Interagency Policy Statement

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY
Docket ID OCC-2013-0014
BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Docket No. OP-1465
·
FEDERAJJ DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Release No. 34-75050; File No. 57-){)-15
FINAL INTERAGENCY POLICY STATEMENT EST ABLISHlNG JOINT
STANDARDS FOR ASSESSING THE DIVERSITY POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF
ENTITIES REGULATED BY THE AGENCIES

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency {OCC); Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (Board); Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); National
Credit Union Administration {NCUA); Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB}; and

s~urities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
ACTION: Notice of final interagency policy statement; request for comments on proposed
collection of information.

.

.

SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, FDIC, NCUA, CFPB, and SEC are issuing a final intcragency
policy statement establishing joint standards for assessing the diversily policies and practices of
the en1ork Reduction Act of 1995
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 7 generally provides that a federal agency
may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) has approved the collection and the agency has obtained a valid OMB control
nwnber. Furthermore, no person may be subject to a collection of infonnation unless the
collection displays a valid OMB control nwnber. These provisions apply to any collection of
information, regardless of whether the responses to the collection are voluntary or mandatory.
PRA requires an agency to provide the public and other agencies with an opportunity to
comment on any proposed information collection. This helps to ensure that: the public
u.nderslands the agency's collection and instructions; respondents provide the requested data in
the desired format; reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized; interested
1

44 U.S.C. )50 I el seq.

21

parties understand the collection instruments; and the agency can properly assess the impact of
its infom1ation collection on respondents.
This Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity Policies
and Pracliccs of Entities Regulated by the Agencies contains a colleclion of infonnation within
the meaning of the PRA. The Agencies intend to submil this new collection of information to
OMB for review and approval in accordance with the PRA and its implementing regulations.
For collections of information not contained in a proposed rnle, the PRA requires federal
agencies to publish a notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of
information and 10 allow 60 days for public comment. To comply with this requirement, th<:i
Agencies are publishing this notice in conjunction with the issuance of this final Policy
Statement.
A.

Overview of lhc Collection of Information

I.

Description of the Collection oHnformation and Proposed Use

The title for the proposed collcclion of information is:
•

Joint Slandards for Assessing Diversity Policies and Practices
The Joint Standards entitled "Practices to Promote Transparency of Organizational

Diversity and Inclusion" contemplate that the regulated entity is transparent about its diversity
and inc)usion aclivities by making certain infomiation available to the public annually on its
Web site or in other appropriate communications, in a manner reflective of the entity's size and
other characteristics. The infonnation noted in this standard is: the entity's diversity and
inclusion strategic plan; its policy on its commitment to diversity and inclusion; progress toward
achieving diversity and inclusion in its workforce and procurement activities (which may include

22

the entily's current workforce and supplier demographic profiles); and employment and
procuremenl opportunities available at the entity that promote diversity.
In addition, the Joint Standards entitled "Self-Assessment" envision that the regulated
entity uses the Joint Standards to conduct a voluntary self-assessment of its diversity policies and
practices at least annually, provides to its primary federal financial regulator informalion
pertaining to lhe entily's self-assessment of diversity policies and practices, and publishes
information pertaining to its efforts with respect to the standards. The information provided to
the Agencies would be used to monitor progress and trends among regulated entities with regard
to diversity and inclusion in employment and contracting activities, and to identify and publicize
promising diversity policies and practices.
2.

Description of Likely Respondents and Estimate of Annual Burden

The collections of information contemplated by the Joint Standards would impose no new
recordkeeping burdens as regulated entilies would only publish or provide informalion· pertaining
to diversity policies and practices thal they maintain during the nonnal course of business. The
Agencies estimate that it would take a regulated entity approximately 12 burden hours on
average to annually publish infonnntion pertaining to diversity policies and practices on the
entity's Web site or in other appropriate conununications, and retrieve and submit information
pertaining to the entity's self-assessment of its diversity policies and practices to the primary
federal financial regulator. The Agencies estimate the total burden for all regulated eritities as
follows:
lnfonnation Colleclion: Joint Standards for Assessing Diversity Policies and Practices

23

Estimated Number of Respondents: 8
OCC:

215.

Board:

488.

FDIC:

398.

NCUA: 367.
CF?B:

750.

SEC:

1,250.

Frequency of Colleclion: Annual.
Average Response Time oer Respondent: 12 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:
OCC:

2,580 hours.

Board: 5,856 hours.
FDIC: 4,776 hours.
NCUA: 4,404 hours.
CFPB: 9,000 hours.
SEC: 15,000 hours.
Obligation 10 respond: Voluntary

B. Solicitation of Public Comments
The Agencies specifically invite conunent on: (a) Whether the collections of
information are necessary for the proper performance of the Agencies' fun1:tions, including
whether the information will have practical utility; (b) The accuracy of the Agencies'

•The burden estimates are based on the average number of responses anticipated by each Agency.

24

estimate of the information collection burden, including the validity of lhe methods and the
assumptions used; (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the informntion
proposed to be collected; (d) Ways to minimize the information collection burden on
respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other fonns of
informnlion technology; and (e) Estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation,
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
The Agencies will summarize the conunents submitted in response to this notice and/or
include them in the request for OMB approval. All comments will be a matter of public record.
Commenters may submit their comments to the Agencies at:
OCC: Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the OCC is subject to delay,
commcntcrs arc encouraged to submit comments by e-mail, if possible. Comments may be sent
to: Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
Attention: 1557-NEW, 400 7"' Street, SW., Suite JE-218, Mail Stop 9W-1 l, Washington, DC
20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to (571) 465-4326 or by electronic mail lo
reus.comments@occ.treas.gov. You may personally inspect and photocopy comments at the
OCC, 400 7"' Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC requires that
visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by calling (202) 6496700. 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.

B~ard: You ~ay submit comments, identified by OM\VT Policy Statement, by any of the
following methods:
•

Agency Web Site: http://www.lederalrescrve.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting
comments at http://www.federalrescrve.gov/npps/foia/proposcdregs.aspx.

•

Federnl eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments.

25

•

E-mail: regs.coniments@federalreserve.gov. Include OMB number in the subject line of the
message.

•

FA,'(: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.

•

Mail: Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,
201h Street and Constitution Avenue, N. W., Washington, DC 2055 I.

All public comments are available from the Board's Web site at
http://www.fcderalrcservc.gov/apps/foiafproposedrcgs.aspx as submitted, unless modified for
technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or
contact information. Public comments.may also be viewed electronically or in paper form in
Room MP-500 of the Board's Martin Building (20th and C Streets, N.W.) between 9:00 a.m. and
5:00 p.m. on weekdays.

FD IC: You may submit comments on this information collection, which should refer to
"Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity," by any of the
following methods:
Agency Web Site: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federall. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the FDIC Web site.

Email: commentsl@.FDIC.gov. Include "Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for
Assessing the Diversity" in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Gary A. Kuiper, Counsel, MB-3074, or John Popeo, Counsel, MB-3007, Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429.

NCUA: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the infonnation

col!ec\ion to Jessica Khouri, National Credit Union Administration, I775 Duke Street,
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3428, Fax No. 703-837-2861, E-mail: OCIOPRAl@ncua.gov.

26

CFPB: You may submit comments, identified by the title of the infonnation collection,
OMB Control Number (see below), and docket number (see above), by any of the following
methods:
•

Electronic: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

•

Mail: Conswncr Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: PRA Office), 1700 0 Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20552.
•

Hand Delivery/Courier: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: PRA Office),

1275 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.
SEC: Please direct your written comments to Pamela Dyson, Chief lnfonnation Officer,
Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 100 F Street NE., Washington,
DC 20549, or send an email to PRA Mailboxt@sec.gov, and include "SEC File 270-664 OMWI
Policy Statement" in the subject line of the message.

lntcragcney Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity
Policies and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies
I. Introduction

Section 342(b)(2)(C) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Refonn and Consumer Protection Act of
2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) requires the Directors of the Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion
(OMWI) to develop standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of the entities
regulated by the Olfice of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board ofGcvemors of the Federal
Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration,
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and Securities and Exchange Commission (Agencies).
27

To promote consistency, the Agencies worked together to develop joint standards (Standards) for
assessing diversity policies and practices. This Interagency Policy Statement (Policy Statement)
announces those Standards.
This document is a general statement of policy under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C.
553. lt docs not create new legal obligations. Use of the Standards by a regulated entity is

voluntary. The Agencies will not use their examination or supervisory processes in connecti<)n
with these Standards.
For purposes of this Policy Statement, the Agencie$ define "diversity" to refer to minorities, a~
defined in section 342(g)(3) of the Dodd-Frank Act (that is, Black Americans, Native Americans,
Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans), and women. This definition of diversity does not
preclude an eniity from using a broader definition with regard to these standards. In addition, as
used in this Policy Statement, the Agencies define "inclusion" lo mean a process to create and
maintain a positive work environment that values individual similarities and differences, so that
all can reach their potential and maximize their contributions to an organization. The Standards
set forth below may be used to assess policies and practices that impact the inclusion of
minorities and women in the regulated entity's workforce and the existence of minority-owned
and women-owned businesses among a regulated entity's suppliers ofp!'Oducts anFile Typeapplication/pdfFile Modified2015-11-04File Created2015-06-04