SEC Division of Corporation Finance no-action letter: Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle

Federal HomeLoan
Bank Seattle
1501 Fourth Ave., Ste. 1800
Seattle, WA 98101-1693
206.340.2300 tel
206.340.2485 fax
www.fhlbsea.com
Via Federal Express
May 16,2006
Paula Dubberly
Associate Director
Divisionof Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, 1V.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Dear Ms. Dubberly:
On behalf of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle (the "FHLBank" and collectively with the other Federal Home Loan Banks, the "FHLBanks"), I am writing to express my appreciation for the time and counsel that you have provided to assist the individual FHLBanks in evaluatirlg the issues pertaining to the registrationof their capital stock under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "ExchangeAct"). Although we have not to date filed periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC), we have made available to our respective members a substantial amount of information through periodic disclosures. The Office of Finance, as agent for the FHLBanks, also provides substantial periodic disclosures about the FHLBanks individually and the FHLBank System as a whole in connection with our issuance of consolidated obligations in the debt markets. Voluntary registration under the Exchange Act will subject the FHLBanks and their members to additional provisions of the Exchange Act and to the SEC's enforcement jurisdiction thereunder. In connection with the FHLBanks' voluntary registration of their capital stock under Section 12 of the Exchange Act and pursuant to the meetings and discussions we have had, we are seeking the Staff's concurrence with our view that voluntary registration will not cause any alteration of the existing treatment of the FHLBanksand the stockholders of FHLBanks with regard to whether:
Securities issued or guaranteed by the FHLBanks or the Federal Housing Finance ~oard' are exempt securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and may be sold without registration under the Securities Act; Securities issued or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Finance Board or the FHLBanks, individually or through the Office of Finance, are exempted securities and government securities under the ExchangeAct; The FHLBanks are excluded from the definitions of "government securities broker" and "government securitiesdealer" under the Exchange Act; 1 The Finance Board has securities outstanding. The Finance Board ceased issuing securities in 2000. See Federal Housing Finance Board Resolution No. 2000-44 dated November 30,2000. Paula Dubberly, SEC May 16,2006