Department of the Treasury January 23, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, by means of a temporary rule, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) implements changes made to the definition of ``hard cider'' in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015. The modified definition broadens the range of wines eligible for the hard cider tax rate. TTB is amending its regulations to reflect the modified definition of hard cider effective for products removed on or after January 1, 2017, and to set forth new labeling requirements to identify products to which the hard cider tax rate applies. The new labeling requirements include both a one-year transitional rule and a new labeling requirement that takes effect for products removed on or after January 1, 2018. The text of the regulations in that temporary rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register serves as the text of the proposed regulations.

As part of its review under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is revising certain of its rules to remove outdated or otherwise unnecessary provisions. Specifically, the OCC is: revising certain licensing rules related to chartering applications, business combinations involving Federal mutual savings associations, and notices for changes in permanent capital; clarifying national bank director oath requirements; revising certain fiduciary activity requirements for national banks and Federal savings associations; removing certain financial disclosure regulations for national banks; removing certain unnecessary regulatory reporting, accounting, and management policy regulations for Federal savings associations; updating the electronic activities regulation for Federal savings associations; integrating and updating OCC regulations for national banks and Federal savings associations relating to municipal securities dealers, Securities Exchange Act disclosure rules, and securities offering disclosure rules; updating and revising recordkeeping and confirmation requirements for national banks' and Federal savings associations' securities transactions; integrating and updating regulations relating to insider and affiliate transactions; and making other technical and clarifying changes.