DFC-004 Supporting Statement

jDFC-004

OMB-3015-0006

Investment Funds Application

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR APPROVAL

1. Justification

1. Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018 (the “BUILD Act”), Public Law 115-254. One method through which the US International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) will execute its mission is through the Office of Equity and Investment Funds (“OEIF”), whereby capital is allocated to private equity fund managers (“Managers”) who in-turn invest that capital into companies or projects that align with DFC’s mission. OEIF will select Managers through an ongoing application process. To select Manager(s), OEIF will assess each Manager and its respective investment thesis against a set of varying criteria that will include (inter-alia) (i) alignment to DFC’s mission, (ii) team cohesion, (iii) historical track record, and (iv) credibility of investment thesis. The Investment Funds Application will be the principal document used by the agency to determine the investor’s and the project’s eligibility for funding and will collect information for underwriting analysis.

2. The information is collected by DFC’s Office of Equity and Investment Funds through a web-based platform administered through DFC’s website. The information is used by OEIF to determine a Manager’s eligibility for DFC funding, and to collect information for financial underwriting analysis.

3. This form is completed with the use of a web-based application. This provides a secure and efficient means for applicants to transmit the required information to the agency.

3. The information collected is not duplicated elsewhere. The information is not already available in any other electronic form and would not be requested by another federal agency or lending institution since it is applicable solely to DFC’s investment funds program.

3. A wide range of applicants will submit an application; all applicants will be asked the same questions.

3. Without a form to collect the information, the amount of staff time needed to gather the requisite information would be significantly greater and would result in multiple requests for information from program users. This would reduce the amount of time that could be devoted to working with applicants/clients and analysis and, thereby reducing the productivity and administrative efficiency of the investment funds program.

3. No special circumstances exist that require the information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines of the Paperwork Reduction Act and OMB's implementing regulations.

3. The first Federal Register Notice was published on May 18, 2022 (87 FR 30209). The agency received no public comments. The second Federal Register Notice was published on July 22, 2022 (87 FR 43799)

3. No payments and gifts are offered to respondents.

3. When trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information are submitted to the agency in this collection, they will be held in confidence to the extent permitted by applicable law including the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) at 5 U.S.C. section 552(b)(4) and the agency’s implementing regulations at 22 C.F.R. Part 706.

3. Not applicable. None of the questions on this form are of a sensitive nature.

3. The estimated burden of collecting this information is as follows:

150 respondents

x 1 per respondent

=150 total annual responses

x (2 hours per average respondent)

=300 respondent hours

x $75/hour for personnel, record-keeping, overhead

$22,500 total cost to respondents

Respondents only complete the form once per request for financing.

3. The estimated annualized cost to respondents is as follows:

   1. Total capital and start-up costs: $0

   2. Total operation and maintenance costs: $0.

All costs associated with the form are part of the normal cost of doing business. Since all submissions will be electronic and stored on DFC’s secure servers, there will be no postage or storage costs.

3. The estimated annualized cost to the Federal government is as follows:

150	respondents per year
x 1	per respondent
150	total annual responses
x 1	average hours to review one response
150	total federal hours
x $60.49	GS-14/1 (DCB) hourly wage
$9,073.50	total cost to the Federal government

3. Previous burden was an estimate on a new form. An informal survey of our applicants indicated it takes approximately 2 hours to complete.

3. Not applicable. Information provided in the application is not published.

3. Not applicable. The OMB expiration date will be printed on each form.

3. Not applicable. No exceptions are being requested on the certification statement.

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