FED NOTES: Originally published in the Winter 2019 edition of Bank Owner magazine.
Many readers will be familiar with the required Supervisory, Structure, and Financial reports filed by holding companies and their subsidiary banks and nonbanks. However, the majority may be unfamiliar with the data we collect through voluntary reports and surveys. This article summarizes the primary voluntary reports and surveys collected by the Statistical & Structure Reporting unit at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and our colleagues at the other 11 Reserve Banks.
The voluntary data collections highlighted below help the Federal Reserve economists and statisticians create financial estimates of the broader banking industry. The Federal Reserve regularly reviews the pool of potential respondents and requests participation by commercial banks in these important sources of economic data. Unlike the institution-specific Supervisory and Structure data that are made available to the general public, the data collected through these voluntary surveys and reports are released on an aggregated basis only. These results are used by government and industry leaders to make policy and business decisions.
More details about these voluntary data collections, with the exception of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (FR 2018), are available on the Federal Reserve’s Report Forms website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/default.aspx. The published statistical releases and details on the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (FR 2018) can be found on the Board of Governors’ Data page at https://www.federalreserve.gov/data.htm.
Weekly Report of Selected Assets and Liabilities of Domestically Chartered Commercial Banks and U.S.
- Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FR 2644) is the source of data used to construct the weekly
publication of the Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States (H.8) statistical release, which is the only source for high-frequency data detailing bank credit and the balance sheets of commercial banks in the United States. Data from this report are used to analyze current money and bank developments, including the monitoring of credit and funding conditions. Users include Board staff and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), other government agencies, the banking industry, the financial press, and the broader financial community.
- Survey of Terms of Bank Lending to Farmers/Prime Rate Supplement (FR 2028b/s) measures the cost of
credit and lending terms of commercial banks and is used to analyze financial developments in the agriculture sector. A link to the Agricultural Finance Databook (E.15), published quarterly on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s website, can be found on the Data page referenced above. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) uses the data in charts of two quarterly interest rate series published in the USDA’s Agriculture Charts and Agricultural Finance Outlook. The data are used in estimating the price indexes and income accounts for which the USDA is responsible.
- Small Business Lending Survey (FR 2028D) measures the impact of bank lending to small businesses. Survey responses have shown that banks are critical for employment and economic growth at the local, regional, and national levels because they are a primary source of funding for these businesses. The survey also contributes to a better understanding of the role of community banks in providing loans to small businesses and on small business access to credit in local communities. A link to the survey results, published quarterly on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s website, can be found on the Data page.
- Quarterly Report of Interest Rates on Selected Direct Consumer Installment Loans (FR 2835) collects interest rate information on consumer installment loans for new automobiles and on loans for other consumer goods and personal expenditures. The data are included in the commercial bank component of the aggregate consumer installment credit series and the domestic nonfinancial debt aggregate, and are used to construct the flow of funds accounts. Aggregate data on most common rates are published in the monthly Consumer Credit (G.19) statistical release.
- Quarterly Report of Credit Card Plans (FR 2835a) collects information on two measures of credit card interest rates. One measure is the average nominal finance rate for all accounts. The other – average computed interest rates – is derived from two items: total finance charges assessed to cardholders during the period and the total of balances on which the finance charges were determined. The data are used to better assess the current conditions of the credit card market and are included in the commercial bank component of the aggregate consumer installment credit series. Aggregate data on most common rates are published in the monthly Consumer Credit (G.19) statistical release.
- Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (FR 2018) provides qualitative and limited quantitative information on bank credit availability and loan demand, as well as on evolving developments and lending practices in the U.S. loan markets. A portion of each survey typically covers special topics of timely interest; therefore, a sample form is not included on the Board of Governors’ website. Staff at the Federal Reserve Banks review the survey responses, which are collected up to six times per year, and staff at the Board review and summarize the aggregated survey results in a public release made available on the Data page. The aggregated survey results are also discussed in the Board’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress and used in other academic research.
Now that you know more about the importance of these voluntary data collections, we hope that your banking organization will be receptive to our requests for participation. If you are interested in participating in a voluntary data collection or would like additional information, please contact the Statistical & Structure Reporting unit at mpls.statistics@mpls.frb.org or 888-887-0926.