Federal Reserve System 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Background. On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), as per 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board under conditions set forth in 5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1. Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

On July 30, 2008, the Board published a final rule amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). The July 2008 final rule requires creditors to give consumers transaction-specific cost disclosures shortly after application for closed-end loans secured by a consumer's principal dwelling. The disclosures must be provided before the consumer pays any fee, other than a fee for obtaining the consumer's credit history. Also on July 30, 2008, the Congress enacted the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which included amendments to TILA, known as the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act of 2008 (MDIA). On October 3, 2008, the Congress amended the MDIA in connection with its enactment of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Stabilization Act). The Board is now revising Regulation Z to implement the provisions of the MDIA, as amended.

Background. Notice is hereby given of the final approval of proposed information collections by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS and NCUA published in the Federal Register final rules to implement the affiliate marketing provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act) on November 7, 2007. The Commission published its final affiliate marketing rule on October 30, 2007. The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, NCUA and the Commission (Agencies) published in the Federal Register final rules

The Board of Governors (Board) is amending the routing number guide to next-day availability checks and local checks in Regulation CC to delete the reference to the Seattle branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and to reassign the Federal Reserve routing symbols currently listed under that office to the Los Angeles branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The Board is also amending the routing number guide to delete the reference to the Denver branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and to reassign the routing symbols currently listed under that office to the Los Angeles branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and to the head office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. These amendments reflect the restructuring of check-processing operations within the Federal Reserve System.

In December 2008, the Board, OTS, and NCUA (collectively, the Agencies) exercised their authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act to issue a final rule prohibiting institutions from engaging in specific acts or practices in connection with consumer credit card accounts. The Agencies understand that clarification is needed regarding certain aspects of the final rule. Accordingly, in order to facilitate compliance, the Agencies propose to amend specific portions of the regulations and official staff commentary.

On January 29, 2009, the Board published final rules amending Regulation DD, which implements the Truth in Savings Act, and the official staff commentary to the regulation. The final rule, among other things, requires all depository institutions to disclose aggregate overdraft fees on periodic statements, and not solely institutions that promote the payment of overdrafts. However, the document published in the Federal Register on January 29, 2009 contains a technical error in the formatting of the sample form illustrating how institutions may comply with this requirement. To correct this error, this document republishes the appropriate sample form.

The Board requests comment on proposed modifications to its method for calculating the private-sector adjustment factor (PSAF). The PSAF is part of the Board's calculation, as required by the Monetary Control Act of 1980 (MCA), to establish the fees that Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) charge for certain financial services provided to depository institutions (DIs). Consideration of a new PSAF methodology was prompted by the reduction in clearing balances held by DIs at Reserve Banks following the Board's recent implementation of the payment of interest on required reserve balances and excess balances held at Reserve Banks, as well as by long-term changes in the structure of the market for providing payment services to DIs. The existing PSAF calculation model, which is built upon a correspondent bank framework, is driven primarily by the level of clearing balances held by DIs at Reserve Banks. The expected continued reduction in clearing balances will make the current PSAF calculation methodology less meaningful. Accordingly, the Board requests comment on the prospective need to change its methodology and its proposal to replace the current correspondent bank model for calculating the PSAF with a publicly traded firm model as described in this notice. If approved, use of this new model could be reflected in priced services fees as early as 2010.