondent bank. The survey questions are sent to senior financial officers by
email with an MS Excel template. Respondents send back a populated MS Excel workbook, but
follow-up calls may occur if clarification is needed on responses. If they prefer, banks also have
the option of responding through a telephone interview conducted either by a Reserve Bank
officer or senior-level Federal Reserve Board staff member who has expertise in the area of bank
liability management, or by a Board staff member, as appropriate. Surveys are conducted asneeded on topics of timely interest, up to four times a year.
Only aggregate survey results will be reported. While the sample will be chosen to permit
some inference into the general behavior of depository institutions or financial markets—for
example, as noted in footnote 1, the selected large institutions will provide a broad view of the
banking system—no formal stratification or “blow-up” factors will be used to directly estimate
for a fixed universe.
Methods to Maximize Response
Respondents will be sent email reminders requesting a response. This survey is not based
on statistical sampling, and no correction for non-response bias is necessary.
Testing of Procedures
The survey procedures are very similar to those used in the long-standing FR 2018,
which has been conducted and published several times a year for many years.

1

Previously, the primary respondent panel was identical to the U.S. commercial bank subset of respondents for the
Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (FR 2018; OMB No. 7100-0058)—80 large,
domestically chartered commercial banks. The current reporting panel is also 80 large institutions, but is not
identical to the commercial bank subset of respondents for the FR 2018. As noted, the panel is selected based on the
markets and activities that are the subject of the data collections, and may include foreign banking organizations as
well as domestic institutions.

2