NOTICE: Substantial changes have been made in the TIC banking data “U.S. banking liabilities to foreigners” and “U.S. banking claims on foreigners”.

(For your information: No changes have been made in the data “U.S. transactions with foreigners in long-term securities”.)

      Beginning February 2003, a number of changes to the monthly/quarterly/semiannual TIC banking B-series data collection forms became effective. The changes in both reporting format and enhancements in data coverage were formulated by an interagency TIC User Group, which is comprised of representatives of the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The reasons for the changes were to comply with new and expanded international standards for reporting data on portfolio investment; to reduce reporting burden; to clarify reporting concepts and instructions; and to improve the quality of the series by closing known gaps in the data. A notice of these changes and a request for public comments on these changes was published in the Federal Register last year, and some modifications were made in view of the comments.

     The changes in format and coverage of the B Forms also result in a break in the banking data series. Consequently, there are now separate time series for B-series data reported before February 2003 and the data reported as of February 2003 and thereafter.

      A detailed outline of the changes affecting each form may be accessed by clicking here on “Summary of Significant Reporting Changes for B-Forms”. Overall, coverage has been broadened to cover the positions of U.S. broker-dealer respondents with their affiliated foreign offices. (Depository institutions and bank/financial holding companies (BHCs/FHCs) already reported these positions). Further, the scope of the reports has also been extended to include cross-border brokerage balances as well as offshore sweep accounts and loans to U.S. residents in “managed” foreign offices of U.S. reporting institutions.

April 29, 2003