[Federal Register: August 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 157)]
[Notices]
[Page 46977-46978]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15au06-83]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Comment Request: Community Development Financial Institutions
Fund: Comment Request on the Release of Transaction Level Report Data
and Allocation Tracking System Data Provided by New Markets Tax Credit
Program Allocatees
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions
Fund (the Fund), a government corporation within the Department of the
Treasury, is soliciting comments on the release of Transaction Level
Report Data and Allocation Tracking System Data provided to the Fund by
New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program allocatees.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 16, 2006
to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted in writing and sent to Donna
Fabiani, Manager for Financial Strategies and Research, as follows: (i)
By mail to: Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, U.S.
Department of the Treasury, 601 13th Street, NW., Suite 200 South,
Washington, DC 20005; (ii) by e-mail to: NMTCTLRcomment@cdfi.treas.gov;
or (iii) by fax to: (202) 622-7754.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Fabiani, Manager for Financial
Strategies and Research, as noted above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Release of Transaction Level Report Data and Allocation
Tracking System Data Provided by New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program
Allocatees.
Abstract: The Fund's mission is to expand the capacity of financial
institutions to provide credit, capital and financial services to
underserved populations and communities in the United States. The
Fund's strategic goal is to improve the economic conditions of
underserved communities by providing capital and technical assistance
to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), capital to
insured depository institutions, and tax credit allocations to
Community Development Entities (CDEs), which provide credit, capital,
financial services, and development services to these markets. The Fund
certifies entities as CDFIs and/or CDEs.
In June 2004, the Fund launched a new web-based data collection
system called the Community Investment Impact System (CIIS). Certified
CDFIs, CDFIs that have received monetary awards from the Fund through
its other programs, and CDEs that have received NMTC allocations use
CIIS to report their annual performance and compliance information to
the Fund. The data include institution level information on CDFIs and
CDEs including financial condition, staffing, ownership, markets
served, loan and investment portfolios, loan sales and purchases,
financial services provided, technical assistance and training
provided, and community development impacts. For CDEs and a portion of
reporting CDFIs, the CIIS data also include detailed transaction level
data on each loan or investment in the institutions' portfolios. This
transaction level data includes borrower characteristics, loan terms
and repayment status, and community development outcomes associated
with the transaction, such as jobs created, housing units developed,
and square feet of real estate developed. The CIIS database is the only
source of standardized transaction level data on CDFI and CDE loans and
investments.
The Fund has a second reporting system, called the Allocation
Tracking System (ATS), that CDEs that have received NMTC allocations
(allocatees) use to report on their Qualified Equity Investments
(QEIs). Through the ATS, an allocatee reports to the Fund timely
information regarding the issuance of QEIs by the allocatee or any of
the subsidiary CDEs to which the allocatee transfers its NMTC
allocation (i.e., subsidiary allocatees). ATS data include the amount
and date of each QEI as well as various investor characteristics,
including investor type.
The Fund intends to make the Transaction Level Report data and the
ATS data available to the public within the parameters of all
applicable Federal information protection, privacy and confidentiality
laws. The Fund expects that said data could be used by CDFIs, CDEs,
funders, investors, researchers and others to gain a better
understanding of the community
[[Page 46978]]
development finance industry. The Fund has developed a draft protocol
for releasing the Transaction Level Report data and the ATS data
submitted by NMTC allocatees. Because the data contain information on
businesses and individuals that may be considered sensitive and/or
confidential, the Fund seeks public comment on its draft data release
protocol. This draft protocol seeks to release as much data as possible
without violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Privacy
Act, or other applicable Federal law. To that end, the Fund proposes
not to release data that it has determined to be: (a) Confidential
financial or business information of allocatees, investors, or the
businesses that allocatees are lending to or investing in, the
disclosure of which would cause substantial harm to the competitive
position of the person from whom the information was obtained; or (b)
confidential information about individuals, such as name, address,
gender, race, and income.
To view the Proposed Data Release Protocol (providing a description
of each data field and whether the Fund proposes that the field be
displayed, suppressed, or modified in the public release), a sample
data release, and definitions of each data point, visit the Fund's Web
site http://www.cdfifund.gov and click on the links under ``Comment
Request on the Release of TLR Data and ATS Data Provided by NMTC
Program Allocatees.''
Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice
will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on all
aspects of the release of the Transaction Level Report data and ATS
data, but commentators may wish to focus particular attention on the
following questions:
(a) Are any of the identified data points proposed for release
trade secrets or commercial financial information that is privileged or
confidential?
(b) Would the release of any such information cause substantial
harm to the competitive position of NMTC Program allocatees,
allocatees' investors, or the businesses that allocatees are lending to
or investing in?
(c) Would the release of any of the data points not currently
proposed for release be useful to the public?
(d) Are any of the data points not currently proposed for release,
but potentially of interest to the public, trade secrets or commercial
or financial information that is privileged or confidential? Would the
release of any such information cause substantive harm to the
competitive position of NMTC Program allocatees, their investors, or
the businesses that allocatees are lending to or investing in? Would
the release of any such information cause the identity of individuals
to be revealed?
(e) Is the proposed Excel spreadsheet format for releasing these
data acceptable to a wide range of users? If not, what is a better
alternative?
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 45D; 31 U.S.C. 321; 26 CFR 1.45D-1T.
Dated: August 8, 2006.
Arthur A. Garcia,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. E6-13321 Filed 8-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P