Federal Reserve System 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``Board'') is publishing for comment a regulation to permit banking organizations under its supervision to engage in off-exchange transactions in foreign currency with retail customers. The proposed rule also describes various requirements with which banking organizations must comply to conduct such transactions.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, and the OTS (the ``agencies'') may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. On June 17, 2011, OMB approved the agencies' emergency clearance requests to implement assessment-related reporting revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for banks, the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) for savings associations, the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002), and the Report of Assets and Liabilities of a Non-U.S. Branch that is Managed or Controlled by a U.S. Branch or Agency of a Foreign (Non-U.S.) Bank (FFIEC 002S), all of which currently are approved collections of information, effective as of the June 30, 2011, report date. Because the assessment-related reporting revisions will need to remain in effect beyond the limited approval period associated with an emergency clearance request, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), are requesting public comment on a proposal to extend, with revision, the collections of information identified above. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final approval. The agencies will then submit the revisions to OMB for review and approval.

The Board is publishing final revisions to the official staff commentary to Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The commentary applies and interprets the requirements of Regulation Z. The Board is revising the commentary so that it accurately reflects the effective date of a final rule on loan originator compensation practices that was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2010. At the time the final rule on loan originator compensation was issued, the Board intended it to become effective on April 1, 2011. However, on March 31, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit entered an administrative stay to temporarily delay implementation of the final rule. The administrative stay was in effect from April 1, 2011, until it was dissolved on April 5, 2011. Accordingly, the commentary is being revised to reflect that compliance with the final rule on loan originator compensation was not mandatory until April 6, 2011.

The Board is adopting an interim final rule and requesting comment on provisions in Regulation II (Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing) adopted in accordance with Section 920(a)(5) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which governs adjustments to debit interchange transaction fees for fraud-prevention costs. The provisions allow an issuer to receive an adjustment of 1 cent to its interchange transaction fee if the issuer develops, implements, and updates policies and procedures reasonably designed to identify and prevent fraudulent electronic debit transactions; monitor the incidence of, reimbursements received for, and losses incurred from fraudulent electronic debit transactions; respond appropriately to suspicious electronic debit transactions so as to limit the fraud losses that may occur and prevent the occurrence of future fraudulent electronic debit transactions; and secure debit card and cardholder data. If an issuer meets these standards and wishes to receive the adjustment, it must certify its eligibility to receive the fraud-prevention adjustment to the payment card networks in which the issuer participates.

On January 15, 2010, the Board and the Commission published final rules to implement the risk-based pricing provisions in section 311 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act), which amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The final rules generally require a creditor to provide a risk-based pricing notice to a consumer when the creditor uses a consumer report to grant or extend credit to the consumer on material terms that are materially less favorable than the most favorable terms available to a substantial proportion of consumers from or through that creditor. The Board and the Commission are amending their respective risk-based pricing rules to require disclosure of credit scores and information relating to credit scores in risk-based pricing notices if a credit score of the consumer is used in setting the material terms of credit. These final rules reflect the new requirements in section 615(h) of the FCRA that were added by section 1100F of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The Board is publishing for public comment a proposed rule amending Regulation B (Equal Credit Opportunity). Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), as added by Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act or Act), requires that financial institutions collect and report information concerning credit applications made by women- or minority- owned businesses and by small businesses. ECOA Section 704B becomes effective on the date that rulemaking authority for ECOA is transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is July 21, 2011. Although the CFPB will have the authority to issue rules to implement ECOA Section 704B for most entities, the Board retains authority to issue rules for certain motor vehicle dealers. This proposed rule excepts motor vehicle dealers that are subject to the Board's jurisdiction from the requirements of ECOA Section 704B temporarily, until the effective date of final rules that will be issued by the Board to implement that provision.