[Federal Register: January 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 1)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 1-2]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02ja04-1]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
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The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
12 CFR Part 5
[Docket No. 04-01]
RIN 1557-AC13
Electronic Filings
AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is
adopting, in final form, without change, an interim rule that allows
national banks to make any class of licensing filings electronically
and clarifies the circumstances under which the OCC may adopt filing
procedures different from those otherwise required by part 5. The rule
also makes several technical changes related to the Comptroller's
Licensing Manual (Manual).
EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective February 2, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Campbell, Attorney, Legislative
and Regulatory Activities Division, (202) 874-5090; or Darrell Sheets,
Licensing Data Manager, Licensing, Policy and Systems Division, (202)
874-5060, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20219.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The OCC's ongoing objectives include minimizing regulatory burden
for the national banks we supervise, consistent with safety and
soundness, and achieving greater efficiency in the agency's regulatory
processes. National banks' preparation of required licensing
applications and filings and the OCC's processing of those submissions
are activities where substantial efficiencies, including cost savings,
can be achieved through increased use of electronic technology.
Moreover, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA)\1\ requires
that Federal agencies consider providing the public with the option of
automated transactional processes that use and accept electronic
filings and signatures, when practicable. The requirements of GPEA
apply to all interactions with the Federal government that involve the
electronic submission, maintenance, or disclosure of information.\2\
This includes transactions--such as the electronic filings that are the
subject of this final rule--that involve Federal information
collections covered by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).\3\
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\1\ 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.
\2\ See OMB Memorandum M-00-10, ``OMB Procedures and Guidance;
Implementation of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act,'' 65 FR
25508, May 2, 2000 (OMB Guidance).
\3\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
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To further the objectives we have described and to facilitate
compliance with GPEA, the OCC designed a new electronic filing system
called e-Corp. E-Corp uses a Web-based electronic application to enable
national banks to submit electronically certain types of corporate
filings to the OCC for approval. Authorized users at each national bank
access electronic forms through the OCC's National BankNet Web site
(BankNet)\4\ and submit electronically certain licensing filings to the
OCC using electronic signatures. This final rule facilitates expansion
of our electronic filing program.
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\4\ BankNet is a secure, extranet Web site that allows the OCC
to deliver data-based services via the Internet to the national
banks we supervise.
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II. The Interim and Final Rules
On April 14, 2003, the OCC published and requested comment on an
interim rule amending 12 CFR part 5, which was published at 68 FR
17890. The comment period ended June 13, 2003, and no comments were
received. Thus, the OCC is adopting the interim rule as a final rule
with no modifications.
Accordingly, the final rule adopts revisions to Sec. 5.2 to
expressly provide that the OCC may permit national banks to make any
class of licensing filings electronically. Four applications were
available to be filed electronically at the time we published the
interim rule: establishment of a branch, relocation of a branch,
relocation of a main office within a 30-mile radius (within current
city, town or village limits), and relocation of a main office within a
30-mile radius (outside current city, town or village limits). These
four applications continue to be available for electronic filing. Five
notices were added earlier this year, including notification of change
of corporate title; notification of change of main office address;
official 90-day advance branch closing and downgrade notice; final
branch closing, consolidation, relocation, or downgrade notice; and
notification of main office relocation to an existing branch.
Additional electronic filings currently are under development. In
recognition of the fact that national banks rely on technology to
varying extents, electronic filing remains voluntary, as it was under
the interim rule. Any bank that wishes to continue filing paper-based
applications may do so.
The final rule also refers national banks to the Manual to find
information about the filings that are available for electronic
submission. The Manual, which is available on the OCC's Internet Web
site,\5\ is updated on a continuous basis.
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\5\ See http://www.occ.treas.gov/corpapps/corpapplic.htm. This is the
Web address for the OCC's Home page, which contains information
available to the general public. Printed copies of the Manual are
available for a fee from the OCC's Communications Division.
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The final rule also adopts amendments to Sec. 5.2(b) of our rules
to provide that, after giving appropriate notice to the applicant and,
at the OCC's discretion, to others, the OCC may adopt materially
different procedures for a particular filing, or a class of filings, in
exceptional circumstances or unusual transactions.
Finally, the final rule adopts several technical changes regarding
the Manual. In 2002, the OCC replaced the Comptroller's Corporate
Manual with the Comptroller's Licensing Manual and made the Manual
available on our Internet Web site. The final rule adopts changes
regarding the new name of the Manual, provides the OCC's Internet
address, and substitutes a new address to use to request a printed
version of the Manual.
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III. Regulatory Analysis
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act applies only to rules for which an
agency publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(b).\6\ Because the OCC was not required to publish, and did
not publish, a general notice of proposed rulemaking,\7\ the Regulatory
Flexibility Act does not apply to this final rule.
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\6\ See 5 U.S.C. 601(2).
\7\ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A)(Administrative Procedure Act (APA)
provision excepting from the notice and comment requirement ``rules
of agency organization, procedure, or practice''); 68 FR 17891-92
(discussion of applicability of section 553(b)(A) to the interim
rule).
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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L.
104-04 (Unfunded Mandates Act) requires that an agency prepare a
budgetary impact statement before promulgating a rule that includes a
Federal mandate that may result in expenditure by State, local, and
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100
million or more in any one year. If a budgetary impact statement is
required, section 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Act also requires an
agency to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory
alternatives before promulgating a rule. The OCC has determined that
the final rule will not result in expenditures by State, local, or
tribal governments or by the private sector of $100 million or more.
Accordingly, the OCC has not prepared a budgetary impact statement or
specifically addressed the regulatory alternatives considered.
Executive Order 12866
The OCC has determined that this final rule does not constitute a
``significant regulatory action'' for the purposes of Executive Order
12866.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not
required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
This final rule adopts changes from the interim rule which, in
Sec. 5.2(d), permits the electronic filing of applications that
contain collection of information requirements. These requirements are
found in sections of 12 CFR part 5, Rules, Policies, and Procedures for
Corporate Activities, such as Sec. Sec. 5.30 (Establishment,
acquisition, and relocation of a branch) and 5.40 (Change in location
of main office). As part of the Manual, these collections of
information have been reviewed and approved by the OMB in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) under
OMB Control Number 1557-0014.
Effective Date
Subject to certain exceptions, 12 U.S.C. 4802(b)(1) provides that
new regulations and amendments to regulations prescribed by a Federal
banking agency that impose additional reporting, disclosure, or other
new requirements on an insured depository institution must take effect
on the first day of a calendar quarter that begins on or after the date
on which the regulations are published in final form. As we described
in the preamble to the interim rule, the interim rule imposed no
additional reporting, disclosure, or other new requirements on insured
depository institutions. For that reason, we concluded that 12 U.S.C.
4802(b)(1) did not apply to the interim rule. That reasoning also
applies to the final rule, which is identical to the interim rule.
Accordingly, we conclude that the delayed effective date requirement of
12 U.S.C. 4802(b)(1) does not apply to the final rule.
List of Subjects in Part 5
Administrative practice and procedure, National banks, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Securities.
PART 5--RULES, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES FOR CORPORATE ACTIVITIES
0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 12 CFR part 5 which was
published at 68 FR 17890 on April 14, 2003, is adopted as a final rule
without change.
Dated: December 23, 2003.
John D. Hawke, Jr.,
Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 03-32256 Filed 12-31-03; 8:45 am]
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