Supporting Statement MWI

“MINORITY AND WOMEN INCLUSION"
OMB NUMBER 2590-0014
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A.

JUSTIFICATION

1. Circumstances Necessitating the Collection of Information
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking renewal of the OMB Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) clearance for the collection of information regarding the minority and gender
classification of individuals serving on the boards of directors of the Federal Home Loan Banks
(Banks) and of the Office of Finance under FHFA’s regulations on Minority and Women Inclusion
(MWI), codified at 12 CFR part 1223.
The Federal Home Loan Bank System (Bank System) consists of eleven regional Banks and the
Office of Finance, which issues and services the Banks’ debt securities. The Banks are wholesale
financial institutions, organized under authority of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to
serve the public interest by enhancing the availability of residential housing finance and
community lending credit through their member institutions and, to a limited extent, through
certain eligible non-member entities. Each Bank is structured as a regional cooperative that is
owned and controlled by member financial institutions located within its district, which are also its
primary customers. The Bank Act vests the management of each Bank in a board of directors that
consists of two types of directors: (1) member directors, who are drawn from the officers and
directors of member institutions located in the Bank’s district and who are elected to represent
members in a particular state in that district; and (2) independent directors, who are unaffiliated
with any of the Bank’s member institutions, but who reside in the Bank’s district and are elected on
an at-large basis. 1 The Office of Finance is also governed by a board of directors, which consists
of the presidents of the eleven Banks and five independent directors. 2
Section 1319A of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992
(Safety and Soundness Act) requires that each of the Banks establish an Office of Minority and
Women Inclusion (OMWI) to be responsible for all matters relating to diversity in its management,
employment, and business activities, in accordance with requirements established by FHFA. 3
Section 1319A also requires that each Bank implement standards and procedures to ensure, to the

See 12 U.S.C. 1427(a)(1), (b), (d).
See 12 CFR 1273.7(a).
3
See 12 U.S.C. 4520(a).
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maximum extent possible, the inclusion and utilization of women and minorities “at all levels” of
its business and activities, and submit an annual report to FHFA detailing actions taken to achieve
those goals. 4
FHFA’s MWI regulations implement those statutory requirements and also extend the requirements
to the Office of Finance. The regulations require generally that each Bank and the Office of
Finance “develop, implement, and maintain policies and procedures to ensure, to the maximum
extent possible in balance with financially safe and sound business practices, the inclusion and
utilization of minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and minority-, women-, and
disabled-owned businesses in all business and activities and at all levels of the regulated entity,
including in management, employment, procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts.” 5 In
recognition of the fact that each Bank is required by statute to promote diversity and inclusion “at
all levels” of its business and activities, the MWI regulations further require that the Banks’
policies and procedures (as well as those of the Office of Finance) “[e]ncourage the consideration
of diversity in nominating or soliciting nominees for positions on boards of directors and engage in
recruiting and outreach directed at encouraging individuals who are minorities, women, and
individuals with disabilities to seek or apply for employment with the regulated entity.” 6
In conformity with the statutory requirements, FHFA’s MWI regulations require that each Bank
and the Office of Finance submit to FHFA an annual report describing, among other things, its
efforts to promote diversity at all levels of management and employment, and the results of those
efforts. 7 In order to provide a quantitative basis upon which to assess the results of those efforts,
FHFA’s MWI regulations require that each Bank and the Office of Finance set forth in their
respective annual reports the demographic data reported on the EEO-1 form, which they are
required to file annually with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 8 The
EEO-1 form requires that each respondent provide race, ethnicity, and gender information for its
employees, broken down into various job categories. Because the EEO-1 form does not require
that a respondent provide information on its board directors, FHFA cannot use the EEO-1 data to
assess the effectiveness of the Bank System’s efforts to “encourage the consideration of diversity in
nominating or soliciting nominees for positions on boards of directors.”
To enable FHFA to assess those efforts, the MWI regulations separately require that the annual
reports set forth “[d]ata showing for the reporting year by minority and gender classification, the
number of individuals on the board of directors of each Bank and the Office of Finance,” using the
same racial and ethnic classifications that are used on the EEO-1 form (which comply with OMB’s
“Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and
Administrative Reporting”). 9 The MWI regulations require that each Bank and the Office of

See 12 U.S.C. 4520(b), (d).
See 12 CFR 1223.21(b).
6
See 12 CFR 1223.21(b)(7).
7
See 12 CFR 1223.22(a).
8
See 12 CFR 1223.23(b)(1). As required by 29 CFR 1602.7, each Bank and the Office of Finance annually files an
EEO-1 form with the EEOC.
9
See 12 CFR 1223.23(b)(10)(i).
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Finance collect that data “through an information collection requesting each director’s voluntary
self-identification of his or her minority and gender classification without personally identifiable
information.”
2. Use of Data
FHFA uses the information collected under this control number to assess the effectiveness of the
policies and procedures that each Bank and the Office of Finance is required to implement to
promote diversity in all of its business and activities “at all levels” and, specifically, to encourage
diversity in the nomination and solicitation of nominees for members of its boards of directors.
FHFA also uses the information to establish a baseline to analyze future trends related to the
diversity of the boards of directors of the Banks and the Office of Finance and to assess the
effectiveness of the strategies developed by the Banks and the Office of Finance for promoting,
developing, and retaining diverse board talent.
3. Use of Information Technology
The MWI regulation does not specify the method by which the Banks and the Office of Finance are
to collect the demographic information, other than to require that it be done in a way that does not
garner personally identifiable information. Typically, the Banks and the Office of Finance collect
the information electronically, by emailing to each of their board directors a link where each
director may anonymously report his or her demographic information.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
This information collection is not duplicative because the demographic information collected is not
available from any other source. Existing 12 CFR 1223.23(b)(1) requires that the annual report
include demographic data required to be reported on the EEO-1 form, which each Bank and the
Office of Finance are required to file with the EEOC pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, as amended, and EEOC’s implementing regulations. 10 This avoids duplication by
allowing the Banks and the Office of Finance to submit demographic information regarding their
employees that they are already required to collect to satisfy those other statutory and regulatory
requirements. However, because the job categories included on the EEO-1 form do not pertain to
members of boards of directors, demographic information for directors must be collected
separately.
5. Impact on Small Entities
The information collection is directed at individuals only and, therefore, does not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

See 42 U.S.C. 2000e, et seq.; 29 CFR 1602.7. The EEOC has received PRA clearance from OMB to carry out the
EEO-1 information collection under OMB #3046-0049.
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6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection and Obstacles to Burden Reduction
If the demographic information for board directors is not collected annually with the other
information required to be included in the annual reports filed by the Banks and the Office of
Finance, FHFA will not be able to assess fully the effectiveness of the policies and procedures each
is required to implement to promote diversity in all of its business and activities “at all levels” and,
specifically, to encourage diversity in the nomination and solicitation of nominees for members of
its boards of directors.
7. Circumstances Requiring Special Information Collection
There are no special circumstances requiring the information collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with the guidelines provided in Item 7.
8. Solicitation of Comments on Information Collection
In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.8(d), FHFA published a request for public
comments regarding this information collection in the Federal Register on July 17, 2021. 11 The
60-day comment period closed on September 13, 2021. FHFA received no comment letters.
9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents
No payment or gift is provided to any respondent.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The Banks, the Office of Finance, and FHFA will maintain the confidentiality of information
obtained from respondents as required by applicable statute, regulation, and agency policy.
11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature
The information collection requests information regarding an individual’s minority and gender
classification using the same classifications as those used on the EEO-1 form.
12. Estimates of the Hour Burden of the Information Collection
The estimated annualized hour burden imposed upon respondents by this information collection is
20.5 hours. This estimate is based on the following calculations:
Board director receives email link to electronic form and completes form:
•

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Time per response:

See 86 FR 37330 (July 15, 2021).

0.1 hours (6 minutes)

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•
•

Total respondents:
Total hours:

205 directors
20.5 hours

13. Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden to Respondents
There will be no costs imposed upon the respondents by this information collection.
14. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
The estimated annual cost burden to the Federal government is $0.
15. Reasons for Change in Burden
FHFA’s estimate for the total burden associated with this information collection has increased by .5
hours, from 20 to 20.5 hours. This is because the maximum total number of Bank and Office of
Finance board directors who would be asked to provide their demographic data has increased from
200 to 205.
16. Plans for Tabulation, Statistical Analysis, and Publication
The results of this information collection may be published in aggregated form in FHFA’s annual
report to Congress, including summed totals, percentages, and statistical analysis among the
demographic categories.
17. If Seeking Approval to Not Display the Expiration Date for OMB Approval of the
Information Collection, Explain the Reasons Why Display Would Be Inappropriate
FHFA plans to display the expiration date for OMB approval.
18. Explain Each Exception to the Topics of the Certification Statement Identified in
“Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission.”
There are no exceptions to the certification statement identified in Item 18.
B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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