SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board authority under the PRA to approve and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the Board is ( printed page 32744) directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.

Request for comment on information collection proposal: The Board invites public comment on the following information collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:

a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the Board's functions, including whether the information has practical utility;

b. The accuracy of the Board's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;

d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and

e. Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Board should modify the proposal.

Proposal to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension for three years, without revision, of the following report:

Report title: Disclosure and Reporting Requirements of the CRA-Related Agreements (Regulation G).

Agency form number: FR G.

OMB control number: 7100-0299.

Frequency: Quarterly, annually, and on occasion.

Respondents: State member banks and their subsidiaries, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies (Insured Depository Institutions (IDIs)); affiliates of bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies, other than banks, savings associations, and subsidiaries of banks and savings associations; and nongovernmental entities or persons (NGEP) that enter into covered agreements with any of the aforementioned companies.

Estimated number of respondents: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates—Copy of agreements to agency, 2 respondents; List of agreements to agency, 2 respondents; Annual report, 2 respondents; and Filing NGEP annual report, 2 respondents; Reporting: NGEP—Copy of agreements to agency, 6 respondents; and Annual Report, 6 respondents; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates—Covered agreements to public, 2 respondents; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 2 respondents; and Disclosure: NGEP—Covered agreements to public, 6 respondents.

Estimated average hours per response: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates—Copy of agreements to agency, 1 hour; List of agreements to agency, 1 hour; Annual report, 4 hours; and Filing NGEP annual report, 1 hour; Reporting: NGEP—Copy of agreements to agency, 1 hour; and Annual Report, 4 hours; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates—Covered agreements to public, 1 hour; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 1 hour; and Disclosure: NGEP—Covered agreements to public, 1 hour.

Estimated annual burden hours: Reporting: IDIs and affiliates—Copy of agreements to agency, 8 hours; List of agreements to agency, 8 hours; Annual report, 8 hours; and Filing NGEP annual report, 6 hours; Reporting: NGEP—Copy of agreements to agency, 6 hours; and Annual Report, 24 hours; Disclosure: IDIs and affiliates—Covered agreements to public, 6 hours; and Agreements relating to activities of CRA affiliates, 6 hours; and Disclosure: NGEP—Covered agreements to public, 6 hours.

General description of report: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) amended the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) by adding a new section 48, entitled “CRA Sunshine Requirements.” Section 48 imposes disclosure and reporting requirements on IDIs, their affiliates, and NGEPs that enter into written agreements that (1) are made in fulfillment of the CRA and (2) involve funds or other resources of an IDI or affiliate with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 in a year, or loans with an aggregate principal value of more than $50,000 in a year. Section 48 excludes from the disclosure and reporting requirements any CRA-related agreement between an IDI or its affiliate, on the one hand, and an NGEP, on the other hand, if the NGEP has not contacted the IDI, its affiliate, or a federal banking agency concerning the CRA performance of the IDI.

The GLBA directed the Board, as well as the other federal banking agencies, to issue consistent and comparable regulations to implement the requirements of section 48 of the FDI Act. In 2001, the agencies promulgated substantially identical regulations, which interpret the scope of written agreements that are subject to the statute and implement the disclosure and reporting requirements of section 48.^[1] The Board's Regulation G implements the provisions of the GLBA requiring both IDIs and NGEP to make a copy of any covered agreement available to the public and the appropriate federal banking agency, and to file an annual report with each appropriate federal banking agency regarding the use of funds under such agreement for that fiscal year. In addition, each calendar quarter, an IDI and its affiliates must provide to the appropriate federal banking agency a list of all covered agreements entered into during that quarter or a copy of the covered agreements.

Legal authorization and confidentiality: The disclosure and reporting requirements of Regulation G are authorized pursuant to the authority of the Board to prescribe regulations to carry out the purposes of section 711 of GLBA.^[2] The obligation to comply with the disclosure and reporting requirements of Regulation G is mandatory. Because the disclosure and reporting requirements of section 711 and Regulation G require relevant parties to disclose covered agreements to the public, an entity subject to Regulation G would likely be unable to prevent the Board from releasing a covered agreement to the public.^[3] However, in the preamble to Regulation G, the Board stated that an entity subject to Regulation G may submit a public version of its covered agreements to the Board with a request for confidential treatment. The Board further stated that it would release this version to the public unless it received a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the entirety of the CRA-related agreement. In such case, information in the agreement may be protected from disclosure by FOIA exemptions (b)(4) (which protects “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged and confidential”) ^[4] and (b)(8) (which protects information contained in “examination, operating, ( printed page 32745) or condition reports” obtained in the bank supervisory process).^[5]