Federal Reserve System – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the Agencies) are adopting final changes to the Uniform Rules of Practice and Procedure (Uniform Rules) to recognize the use of electronic communications in all aspects of administrative hearings and to otherwise increase the efficiency and fairness of administrative adjudications. The OCC, Board, and FDIC are also modifying their agency-specific rules of administrative practice and procedure (Local Rules). The OCC also is integrating its Uniform Rules and Local Rules so that one set of rules applies to both national banks and Federal savings associations and amending its rules on organization and functions to address service of process.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (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. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' publication for public comment of a proposal to revise and extend for three years the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports) (FFIEC 031, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 051), which are currently approved collections of information. The FFIEC has also approved the Board's publication for public comment, on behalf of the agencies, of a proposal to revise and extend for three years 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), which are also currently approved collections of information. The agencies are requesting comment on proposed revisions to the Call Report forms and instructions, and the FFIEC 002, as applicable, that include the revision and addition of certain new data items related to the reporting on loans to nondepository financial institutions (NDFIs) and other loans, guaranteed structured financial products, and proposed long-term debt requirements. In addition, the agencies are seeking comment on a proposal to adopt ongoing standards for electronic signatures to comply with the Call Report signature and attestation requirement. The revisions are proposed to take effect with the June 30, 2024, report date, except for those related to the proposed long-term debt requirements which would take effect for the first report date at or following the effective date of any final rule.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, without revision, the Recordkeeping and Disclosure Requirements and Provisions Associated with Real Estate Appraisal Standards (FR Y-30; OMB No. 7100- 0250).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, without revision, the Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements Associated with Regulation Y (Capital Plans) (FR Y-13; OMB No. 7100-0342).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is adopting a proposal to extend, with revision, the Application for Exemption from Prohibited Service at Savings and Loan Holding Companies (FR LL-12; OMB No. 7100-0338).

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the agencies) have prepared this report pursuant to section 37(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Section 37(c) requires the agencies to jointly submit an annual report to the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the U.S. Senate describing differences among the accounting and capital standards used by the agencies for insured depository institutions (institutions). Section 37(c) requires that this report be published in the Federal Register. The agencies have not identified any material differences among the agencies' accounting and capital standards applicable to the institutions they regulate and supervise.

The Board and the FDIC (collectively, the Agencies) are amending their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to adjust the asset-size thresholds used to define ``small bank'' and ``intermediate small bank.'' As required by the CRA regulations, the adjustment to the threshold amount is based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the Consolidated Holding Company Report of Equity Investments in Nonfinancial Companies and the Annual Report of Merchant Banking Investments Held for an Extended Period (FR Y-12, FR Y-12A; OMB No. 7100-0300).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the Market Risk Capital Rule (FR 4201; OMB No. 7100-0314).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, without revision, the Ad Hoc Clearance for Surveys of Consumer and Community Affairs Publications and Resources (FR 1378; OMB No. 7100-0358).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (FR 3077; OMB No. 7100-0374).

The Board and the Bureau (collectively, the Agencies) are publishing final rules amending the official interpretations and commentary for the Agencies' regulations that implement the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended TILA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Under regulations adopted by the Agencies, if there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Agencies will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. Additionally, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted because the CPI-W decreased, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage change in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2023, the exemption threshold will increase from $66,400 to $69,500 effective January 1, 2024. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Consumer Leasing Act's threshold for exempt consumer leases, the Agencies are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Consumer Leasing Act elsewhere in the Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register.

The Board of Governors (Board) is publishing a final rule that applies an inflation adjustment to the threshold for total consolidated assets in Regulation I. Federal Reserve Bank (Reserve Bank) stockholders that have total consolidated assets above the threshold receive a different dividend rate on their Reserve Bank stock than stockholders with total consolidated assets at or below the threshold. The Federal Reserve Act requires that the Board annually adjust the total consolidated asset threshold to reflect the change in the Gross Domestic Product Price Index, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Based on the change in the Gross Domestic Product Price Index as of September 28, 2023, the total consolidated asset threshold will be $12,517,000,000 through December 31, 2024.

On September 19, 2023, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the ``agencies'') published in the Federal Register a proposal to require certain large depository institution holding companies, U.S. intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations, and insured depository institutions, to issue and maintain outstanding a minimum amount of long-term debt. The agencies have determined that an extension of the comment period until January 16, 2024, is appropriate.