[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20074-20075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08498]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection
Renewal; Comment Request; Subordinated Debt
AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing
information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (PRA).
In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not
conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to,
an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
The OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information
collection titled, ``Subordinated Debt.''
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 15, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the OCC
is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments by
email, if possible. Comments may be sent to: Legislative and Regulatory
Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
Attention: 1557-0320, 400 7th Street SW., Suite 3E-218, Mail Stop 9W-
11, Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to
(571) 465-4326 or by electronic mail to [email protected].
You may personally inspect and photocopy comments at the OCC, 400 7th
Street SW., Washington, DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC
requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may
do so by calling (202) 649-6700. Upon arrival, visitors will be
required to present valid government-issued photo identification and
submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy
comments.
All comments received, including attachments and other supporting
materials, are part of the public record and subject to public
disclosure. Do not enclose any information in your comment or
supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate
for public disclosure.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary H. Gottlieb, OCC Clearance
Officer, (202) 649-5490, for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing,
TTY, (202) 649-5597, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division,
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW., Suite
3E-218, Mail Stop 9W-11, Washington, DC 20219.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is
defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to include agency
requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports,
keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal
agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning
each proposed collection of information, including each proposed
extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting
the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement,
the OCC is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information
set forth in this document.
OMB granted the OCC a six-month approval for the information
collection requirements contained in the interim final rule entitled
``Subordinated Debt Issued by a National Bank.'' (December 2014 Interim
Final Rule).\1\ The OCC obtained this approval under existing OMB
Control No. 1557-0320, which contained the information collection
requirements in the interim final rule entitled ``Basel III Conforming
Amendments Related to Cross-References, Subordinated Debt and Limits
Based on Regulatory Capital.'' (February 2014 Interim Final Rule).\2\
The OCC proposes to extend OMB approval of the entire information
collection for the standard three years.
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\1\ 79 FR 75417 (December 18, 2014).
\2\ 79 FR 11300 (February 28, 2014).
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Title: Subordinated Debt.
OMB Control No.: 1557-0320.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
Burden Estimates:
Prepayment of Subordinated Debt in Form of Call Option: 184
Respondents; 1.30 burden hours per respondent; 239 total burden hours.
Authority to Limit Distributions: 42 Respondents; 0.5 hours per
respondent; 21 total burden hours.
Total Burden: 260 hours.
Description: The OCC amended its rules governing subordinated debt
twice in 2014. The first set of revisions, contained in the February
2014 Interim Final Rule, amended the rules applicable to both national
banks and Federal savings associations (12 CFR 5.47 and 163.81,
respectively). The second revisions, in the December 2014 Interim Final
Rule, amended only the rules application to national banks.
The February 2014 Interim Final Rule revised the requirements of 12
CFR 5.47 applicable to national banks. Specifically, those revisions
require that all national banks must receive prior OCC approval in
order to prepay subordinated debt that is included in tier 2 capital
and certain banks must receive prior OCC approval to prepay
subordinated debt that is not included in tier 2 capital. If the
prepayment is in the form of a call option and the subordinated debt is
included in tier 2 capital, a national bank must submit the
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information required for general prepayment requests under 12 CFR
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(A) \3\ and also must comply with 12 CFR
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(B)(2) \4\, which requires a national bank to submit
either: (1) A statement explaining why the bank believes that following
the proposed prepayment the bank would continue to hold an amount of
capital commensurate with its risk or (2) a description of the
replacement capital instrument that meets the criteria for tier 1 or
tier 2 capital under 12 CFR 3.20, including the amount of such
instrument and the time frame for issuance.
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\3\ Appeared as Sec. 5.47(n)(1)(ii)(B) in the February 2014
Interim Final Rule and subsequently redesignated as Sec.
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(B).
\4\ Appeared as Sec. 5.47(n)(1)(ii)(A) in the February 2014
Interim Final Rule and subsequently redesignated as Sec.
5.47(g)(1)(ii)(A).
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The February 2014 Interim Final Rule also revised the requirements
of 12 CFR 163.81 \5\ applicable to Federal savings associations.
Specifically, those revisions require a Federal savings association to
obtain prior OCC approval to prepay subordinated debt securities or
mandatorily redeemable preferred stock (covered securities) included in
tier 2 capital. In addition, if the prepayment is in the form of a call
option, a Federal savings association must submit the information
required for general prepayment requests under 12 CFR 163.81(j)(2)(i)
and also comply with 12 CFR 163.81(j)(2)(ii)(A), which requires a
Federal savings association to submit either: (1) A statement
explaining why the Federal savings association believes that following
the proposed prepayment the Federal savings association would continue
to hold an amount of capital commensurate with its risk or (2) a
description of the replacement capital instrument that meets the
criteria for tier 1 or tier 2 capital under 12 CFR 3.20, including the
amount of such instrument and the time frame for issuance.
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\5\ The OCC proposed to renumber this section as new Sec. 5.56
in its proposed rule entitled ``Integration of National Bank and
Federal Savings Association Regulations: Licensing Rules,'' 79 FR
33260 (June 10, 2014).
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The December 2014 Interim Final Rule revised 12 CFR 5.47 to add a
disclosure requirement in 12 CFR 5.47(d)(3)(ii)(C). A national bank
must describe in the subordinated debt note the OCC's authority under
12 CFR 3.11 to limit distributions, including interest payments on any
tier 2 capital instrument, if the national bank has full discretion to
permanently or temporarily suspend such payments without triggering an
event of default.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become
a matter of public record. Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the collections of information are necessary for the
proper performance of the OCC's functions, including whether the
information has practical utility;
(b) The accuracy of the OCC's estimates of the burden of the
information collections, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of information collections on
respondents, including through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Dated: April 8, 2015.
Mary H. Gottlieb,
Regulatory Specialist, Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division.
[FR Doc. 2015-08498 Filed 4-13-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P