Rules of Practice and Procedure: Enterprise and Federal Home Loan Bank Housing Goals Related Enforcement Amendment, 37101-37103 [2013-14676]
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37101
Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
Vol. 78, No. 119
Thursday, June 20, 2013
FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION
improve the quality of assets in their
liquidity reserves, and bolster the ability
of System banks to fund their obligation
and continue operations during times of
economic, financial or market adversity.
In accordance with 12 U.S.C. 2252, the
effective date of the final rule is 30 days
from the date of publication in the
Federal Register during which either or
both Houses of Congress are in session.
Based on the records of the sessions of
Congress, the effective date of the
regulations is June 12, 2013.
12 CFR Part 615
(12 U.S.C. 2252(a)(9) and (10))
RIN 3052–AC54
Dated: June 14, 2013.
Dale L. Aultman,
Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board.
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of
new books are listed in the first FEDERAL
REGISTER issue of each week.
Funding and Fiscal Affairs, Loan
Policies and Operations, and Funding
Operations; Liquidity and Funding;
Effective Date
Farm Credit Administration.
Notice of effective date.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
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BILLING CODE 6705–01–P
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE
AGENCY
The Farm Credit
Administration adopted a final rule that
amends its liquidity regulation to
strengthen liquidity risk management at
Farm Credit System (System) banks,
improve the quality of assets in their
liquidity reserves, and bolster the ability
of System banks to fund their obligation
and continue operations during times of
economic, financial or market adversity.
In accordance with the law, the effective
date of the final rule is 30 days from the
date of publication in the Federal
Register during which either or both
Houses of Congress are in session.
DATES: Effective Date: Under the
authority of 12 U.S.C. 2252, the
regulation amending 12 CFR part 615
published on April 18, 2013 (78 FR
23438) is effective June 12, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Lewandrowski, Senior Policy
Analyst, Office of Regulatory Policy,
Farm Credit Administration, McLean,
VA 22102–5090, (703) 883–4498, TTY
(703) 883–4056;
or
Richard Katz, Senior Counsel, Office of
General Counsel, Farm Credit
Administration, McLean, Virginia
22102–5090, (703) 883–4020, TTY
(703) 883–4056.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Farm
Credit Administration adopted a final
rule that amends its liquidity regulation
to strengthen liquidity risk management
at Farm Credit System (System) banks,
SUMMARY:
[FR Doc. 2013–14739 Filed 6–19–13; 8:45 am]
12 CFR Part 1209
RIN 2590–AA57
Rules of Practice and Procedure:
Enterprise and Federal Home Loan
Bank Housing Goals Related
Enforcement Amendment
Federal Housing Finance
Agency.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
The Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) is amending its Rules of
Practice and Procedure (RPP) to specify
that the rules of practice and procedure
for hearings on the record in Subpart C
therein shall apply to any cease and
desist or civil money penalty
proceedings brought against the Federal
National Mortgage Association (Fannie
Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation (Freddie Mac), or the
Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) for
failure to submit or follow a housing
plan or failure of an Enterprise to
submit information on its housing
activities. An exception is provided
where such rules are inconsistent with
related statutory provisions, in which
case the statutory provisions shall
apply.
SUMMARY:
This final rule is effective on July
22, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyn
Abrams, Assistant General Counsel,
(202) 649–3059; or Sharon Like,
DATES:
PO 00000
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Managing Associate General Counsel,
(202) 649–3057 (these are not toll-free
numbers), Office of General Counsel,
Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC
20024. The telephone number for the
Telecommunications Device for the
Hearing Impaired is (800) 877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A. Statutory and Regulatory Background
1. Enterprise Enforcement for Housing
Plan and Failure To Submit Housing
Activities Information
Prior to the enactment of the Housing
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
(HERA), the Federal Housing
Enterprises Financial Safety and
Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and
Soundness Act) provided the Secretary
of the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) with specific
authority to establish, monitor, and
enforce housing goals for mortgages
purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac (collectively, the Enterprises). In
addition, section 309(m) and (n) of the
Federal National Mortgage Association
Charter Act and section 307(e) and (f) of
the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation Act (collectively, Charter
Acts) required that each Enterprise
submit information on its housing
activities to the Secretary of HUD, the
Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives, and the
Committee on Banking, Housing and
Urban Affairs of the Senate.1 See 12
U.S.C. 1723a(m) and (n); 12 U.S.C.
1456(e) and (f).
The Safety and Soundness Act, prior
to the HERA amendments, authorized
HUD to initiate cease and desist
proceedings and impose civil money
penalties against an Enterprise for
failure to submit or comply with a
housing plan or failure to submit
information on its housing activities.
HUD issued regulations implementing
its enforcement authority against the
Enterprises for these violations. See 24
CFR part 81, Subpart G.
HERA amended the Safety and
Soundness Act in 2008 to create FHFA
1 The Charter Acts require that the Enterprises
submit information on their housing activities to
the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban
Affairs of the House of Representatives. The
Enterprises submit this information to that
Committee’s successor, the Committee on Financial
Services of the House of Representatives.
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as an independent agency of the federal
government and, among other things,
transferred the responsibility to
establish, monitor and enforce the
housing goals for the Enterprises from
HUD to FHFA, and required that each
Enterprise submit information on its
housing activities to the Director of
FHFA instead of to the Secretary of
HUD. See Public Law 110–289, 122 Stat.
2654 (2008), codified at 12 U.S.C. 4501
et seq. The Safety and Soundness Act,
as amended, requires the Director of
FHFA to establish new annual housing
goals for mortgages purchased by the
Enterprises, effective for 2010 and
beyond. FHFA reviews mortgage
purchase data provided by each
Enterprise in its Annual Housing
Activities Report and other mortgage
reports, as well as other available data,
and determines whether the Enterprise
has met the housing goals.
Enterprise compliance with the
housing goals is enforced under section
1336 of the Safety and Soundness Act,
which provides that if an Enterprise
fails to meet a housing goal determined
by the Director to be feasible, the
Director may, in his or her discretion,
require the Enterprise to submit a
housing plan describing the specific
actions the Enterprise will take to
achieve the goal. See 12 U.S.C. 4566.
Section 1336 further provides that if
an Enterprise fails to submit an
acceptable housing plan or fails to
comply with the plan, the Director may
initiate cease and desist proceedings or
impose civil money penalties against
the Enterprise in accordance with
sections 1341 and 1345, respectively, of
the Safety and Soundness Act, exercise
other appropriate enforcement
authority, or seek other appropriate
actions. See 12 U.S.C. 4566(c)(1) and
(c)(7), 4581, 4585. In addition, sections
1341 and 1345 provide that the Director
may initiate cease and desist
proceedings or impose civil money
penalties, respectively, if an Enterprise
fails to submit information on its
housing activities. Id. Sections 1341 to
1348 of the Safety and Soundness Act
set forth the grounds and procedures for
the enforcement actions. FHFA’s RPP
does not currently address enforcement
proceedings for these violations. See 12
CFR part 1209.
2. Bank Housing Plan Enforcement
Section 10C(a) of the Federal Home
Loan Bank Act (Bank Act), as amended
by HERA (12 U.S.C. 1430c(a)), requires
the Director of FHFA to establish
housing goals with respect to the
purchase of mortgages, if any, by the
Banks. Section 10C(a) further states that
the goals shall be consistent with the
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goals established for the Enterprises
under sections 1331 through 1334 of the
Safety and Soundness Act, taking into
consideration the unique mission and
ownership structure of the Banks.
Section 10C(d) provides that the
monitoring and enforcement
requirements of section 1336 of the
Safety and Soundness Act shall apply to
the Banks in the same manner and to
the same extent as they apply to the
Enterprises. Thus, in accordance with
section 1336, if a Bank fails to submit
or follow an acceptable housing plan,
the Director may initiate cease and
desist proceedings or impose civil
money penalties against the Bank.
FHFA’s Bank housing goals
regulation, which implements the
statutory housing goals requirements,
includes housing plan provisions
similar to those in FHFA’s Enterprise
housing goals regulation, but like the
Enterprise housing goals regulation,
does not specifically address
enforcement actions for failure to
submit or follow a housing plan. See 12
CFR part 1281.
B. Conservatorship
On September 6, 2008, the Director of
FHFA appointed FHFA as conservator
of the Enterprises to maintain the
Enterprises in a safe and sound financial
condition and to help assure
performance of their public mission.
The Enterprises remain under
conservatorship at this time.
II. Proposed Rulemaking
To provide clarity on the rules of
practice and procedure that would
apply should FHFA initiate enforcement
actions under sections 1341 to 1348 of
the Safety and Soundness Act, FHFA
published a proposed amendment to
§ 1209.1(c) of the RPP in the Federal
Register. See 77 FR 72247 (Dec. 5,
2012). The proposed amendment
provided that the rules of practice and
procedure for hearings on the record in
subpart C therein would apply to any
cease and desist or civil money penalty
proceedings brought against Fannie
Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Banks for
failure to submit or follow a housing
plan or failure of an Enterprise to
submit information on its housing
activities, except where such rules are
inconsistent with related statutory
provisions, in which case the statutory
provisions would apply. FHFA noted
that the hearing procedures in the Safety
and Soundness Act for adjudicating
these actions are almost
indistinguishable from the statutory
procedures for adjudicating other
enforcement actions against the
Enterprises, the Banks and their entity-
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Fmt 4700
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affiliated parties under sections 1371 to
1379D. See 12 U.S.C. 4631–4641. Thus,
the formal hearing procedures set forth
in Subpart C of the RPP are well suited
to govern enforcement proceedings
under sections 1341 to 1348. FHFA also
noted that amending § 1209.1(c) of the
RPP would be a simpler and more
efficient approach than making
conforming amendments to each of the
affected sections of the RPP.
FHFA received two comments on the
proposed amendment. The commenters
were an individual and the Mortgage
Partnership Finance Program’s
Governance Committee of the Banks.
Neither comment was applicable to the
proposed amendment.
III. Final Rule
For the reasons discussed in the
proposed rulemaking and the lack of
opposing comments, FHFA is adopting
as final the proposed amendment to
§ 1209.1(c) of the RPP with no changes.
IV. Consideration of Differences
Between the Banks and the Enterprises
Section 1313(f) of the Safety and
Soundness Act, as amended by HERA,
requires the Director, when
promulgating regulations relating to the
Banks, to consider the differences
between the Banks and the Enterprises
with respect to the Banks’: Cooperative
ownership structure; mission of
providing liquidity to members;
affordable housing and community
development mission; capital structure;
joint and several liability; and any other
differences the Director considers
appropriate. See 12 U.S.C. 4513(f). In
preparing the proposed rule, the
Director considered the differences
between the Banks and the Enterprises
as they relate to the above factors, and
determined that the Banks should not be
treated differently from the Enterprises.
FHFA requested comment on whether
the Banks should be treated differently,
particularly as section 10C(d) of the
Bank Act provides that the monitoring
and enforcement requirements of
section 1336 of the Safety and
Soundness Act shall apply to the Banks
in the same manner and to the same
extent as they apply to the Enterprises.
FHFA did not receive any comments
responding to that request. Accordingly,
no changes were made to the final rule
as it relates to the Banks.
V. Paperwork Reduction Act
The final rule does not contain any
information collection requirement that
requires the approval of the Office of
Management and Budget under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.). Therefore, FHFA has not
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submitted any materials to OMB for
review.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires that a
regulation that has a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities, small
businesses, or small organizations must
include an initial regulatory flexibility
analysis describing the regulation’s
impact on small entities. Such an
analysis need not be undertaken if the
agency has certified that the regulation
will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. 5 U.S.C. 605(b). FHFA has
considered the impact of the final rule
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
The General Counsel of FHFA
certifies that the final rule is not likely
to have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities
because the regulation is applicable
only to the Enterprises and the Banks,
which are not small entities for
purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility
Act.
List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1209
Authority and Issuance
For the reasons stated in the
the
Federal Housing Finance Agency
amends part 1209, Subchapter A,
Chapter XII of title 12 of the Code of
Federal Regulations as follows:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION,
PART 1209—RULES OF PRACTICE
AND PROCEDURE
1. The authority citation for part 1209
is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 554, 556, 557, and 701
et seq.; 12 U.S.C. 1430c(d); 12 U.S.C. 4501,
4502, 4503, 4511, 4513, 4513b, 4517, 4526,
4566(c)(1) and (c)(7), 4581–4588, 4631–4641;
and 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.
2. Amend § 1209.1 by:
a. In paragraph (c)(2), remove the
word ‘‘and’’;
■ b. In paragraph (c)(3), remove ‘‘.’’ at
the end of the paragraph and add in its
place ‘‘; and’’; and
■ c. Add new paragraph (c)(4) to read as
follows:
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■
■
Scope.
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(4) Enforcement proceedings under
sections 1341 through 1348 of the Safety
and Soundness Act, as amended (12
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[FR Doc. 2013–14676 Filed 6–19–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 71
[Docket No. FAA–2013–0484; Airspace
Docket No. 13–AGL–16]
RIN 2120–AA66
Amendment of VOR Federal Airways
V–55 and V–169 in Eastern North
Dakota
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Final rule, technical
amendment.
This action amends VHF
Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal
airways V–55 and V–169 in eastern
North Dakota. The FAA is taking this
action to amend the airway descriptions
contained in Part 71 by removing
reference to special use airspace (SUA)
exclusionary language no longer
needed.
SUMMARY:
Effective date 0901 UTC, August
22, 2013. The Director of the Federal
Register approves this incorporation by
reference action under 1 CFR part 51,
subject to the annual revision of FAA
Order 7400.9 and publication of
conforming amendments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Colby Abbott, Airspace Policy and ATC
Procedures Group, Office of Mission
Support Services, Federal Aviation
Administration, 800 Independence
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591;
telephone: (202) 267–8783.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
■
*
Dated: June 13, 2013.
Edward J. DeMarco,
Acting Director, Federal Housing Finance
Agency.
AGENCY:
Administrative practice and
procedure, Federal home loan banks,
Mortgages, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
§ 1209.1
U.S.C. 4581 through 4588), and section
10C of the Federal Home Loan Bank
Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1430c),
except where the Rules of Practice and
Procedure in Subpart C are inconsistent
with such statutory provisions, in which
case the statutory provisions shall
apply.
History
In 1979, the FAA took action to
amend VOR Federal airways V–55 (44
FR 43714, July 26, 1979) and V–169 (44
FR 24543, April 26, 1979) by adding
airway segments that extended the
airways through the Devils Lake East
and Devils Lake West Military
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37103
Operations Areas (MOAs). The
amendments extended V–55 westward
by adding an airway segment from
Grand Forks, ND, to Bismarck, ND,
through the existing Devils Lake East
MOA and extended V–169 northward
by adding an airway segment from
Bismarck, ND, to Devils Lake, ND,
through the Devils Lake West MOA. At
that time, the Devils Lake East MOA
existed from 3,500 feet mean sea level
(MSL) to 10,000 feet MSL and the Devils
Lake West MOA existed from 4,000 feet
MSL to 10,000 feet MSL. As part of the
amendment actions to V–55 and V–169,
the airway descriptions excluded the
airspace contained within the associated
MOA lateral boundary and altitudes
from the affected airway.
In 1980, the FAA circularized a
proposal to change the boundary
between the Devils Lake East and Devils
Lake West MOAs and to raise the ceiling
of the Devils Lake East MOA from
10,000 feet MSL to a ceiling of to, but
not including, flight level (FL) 180.
Within the proposed Devils Lake East
MOA, V–55 would be available for nonparticipating aircraft either at 11,000
feet and above during low level
intercept training (3,500 feet MSL to
10,000 feet MSL) or at 9,000 feet MSL
and below during Basic Fighter
Maneuvers (BFM) training (10,000 feet
MSL and above) being conducted by the
military. In 1981, the proposed action
was approved and the MOAs amended
accordingly; unfortunately, no action
was taken with respect to the existing
exclusionary language contained in the
V–55 description under Part 71 when
the Devils Lake East MOA was raised.
In 1987, the FAA circularized a
similar proposal to raise the ceiling of
the Devils Lake West MOA from 10,000
feet MSL to a ceiling of to, but not
including, FL 180. The proposed action
was approved in the same year and the
MOA ceiling was amended accordingly.
Again, no action was taken with respect
to the existing exclusionary language
contained in the V–169 description
under Part 71 when the Devils Lake
West MOA ceiling was raised.
The FAA notes there are numerous
MOAs throughout the National Airspace
System (NAS) that have VOR Federal
airways charted through them, with no
exclusionary language contained in
those airway descriptions. In fact, the
Devils Lake East MOA has three VOR
Federal airways that extend through it,
but only V–55 contains exclusionary
language relative to the MOA. It is
standard procedure for air traffic control
(ATC) to re-route instrument flight rules
(IFR) aircraft operating on Federal
airways when the airway lies within an
active MOA and IFR separation from
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 119 (Thursday, June 20, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37101-37103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14676]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY
12 CFR Part 1209
RIN 2590-AA57
Rules of Practice and Procedure: Enterprise and Federal Home Loan
Bank Housing Goals Related Enforcement Amendment
AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is amending its
Rules of Practice and Procedure (RPP) to specify that the rules of
practice and procedure for hearings on the record in Subpart C therein
shall apply to any cease and desist or civil money penalty proceedings
brought against the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae),
the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), or the
Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) for failure to submit or follow a
housing plan or failure of an Enterprise to submit information on its
housing activities. An exception is provided where such rules are
inconsistent with related statutory provisions, in which case the
statutory provisions shall apply.
DATES: This final rule is effective on July 22, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyn Abrams, Assistant General Counsel,
(202) 649-3059; or Sharon Like, Managing Associate General Counsel,
(202) 649-3057 (these are not toll-free numbers), Office of General
Counsel, Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20024. The telephone number for the Telecommunications
Device for the Hearing Impaired is (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A. Statutory and Regulatory Background
1. Enterprise Enforcement for Housing Plan and Failure To Submit
Housing Activities Information
Prior to the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of
2008 (HERA), the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and
Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) provided the Secretary
of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with
specific authority to establish, monitor, and enforce housing goals for
mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, the
Enterprises). In addition, section 309(m) and (n) of the Federal
National Mortgage Association Charter Act and section 307(e) and (f) of
the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (collectively, Charter
Acts) required that each Enterprise submit information on its housing
activities to the Secretary of HUD, the Committee on Financial Services
of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Banking, Housing
and Urban Affairs of the Senate.\1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1723a(m) and (n); 12
U.S.C. 1456(e) and (f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Charter Acts require that the Enterprises submit
information on their housing activities to the Committee on Banking,
Finance and Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives. The
Enterprises submit this information to that Committee's successor,
the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Safety and Soundness Act, prior to the HERA amendments,
authorized HUD to initiate cease and desist proceedings and impose
civil money penalties against an Enterprise for failure to submit or
comply with a housing plan or failure to submit information on its
housing activities. HUD issued regulations implementing its enforcement
authority against the Enterprises for these violations. See 24 CFR part
81, Subpart G.
HERA amended the Safety and Soundness Act in 2008 to create FHFA
[[Page 37102]]
as an independent agency of the federal government and, among other
things, transferred the responsibility to establish, monitor and
enforce the housing goals for the Enterprises from HUD to FHFA, and
required that each Enterprise submit information on its housing
activities to the Director of FHFA instead of to the Secretary of HUD.
See Public Law 110-289, 122 Stat. 2654 (2008), codified at 12 U.S.C.
4501 et seq. The Safety and Soundness Act, as amended, requires the
Director of FHFA to establish new annual housing goals for mortgages
purchased by the Enterprises, effective for 2010 and beyond. FHFA
reviews mortgage purchase data provided by each Enterprise in its
Annual Housing Activities Report and other mortgage reports, as well as
other available data, and determines whether the Enterprise has met the
housing goals.
Enterprise compliance with the housing goals is enforced under
section 1336 of the Safety and Soundness Act, which provides that if an
Enterprise fails to meet a housing goal determined by the Director to
be feasible, the Director may, in his or her discretion, require the
Enterprise to submit a housing plan describing the specific actions the
Enterprise will take to achieve the goal. See 12 U.S.C. 4566.
Section 1336 further provides that if an Enterprise fails to submit
an acceptable housing plan or fails to comply with the plan, the
Director may initiate cease and desist proceedings or impose civil
money penalties against the Enterprise in accordance with sections 1341
and 1345, respectively, of the Safety and Soundness Act, exercise other
appropriate enforcement authority, or seek other appropriate actions.
See 12 U.S.C. 4566(c)(1) and (c)(7), 4581, 4585. In addition, sections
1341 and 1345 provide that the Director may initiate cease and desist
proceedings or impose civil money penalties, respectively, if an
Enterprise fails to submit information on its housing activities. Id.
Sections 1341 to 1348 of the Safety and Soundness Act set forth the
grounds and procedures for the enforcement actions. FHFA's RPP does not
currently address enforcement proceedings for these violations. See 12
CFR part 1209.
2. Bank Housing Plan Enforcement
Section 10C(a) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act), as
amended by HERA (12 U.S.C. 1430c(a)), requires the Director of FHFA to
establish housing goals with respect to the purchase of mortgages, if
any, by the Banks. Section 10C(a) further states that the goals shall
be consistent with the goals established for the Enterprises under
sections 1331 through 1334 of the Safety and Soundness Act, taking into
consideration the unique mission and ownership structure of the Banks.
Section 10C(d) provides that the monitoring and enforcement
requirements of section 1336 of the Safety and Soundness Act shall
apply to the Banks in the same manner and to the same extent as they
apply to the Enterprises. Thus, in accordance with section 1336, if a
Bank fails to submit or follow an acceptable housing plan, the Director
may initiate cease and desist proceedings or impose civil money
penalties against the Bank.
FHFA's Bank housing goals regulation, which implements the
statutory housing goals requirements, includes housing plan provisions
similar to those in FHFA's Enterprise housing goals regulation, but
like the Enterprise housing goals regulation, does not specifically
address enforcement actions for failure to submit or follow a housing
plan. See 12 CFR part 1281.
B. Conservatorship
On September 6, 2008, the Director of FHFA appointed FHFA as
conservator of the Enterprises to maintain the Enterprises in a safe
and sound financial condition and to help assure performance of their
public mission. The Enterprises remain under conservatorship at this
time.
II. Proposed Rulemaking
To provide clarity on the rules of practice and procedure that
would apply should FHFA initiate enforcement actions under sections
1341 to 1348 of the Safety and Soundness Act, FHFA published a proposed
amendment to Sec. 1209.1(c) of the RPP in the Federal Register. See 77
FR 72247 (Dec. 5, 2012). The proposed amendment provided that the rules
of practice and procedure for hearings on the record in subpart C
therein would apply to any cease and desist or civil money penalty
proceedings brought against Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Banks for
failure to submit or follow a housing plan or failure of an Enterprise
to submit information on its housing activities, except where such
rules are inconsistent with related statutory provisions, in which case
the statutory provisions would apply. FHFA noted that the hearing
procedures in the Safety and Soundness Act for adjudicating these
actions are almost indistinguishable from the statutory procedures for
adjudicating other enforcement actions against the Enterprises, the
Banks and their entity-affiliated parties under sections 1371 to 1379D.
See 12 U.S.C. 4631-4641. Thus, the formal hearing procedures set forth
in Subpart C of the RPP are well suited to govern enforcement
proceedings under sections 1341 to 1348. FHFA also noted that amending
Sec. 1209.1(c) of the RPP would be a simpler and more efficient
approach than making conforming amendments to each of the affected
sections of the RPP.
FHFA received two comments on the proposed amendment. The
commenters were an individual and the Mortgage Partnership Finance
Program's Governance Committee of the Banks. Neither comment was
applicable to the proposed amendment.
III. Final Rule
For the reasons discussed in the proposed rulemaking and the lack
of opposing comments, FHFA is adopting as final the proposed amendment
to Sec. 1209.1(c) of the RPP with no changes.
IV. Consideration of Differences Between the Banks and the Enterprises
Section 1313(f) of the Safety and Soundness Act, as amended by
HERA, requires the Director, when promulgating regulations relating to
the Banks, to consider the differences between the Banks and the
Enterprises with respect to the Banks': Cooperative ownership
structure; mission of providing liquidity to members; affordable
housing and community development mission; capital structure; joint and
several liability; and any other differences the Director considers
appropriate. See 12 U.S.C. 4513(f). In preparing the proposed rule, the
Director considered the differences between the Banks and the
Enterprises as they relate to the above factors, and determined that
the Banks should not be treated differently from the Enterprises. FHFA
requested comment on whether the Banks should be treated differently,
particularly as section 10C(d) of the Bank Act provides that the
monitoring and enforcement requirements of section 1336 of the Safety
and Soundness Act shall apply to the Banks in the same manner and to
the same extent as they apply to the Enterprises. FHFA did not receive
any comments responding to that request. Accordingly, no changes were
made to the final rule as it relates to the Banks.
V. Paperwork Reduction Act
The final rule does not contain any information collection
requirement that requires the approval of the Office of Management and
Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Therefore, FHFA has not
[[Page 37103]]
submitted any materials to OMB for review.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires that
a regulation that has a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities, small businesses, or small organizations must
include an initial regulatory flexibility analysis describing the
regulation's impact on small entities. Such an analysis need not be
undertaken if the agency has certified that the regulation will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. 5 U.S.C. 605(b). FHFA has considered the impact of the final
rule under the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
The General Counsel of FHFA certifies that the final rule is not
likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities because the regulation is applicable only to the
Enterprises and the Banks, which are not small entities for purposes of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1209
Administrative practice and procedure, Federal home loan banks,
Mortgages, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority and Issuance
For the reasons stated in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, the
Federal Housing Finance Agency amends part 1209, Subchapter A, Chapter
XII of title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 1209--RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
0
1. The authority citation for part 1209 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 554, 556, 557, and 701 et seq.; 12 U.S.C.
1430c(d); 12 U.S.C. 4501, 4502, 4503, 4511, 4513, 4513b, 4517, 4526,
4566(c)(1) and (c)(7), 4581-4588, 4631-4641; and 28 U.S.C. 2461
note.
0
2. Amend Sec. 1209.1 by:
0
a. In paragraph (c)(2), remove the word ``and'';
0
b. In paragraph (c)(3), remove ``.'' at the end of the paragraph and
add in its place ``; and''; and
0
c. Add new paragraph (c)(4) to read as follows:
Sec. 1209.1 Scope.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(4) Enforcement proceedings under sections 1341 through 1348 of the
Safety and Soundness Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 4581 through 4588), and
section 10C of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended (12 U.S.C.
1430c), except where the Rules of Practice and Procedure in Subpart C
are inconsistent with such statutory provisions, in which case the
statutory provisions shall apply.
Dated: June 13, 2013.
Edward J. DeMarco,
Acting Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2013-14676 Filed 6-19-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P