[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12934-12936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04136]
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment
Request
AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
ACTION: Notice, request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board)
invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision,
the Survey of Small Business and Farm Lending (FR 2028; OMB No. 7100-
0061).
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 2028, by any of
the following methods:
Agency Website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
Email: [email protected]. Include the OMB
number or FR number in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
Mail: Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Attn: Ann E.
Misback, Secretary of the Board, Mailstop M-4775, 2001 C St NW,
Washington, DC 20551.
All public comments are available from the Board's website at
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as
submitted, unless modified for technical reasons or to remove
personally identifiable information at the commenter's request.
Accordingly, comments will not be edited to remove any confidential
business information, identifying information, or contact information.
Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room
M-4365A, 2001 C St NW, Washington, DC 20551, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
on weekdays, except for Federal holidays. For security reasons, the
Board requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments.
You may do so by calling (202) 452-3684. Upon arrival, visitors will be
required to present valid government-issued photo identification and to
submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy
comments.
Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Desk Officer for the Federal
Reserve Board, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to (202) 395-6974.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Federal Reserve Board Clearance
Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, [email protected], (202)
452-3884.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board
authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to approve and assign
OMB control numbers to collections of information conducted or
sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the
Board is 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.
During the comment period for this proposal, a copy of the proposed
PRA OMB submission, including the draft
[[Page 12935]]
reporting form and instructions, supporting statement (which contains
more detail about the information collection and burden estimates than
this notice), and other documentation, will be made available on the
Board's public website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportingforms/home/review or may be requested from the agency
clearance officer, whose name appears above. Final versions of these
documents will be made available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, if approved.
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 Under OMB Delegated Authority To Extend for Three Years, With
Revision, the Following Information Collection
Collection title: Survey of Small Business and Farm Lending.
Collection identifier: FR 2028.
OMB control number: 7100-0061.
General description of collection: The Survey of Small Business and
Farm Lending (SSBFL) comprises the following three reports:
Survey of Terms of Bank Lending to Farmers (FR 2028B),
Prime Rate Supplement of Survey of Terms of Lending (FR
2028S), and
Small Business Lending Survey (FR 2028D).
The SSBFL collects unique information concerning price and certain
nonprice terms of loans made to businesses and farmers each quarter
(February, May, August, and November) from a sample of banks. The FR
2028B collects detailed data on individual loans funded during the
first full business week of the mid-month of each quarter, and the FR
2028S collects the prime interest rate for each day of the survey week
from FR 2028B respondents. The FR 2028D provides focused and enhanced
information on small business lending including rates, terms, credit
availability, and reasons for their changes. The FR 2028D collects
quarterly average quantitative data on terms of small business loans
and qualitative information on changes and the reasons for changes in
the terms of lending. From these sample SSBFL data, estimates of the
terms of business loans and farm loans extended are constructed. The
aggregate estimates for business loans are published in the Federal
Reserve Bank of Kansas City's quarterly release, Small Business Lending
Survey, and aggregate estimates for farm loans are published in the
statistical release, Agricultural Finance Databook.
Proposed revisions: The Federal Reserve proposes to revise the FR
2028D form and instructions, to be effective for the September 30,
2023, as of date with the transmission period beginning on October 1,
2023, based on loan activity over the third quarter 2023. The proposed
revisions would add clarity in reporting instructions and requirements,
improve data quality, and make slight reductions in reporting burden.
These changes include removing items related to credit card lending and
net drawdowns on lines of credit. A question requesting information on
how respondents define small businesses for the purposes of small
business lending would be added. Additionally, three questions were
modified to add open-ended text fields offering respondents the
opportunity to provide additional information on reasons for changes in
lending. Minor wording changes are proposed to the form and
instructions to add clarity to the survey or address changes to the
form. Additionally, minor changes are proposed to the Frequently Asked
Questions section to increase clarity of form definitions.
FR 2028D Deletions
Questions determined to provide lower value, in comparison to the
burden imposed on respondents required to track and respond, would be
removed from the survey. Specifically, a survey question requesting net
amounts of drawdowns on commercial and industrial (C&I) commitments
broken out by fixed rate and variable rate would be removed.
Additionally, questions related to new and outstanding credit card
loans would be removed, eliminating 6 questions each for fixed rate and
variable rate small business C&I loans along with one qualitative
question.
FR 2028D Additions
An open-ended question would be added to increase clarity in how
respondents are defining small business lending for quantitative and
qualitative loan data. The question would clarify whether a respondent
is utilizing the survey definition of a small business, non-farm
businesses domiciled in the U.S. with no more than $5 million in total
annual revenue, or another internal definition. Current reporters would
be asked to respond annually to the new question or when a change
occurs in their internal small business definition. First time
reporters would respond in the quarter that they are added to the
respondent panel. Additionally, three questions would be modified to
add voluntary open-ended text fields, offering respondents the
opportunity to provide additional information on reasons for changes in
credit standards/terms and credit quality of applicants.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Respondents: The FR 2028B and FR 2028S panels have an authorized
size of 250 domestically chartered commercial banks. The panel of banks
has been drawn from a random sample of banks stratified according to
farm loan volumes since 1989. The authorized panel for the FR 2028D
panel is 398 domestically chartered commercial banks. The size is based
on obtaining survey results with a 95% confidence level and 5% standard
error, allowing for a 10% nonresponse rate. The panel of banks is a
random sample of banks stratified according to the dollar volumes of
commercial and industrial loans with original amounts of $1,000,000 or
less.
Total estimated number of respondents:
FR 2028B--250.
FR 2028S--250.
FR 2028D--398.
Estimated average hours per response:
FR 2028B--1.4.
FR 2028S--0.1.
FR 2028D--2.8.
Total estimated change in burden: (318).
[[Page 12936]]
Total estimated annual burden hours: 5,958.\1\
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\1\ More detailed information regarding this collection,
including more detailed burden estimates, can be found in the OMB
Supporting Statement posted at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportingforms/home/review. On the page displayed at the link, you
can find the OMB Supporting Statement by referencing the collection
identifier, FR 2028.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 23,
2023.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2023-04136 Filed 2-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P