Full text of Mimeograph Letters and Statements of the Board : Letter From Asst. Secretary Bethea re Monthly Reports of Bank Debits to Be Substituted for Weekly Ones Beginning with Month of May, Number S-452, Volume 56, Page 170

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BOARD QF" GOVERNORS

s-452

OF TH.E

170

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

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WASHINGTON
ADDRESS OF'F'ICIAL CORRESPONDENCE
TO THE BOARD

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March 26, 1942

Dear Sir:
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All twelve Federal Reserve Banks have indicated their
approval of the proposal, contained in the Board 1 s letter. of
January 23, to discontinue the reporting of bank debits on a
weekly basis and .to substitute .monthly report~ for_ the pre~ent /
weekly ones. It has therefore been decided to adopt the prop~al, and· the following announcement to that effeot will be inserted in the next weekly debits statement~eleased by the Boards

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Beginhing with the month of May, only monthly bank
debits figures will be collected by the Board; weekly
b~k debits statements will be discontinued after issuance of the' statement covering the week ending May 6.
The monthly figures, Which are available from the .
beginning of 1919, are ~ore significant than the weekly
figures for most. purposes, since they-smooth out wide
weekly·variations.

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Some of the Reserve Banks suggested, in response to the
letter of January.23, a number of centers for addition to
· the list of reporting centers in their respective districts when
the, shift to a monthly basis is m8.de. These and other suggestions
were reviewed and compared with the results of an independent study
1 made at i;;he Board 1 s offices.
Account was taken of the population
and recent growth of the centers considered for addition, the amount
of bank deposits, the location of the centers in relation to those ·
now reporting, and the relative adequacy ,·with which present reporting centers represent the population, deposits, and economic activity of the States and districts in which they are located.
Board~s

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It has, been decided that under present cir}lumstances it
would not be desirable to add very many centers to the list of
those now reporting, b~.tt an average of fcur centers per district
have been s.electe4 for addition, provided that this can be done
with· the .full cooperation of the banks located in such centers •




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Accordingly, you will be informed in a separate letter which of
new centers p~oposed and approved fot addition are located in
your district, and it is suggested that you' invite the 'banks in
these
centers to report debits monthly, beginning with May,
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d,irectly· or through the local clearing house, as appears most appropriate and convenient to you. No special effort need be made
to obtain the figures, however, if there is any resistance on the
part of the banks to submi~ting the reports •

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On the bttsis of reports prepared by the Reserve Banks,
it has been found that in the case of al>out 20 reporting centers
the banks- that nevi report hold less than 90 per cent of the de .. '
posits of all commercial banks in the respective center~. It
seems desirable, incident to the shift· to a monthly basis, that
an effort be made to improv~ the coverage in oases where it is
incomplete if this can be done without inconvenience. It is suggested. therefore, that you endeavor to obtain reports beginning
with May from the more important nonreporting banks located in
reporting centers. In the case of very Sm.all bank;:;, of course,
inclusion or exclusion is not a matter of importance, but there is
no objection to inviting all nonreporting banks in the centers that
are included, either directly or through the clearing house, to
report regularly. Please advise the Boe.rsi which, if &ny, additional
banks in your district are covered by the first monthly reports.

The proposed form of monthly report has been changed
slightly from the draft attached to the Board's letter of Janu- ·
ary 23 and a copy of the revised draft is enclosed. The form will
be printed, and it is expected that an initial supply will be sent
to you in about two weeks. Arrangements for the shift to monthly
reporting may then be ma.de with the reporting agencies and banks
and a supply of the form distributed to them. ·However, explicit
instructions sho.uld be. given that the period to be covered by the
first report on the.new form is the entire calendar month of May,
and that weekly reports should continue to be submitted through the
week ending May 6. If any banks indicate au unwillingness to report their end-of-month deposit's, you may inform them· that their
debits reports ~11 continue to be acceptable and that the report~
ing of deposits is not obligatory. It is not contemplated that any
extensive changes in the agencies used in collecting the debits
reports will be ~de, but in cases where the present reporting proeedure has proved unsatisfactory or you have reason to' believe that
a change would result in improvement there is no objection to your
seeki~g to bring about such change,




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· When you have ob.tained the ind·i vidual :-eports covering
all debits-reporting banks in your distriot and inspected them for
possible er~ora and inconsistenoi~s. please prepa~e for tran~mis­
Sion ~o the Boar-d a tl"anscript showing the month's debits and de.posits for eaoh individual bank, and each r1'por't;inj!; center. 'If
practicable, these data should be mailed to the Board's Division
of Bank Operations in time to reach Washington by the eighth of
the month following· the.t to ~which the figure.s apply (air mail
should, of oourse, be used wher·e nccess~y)._ After the first two
or three months. if experience indicates that ·the individual-bank
figures are not particularly useful, you will be n<:>tified t~1 send
to the Board mO'rely the totals for each reporting center •

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Very

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Bethea,
Assistant Secretary•
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Enclosure

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TO

THE

PRESIDENTS OF ALL FEDERAL RESERVE' BANkS.
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• Form F. R•
'Maroh

Report for
monthof'

1942

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1_73

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Bank and location
DEBITS TO DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS EXCEPT INTERBANK ACCOUNTS

Figures reR,orted below should represent total debits or charges to all depositors' 'demand and time ac_counts, both go·vernment and private-, except accounts of
other banks and certified a:nd officers' check acco;unts.

(If the reporting bank does not find it convenient to enter daily debits figures,
only the monthly total need be. shovm. Any very unusual fluctuation of the bank's .
figures should be explained ori the reverse side of this form.).

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rne.y of
month

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(Omit cents)
:Bay or
·month

/mount

$

17

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2

4

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5

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6

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18

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I 20

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22

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23

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10

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25

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28

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$

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$

Total debits for month

.and
I Demand
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13

24

l 26

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12

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$

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3

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lu:nount

time deposits at end of
month, other than those· to the
eredit of banks •

§ir,nature
This report should be transmi tt.ed to the Federal Reserve Banlt immediately after the ·

end
cf the month, through the clearing house or other reporting agency (if any).