[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15708-15709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6949]
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB
SUMMARY: Background. Notice is hereby given of the final approval of
proposed information collections by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5
CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the
Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated
into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of
information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission,
supporting statements and approved collection of information
instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal
Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required
to respond to, an information collection that has been extended,
revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer --Michelle Shore, Division of
Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, DC 20551 (202-452-3829)
OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office
Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.
Final approval under OMB delegated authority of the implementation
of the following survey:
Report title: Senior Credit Officer Opinion Survey on Dealer
Financing Terms.
Agency form number: FR 2034.
OMB control number: 7100- to be assigned.
Frequency: Up to six times a year.
Reporters: U.S. banking institutions and U.S. branches and agencies
of foreign banks.
Estimated annual reporting hours: 450 hours.
Estimated average hours per response: 3 hours.
Number of respondents: 25.
General description of report: This information collection will be
voluntary (12 U.S.C. 225a, 248(a)(2), 1844(c), and 3105(c)(2)) and will
be given confidential treatment (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).
Abstract: This voluntary survey will be conducted with a senior
credit officer at each respondent financial institution up to six times
a year. The reporting panel consists of up to 25 U.S. banking
institutions and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, the
majority of which are affiliated with a Primary Government Securities
Dealer.\1\ The purpose of the survey is to provide qualitative and
limited quantitative information on (1) stringency of credit terms, (2)
credit availability and demand across the entire range of securities
financing and over-the-counter derivatives transactions, and (3) the
evolution of market conditions and conventions applicable to such
activities. The FR 2034 survey is significantly modeled after the long-
established Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (FR 2018; OMB No. 7100-
0058), which provides qualitative information on changes in the supply
of, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households. A portion
of the questions in each administration of the FR 2034 survey will
typically cover special topics of timely interest; however, the survey
form also includes 47 core questions.
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\1\ A list of the current Primary Dealers in Government
Securities is available at http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/pridealers_current.html.
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Although the Federal Reserve seeks the authority to conduct the
survey up to six times a year, the survey is expected to be conducted
only four times a year consistent with the FR 2018. Consistent with the
FR 2018, other types of respondents, such as other depository
institutions, bank holding companies, or other financial entities, may
be surveyed if appropriate.
The respondents' answers are intended to provide information
critical to the Federal Reserve's monitoring of credit markets and
capital market activity. As is currently the case with FR 2018,
aggregate results from this survey are expected to be made available to
the public on the Federal Reserve Board website. Selected aggregate
information from the surveys may also be published annually in Federal
Reserve Bulletin articles and in the Monetary Policy Report to the
Congress.
Current Actions: On December 15, 2009, the Federal Reserve
published a notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 66359) requesting
public comment for 60 days on implementation of the FR 2034 survey. The
comment period for this notice expired on February 16, 2010. The
Federal Reserve received one comment letter on this proposal.
Summary of Comments
The comment letter was based on a series of informal discussions in
early January 2010 between Federal Reserve staff and several dealer
firms which are potential respondents to the new survey. These
discussions helped the Federal Reserve to assess the clarity, utility,
and burden of the FR 2034 survey, and led to changes to the content of
the survey and formulation of particular questions as described below:
Increased focus on the maturity of trades was suggested, as this is
an important dimension on which the stringency of credit terms is
routinely adjusted, as was the inclusion of
[[Page 15709]]
questions relating to certain other instruments such as stock loan and
total return swaps. Market participants suggested additional attention
should be accorded to the volume of disputes with clients and the
degree to which clients seek through negotiation to elicit more
favorable terms.
Feedback from these discussions also led to the elimination or
consolidation of questions regarding the credit terms applicable to
other dealers, or to the funding of Treasury securities, as these terms
do not vary markedly across the normal credit cycle.
Adoption of a more granular classification of ``clients by type''
was recommended in order to draw a clearer distinction between hedge
funds and other types of institutional investors, such as insurance
companies and pension funds. Finally, in several instances alternate
language was suggested, including (1) using the term vendor financing
to describe a situation where a dealer provides more favorable terms
for funding securities in which it has played an underwriting role and
(2) eliminating words in one possible response (to a survey question)
that might be construed as reflecting adversely on a dealer's own
access to funding.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 24,
2010.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2010-6949 Filed 3-29-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P