purchaser's amount of securities in with a collective total for that issue in the account of the bank or dealer that had submitted the tender. The Federal Reserve Bank then reported the issue to the Principal Accounts Branch as an original issue (OI) book-entry transaction. Secondary market purchases and sales of securities between entities having book-entry accounts could still be made via wire transfer through the Federal Reserve Banks. 76 To provide for the greatest possible service to purchasers, conversion of securities from book-entry to definitive form or the reverse was permitted. In going from a definitive security to book-entry, the definitive security would be treated as a retired security reported as a conversion to book-entry, with the book-entry issue being recorded as a book-entry issue on conversion. A similar but reversed type of recording would take place when book-entry issues were converted to definitive form. All such transactions would be reported to the Principal Accounts Branch. 77 To eliminate much of the paperwork involved with the issuance of securities in definitive form and the conversions taking place between definitive and book-entry forms, a Treasury-Federal Reserve task force was formed in 1976 to plan for the expansion of the book-entry system for issuing Treasury securities. The goal of the task force was to eliminate the issuance of definitive securities in all new Treasury offerings, with an overall purpose of reducing paperwork, protecting against loss, theft, counterfeiting, and eliminating printing costs. 78 The task force was planning for a timed phase-out of definitive securities starting in 1977. A 52-week bill issue in December 1976 became the first offering of securities in book-entry form only. Use of book-entry was expanded to include 26-week bills in June 1977 and 13-week bills in September 1977. For the first time, the Treasury provided book-entry accounts for investors who did not buy securities through financial institutions or dealers. As of September 30, 1977, the Treasury had 6,690 book-entry accounts for a total $182 million. 79 Table Sixteen outlines the growth of book-entry accounts for the rest of the decade. 76 77 78 Department of the Treasury, Public Debt Accounting, 1976, 24-32. 79 Secretary, Annual Report, 1977, 167. Source: Memo dated December 24, 1980, from Bette B. Anderson, BPD File D-120.9. Service: Other areas of management improvement included having several banks and branches of the Federal Reserve System begin to report daily securities transactions on magnetic tape. In its continuing effort to serve the public, the Bureau in 1976 formed the Issues Branch of the Division of Transactions and Rulings at the Parkersburg Office. The new Branch was able to reduce by 3 weeks the time needed to process claims for bonds lost, stolen, or destroyed. 80 In 1977 a Division of Financial Management was formed to handle the Bureau's budget and administrative accounting functions, and a Division of Financing was established to act as liaison with Department-level officials who were involved with debt financing policy, and to organize the financing staff concerned with offerings, conduct of auctions, etc., into a separate entity, no longer part of the Commissioner's immediate staff. 81 The organizational framework that was in force at the Bureau in 1978 is given in Figure Twenty-three. As one way of measuring the impact of all these changes it can be noted that in 1957 the staff at Chicago, New York and Cincinnati offices totalled 2,349; at that time the total of savings bonds outstanding was $53.2 billion. In February 1976, when savings bonds outstanding totalled $68.1 billion, the number of employees in the Savings Bond Operations Office was 1,248. The installation of computers had reduced the manpower needs in savings bond operations by nearly half. 82 Employee Suggestions: Employee assistance in improving operations continued to prove effective. Lewis W. Emrick, Supervisory Computer Specialist at the 80 Secretary, Annual Report, 1976, 182. 81 82 Secretary, Annual Report, 1977, 168. Draft Memo, P.D. 2994 (88.57), 1976, insert to page one. Parkersburg Office, in February 1978, was the first Bureau employee to be given an award under the Presidential Recognition Program started by President Carter in 1977. President Carter had asked that he be made aware of any suggestions made under an incentive awards program that produced first-year savings of $5,000. Mr. Emrick's suggestion that shipments of savings notes and retired securities from Federal Reserve Banks be cut down to twice monthly would produce first-year savings of $7,500. 83 Organization: The remainder of the 1970s saw a continued reorganization of the Bureau's operations and a further fine tuning of its automatic data processing capability. A Division of Investor Accounts was formed in 1978, to maintain both the book-entry Treasury bill accounts and the accounts for registered notes and bonds. The Division of Securities Operations transferred its book-entry operations to the new division, and the name of the Division of Public Debt Accounts was changed to the Division of Public Debt Accounting, reflective of the transfer of some of its functions to the new division. 84 The Divisions of Personnel, Management Analysis, Management Services and Data Processing were combined on April 8, 1979, into the Division of Management and Support Services. The Division of Financing was elevated to Office status in August 1979, to give it more visibility in the Bureau. 85 The Division of Financial Management and the Division of Management and Support Services in 1980 were merged to form the Office of Administration. 86 Twenty-four shows the Bureau's organization chart in 1980. Savings Bonds: Figure With the transition to the new Series EE and HH Savings Bonds taking place in early 1980, two new conditions governing the sale of these issues helped to reduce administrative costs at the Bureau. First, the minimum time required of holders before redemption of their securities was extended from 2 to 6 months. Second, the $25 denomination was eliminated and the accrual rate at which bonds were sold was changed. These changes served to reduce the number of bonds that had to be sold for equivalent dollar volume |