83 FR 2492 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 11 (January 17, 2018)

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the revision of an information collection that is to be proposed for approval by the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of International Affairs of the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning Treasury International Capital Form SLT, Aggregate Holdings of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2492-2493]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00674]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Departmental Offices; Department of the Treasury.
SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and 
other Federal agencies to comment on the revision of an information 
collection that is to be proposed for approval by the Office of 
Management and Budget. The Office of International Affairs of the 
Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning Treasury 
International Capital Form SLT, Aggregate Holdings of Long-Term 
Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before March 19, 2018 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Dwight Wolkow, International 
Portfolio Investment Data Systems, Department of the Treasury, Room 
5422, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220. In view of 
possible delays in mail delivery, please also notify Mr. Wolkow by 
email ([email protected]), FAX (202-622-2009) or telephone 
(202-622-1276).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the proposed forms and 
instructions are available on the Treasury's TIC Forms web page, 
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/forms-slt.aspx. Requests for additional information should be directed 
to Mr. Wolkow.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Treasury International Capital Form 
SLT, Aggregate Holdings of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign 
Residents.
    OMB Control Number: 1505-0235.
    Abstract: Form SLT is part of the Treasury International Capital 
(TIC) reporting system, which is required by law (22 U.S.C. 286f; 22 
U.S.C. 3103; E.O. 10033; 31 CFR 128), and is designed to collect timely 
information on international portfolio capital movements. Form SLT is a 
monthly report on cross-border portfolio investment in long-term 
marketable securities by U.S. and foreign residents. This information 
is used by the U.S. Government in the formulation of international 
financial and monetary policies and for the preparation of the U.S. 
balance of payments accounts and the U.S. international investment 
position.
    Current Actions: No changes in the form are being proposed at this 
time. The proposed changes in the instructions are:
    (1) The section II.A ``Who Must Report,'' the section II.F ``What 
Must Be Reported,'' and the section II.G.1 ``How to Report'' of the 
instructions are updated to list out separately ``certain private 
funds'', which are a subgroup of the class of financial entities 
defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission as private funds on 
Form PF: ``any issuer that would be an investment company as defined in

[[Page 2493]]

section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 but for section 3(c)(1) 
or 3(c)(7) of . . . [that] Act.'' In cooperation with the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA), effective for TIC reports beginning as of 
January 1, 2017 and afterwards, reporters of investments in private 
funds that meet the definition of direct investment (that is, ownership 
by one person of 10 percent or more of the voting interest of a 
business enterprise) but display characteristics of portfolio 
investment (specifically, investors who do not intend to control or 
influence the management of an operating company) are required to 
report through the Treasury International Capital (TIC) reporting 
system, where other related portfolio investments are already being 
reported, and not to report on BEA's direct investment surveys. 
Specifically, cross-border investments by or into private funds are 
included in TIC reports regardless of ownership share if they meet BOTH 
of the following criteria: (i) The private fund does not own, directly 
or indirectly through another business enterprise, an ``operating 
company''--i.e., a business enterprise that is not a private fund or a 
holding company--in which the U.S. or foreign parent owns at least 10 
percent of the voting interest, and (ii) If the private fund is owned 
indirectly (through one or more other business enterprises), there are 
no ``operating companies'' between the U.S. or foreign parent and the 
indirectly-owned private fund. Direct investment in operating 
companies, including investment by and through private funds, will 
continue to be reported to BEA. Guidance on the decision to report 
investments in certain private funds or between entities of certain 
private funds in the TIC system or in BEA surveys can be found at: 
https://www.bea.gov/privatefunds; use the tools labeled ``U.S. 
Investments in Foreign Private Funds'' and ``Foreign Investments in 
U.S. Private Funds.'' This change aligns the U.S. direct investment and 
portfolio investment data more closely with the intent of the 
investment with respect to management control. In addition, it reduces 
the burden for respondents, many of whom previously reported both to 
the TIC reporting system and to BEA's direct investment reporting 
system. This change in reporting was effective January 1, 2017; this 
update will formalize the reporting requirements. Note: This change 
applies also to these other TIC forms if the reporting requirements of 
the form are met: BC, BL-1, BL-2, BQ-1, BQ-2, BQ-3, D, S, SHC(A) and 
SHL(A).
    (2) The section II.A ``Who Must Report'' of the instructions is 
updated to list out separately ``principal trading firms'' and ''fund 
administrators.''
    (3) The section II.A ``Who Must Report'' and section II.B 
``Consolidation Rules'' of the instructions are updated to list out 
separately Intermediate Holding Companies (IHCs), as defined by 
Regulation YY, 12 CFR 252, and to clarify that IHCs should follow the 
same consolidation rules that are applicable to Bank Holding Companies 
(BHCs), Financial Holding Companies (FHCs), and Savings and Loan 
Holding Companies. Regulation YY was effective by January 1, 2015, and 
IHCs are filing TIC reports; this update will formalize their reporting 
requirements.
    (4) The section II.F.2 ``What Must Be Reported'' of the 
instructions is updated to clarify that, regarding securities involved 
in security lending agreements and repurchase/resale (reverse 
repurchase) agreements, sales of the underlying security collateral to 
other parties and the purchases of such securities from other parties, 
undertaken in order to return the security collateral to the lenders, 
must be reported.
    (5) The section IV.C.1 columns 1 & 2 ``Column by Column 
Instructions'' of the instructions is updated to clarify that the 
stripped securities ``teddy bears'' (TBRs), ``tigers'' (TIGRs), 
``cats'' (CATS) and ``cougars'' (COUGRs) should also be classified as 
U.S. Treasury securities.
    (6) The section II.F.2 ``What Must Be Reported'' clarifies that 
long-term Treasury securities are
    Bonds, Notes, TIPS, FRNs and Savings Bonds.
    (7) Some other clarifications and format changes may be made to 
improve the instructions.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations. Form 
SLT (1505-0235).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 408.
    Estimated Average Time per Respondent: Average 8.8 hours per 
respondent per filing. The estimated average burden per respondent 
varies widely, from about 17 hours per filing for a U.S.-resident 
custodian filing Part A and Part B to about 6.5 hours for a U.S.-
resident issuer or U.S.-resident end-investor filing Part B.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 42,912 hours, based on 12 
reporting periods per year.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of 
Management and Budget approval. All comments will become a matter of 
public record. The public is invited to submit written comments 
concerning: (a) Whether Form SLT is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Office, including whether the 
information will have practical uses; (b) the accuracy of the above 
estimate of the burdens; (c) ways to enhance the quality, usefulness 
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize 
the reporting and/or record keeping burdens on respondents, including 
the use of information technologies to automate the collection of the 
data; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs of operation, 
maintenance and purchase of services to provide information.

Dwight Wolkow,
Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Reporting 
Systems.
[FR Doc. 2018-00674 Filed 1-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-25-P