FR3033p_20250520_omb_B

Supporting Statement Part B for the
Census of Finance Companies and Other Lenders
(FR 3033p; OMB No. 7100-0277)
Summary
For all information collections that involve surveys or require a statistical methodology,
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is required to provide a complete
justification and explanation of the use of such a methodology. For collections that employ
surveys without such a methodology, the Board should be prepared to justify its decision not to
use statistical methods in any case where such methods might reduce burden or improve
accuracy of results.
Background
Since June 1955, the Board has surveyed the assets and liabilities of finance companies in
five-year intervals. For purposes of this survey, finance companies were defined as companies
whose largest portion of assets is made up of consumer or business loans or leases excluding
commercial banks, cooperative banks, investment banks, savings banks, savings and loan
institutions and industrial loan corporations or their subsidiaries. Through 1975, all known U.S.
finance companies were surveyed. To reduce reporting burden, in 1980 the survey was split into
two parts: (1) an extremely brief screening survey, which has been sent to all likely finance
companies that operate in the United States and its territories and possessions and (2) a longer
survey, which has been sent to a stratified random sample of identified finance companies. In
2005, the definition of finance company was revised to include companies whose largest portion
of assets was made up of real estate loans; as a result, mortgage companies became eligible to
participate in the survey. In addition, the survey was revised to instruct finance companies to
include the assets and liabilities of their mortgage company subsidiaries.
In 2010, the FR 3033p and FR 3033s underwent a major revision. The title of the
FR 3033p was changed to “Census of Finance Companies” to stress that every response is
important. Several questions on the census were modified to allow the Board to make the
determination of whether a company is a finance company rather than asking whether it meets
the definition. Similarly, the title of the FR 3033s was changed to “Survey of Finance
Companies.” Revisions to the FR 3033s included reordering assets and liability data items from
most liquid to least liquid, asking additional detail on assets and liabilities, adding a section to
gather information on servicing activities and geographic distribution of the company’s
activities, and creating a clearer distinction among the broad balance sheet data items, detailed
loan and lease data items, and off-balance-sheet securitization data items. The respondent panel
sizes for both questionnaires were increased, and the Board implemented a web-based survey
option.
The Board has used the FR 3033p and FR 3033s (collectively, the quinquennial) data to
benchmark monthly data series on major assets and quarterly data series on liabilities of finance
companies developed from the Board’s monthly Domestic Finance Company Report of
Consolidated Assets and Liabilities (FR 2248; OMB No. 7100-0005), which is collected from a

smaller sample of companies. These data are used in internal analysis and are reported to the
public in two monthly statistical releases, Finance Companies (G.20) and Consumer Credit
(G.19), as well as the quarterly Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1) release. As with
many data series based on a fixed sample, errors of estimation tend to increase over time and
thus require periodic correction. These errors reflect the evolution in the financial markets as
new companies enter the market and market shares change and the deterioration of the monthly
sample panel as respondents close, merge or otherwise leave the panel.
In addition to benchmarking the aforementioned data series, information from the
quinquennial also provides the Board with an opportunity to learn about an important part of the
financial system. It is the only statistically reliable source of information on the types of finance
companies and the size of the industry. There is no other comprehensive source of data on the
activities of such companies. Finance companies are a key supplier of credit to households and
businesses, which is monitored by the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
in the implementation of monetary policy. Specifically, the FR 3033p allows the Board to select
more appropriate respondents for the FR 3033s and ultimately benchmark the FR 2248
accurately. Conducting the census less frequently would not provide the Board with timely
enough information to accomplish its goals and mission.
Universe and Respondent Selection
Currently, the Board is in the process of identifying the potential universe of finance
companies. There is no national registry of finance companies to serve as the sample frame for
the FR 3033p. In 2020, a sample frame was obtained primarily from a commercial data vendor
and, to a lesser degree, from other sources. There were a substantial number of the census forms
returned by the post office as undeliverable. The Board is currently working to identify the
vendor(s) with the best coverage of companies that are likely to meet the definition of a finance
company.
The Board estimates up to 30,000 companies that, based on results from the 2020 census,
may meet the requirements for forming a sample frame. The Board would mail census forms to
all these companies. Once the companies return the census, the Board would determine the panel
of respondents for inclusion in the FR 3033s.
To improve the response rate for the census, which has been trending lower in the past
two decades, the Board is planning to conduct census mailings based on experience from other
surveys. The current plan includes a pre-survey notification letter, initial mailing, a second wave
mailing of the entire survey package to nonrespondents, and postcard reminders after each wave
of mailing, as needed.
To cope with the expected level of nonresponse to the census, the Board also intends to
select a subsample of nonrespondents for further follow-up. The Board, along with Federal
Reserve Banks, anticipate following up on 4,000 nonrespondents for the census.
To minimize burden on all respondents, only the necessary questions to determine if a
company meets the definition of a finance company are included in the FR 3033p.

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Procedures for Collecting Information
Given the five-year frequency for the FR 3033p, the Board believes a census rather than a
sample of all likely companies in the universe of finance companies and other lenders are
appropriate and necessary.
Methods to Maximize Response
To improve the response rate for the census, which has been trending lower in the past
two decades, the Board is planning to conduct census mailings based on experience from other
surveys. The current plan includes a pre-survey notification letter, initial mailing, a second wave
mailing of the entire survey package to nonrespondents, and postcard reminders after each wave
of mailing, as needed.
To minimize burden on all respondents, only the necessary questions to determine if a
company meets the definition of a finance company are included in the FR 3033p.
Testing of Procedures
None.

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