Department of Treasury November 8, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance under the anti-cutback rules of section 411(d)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, which generally prohibit plan amendments eliminating or reducing accrued benefits, early retirement benefits, retirement-type subsidies, and optional forms of benefit under qualified retirement plans. These regulations provide an additional limited exception to the anti-cutback rules to permit a plan sponsor that is a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding to amend its single-employer defined benefit plan to eliminate a single-sum distribution option (or other optional form of benefit providing for accelerated payments) under the plan if certain specified conditions are satisfied. These regulations affect administrators, employers, participants, and beneficiaries of such a plan.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), 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. On November 21, 2011, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on a proposal to extend, with revision, the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report), which are currently approved collections of information. After considering the comments received on the proposal, the FFIEC and the agencies announced their final decisions regarding certain proposed revisions on February 17, 2012. The agencies also announced they were continuing to evaluate two new proposed Call Report schedules (Schedule RI-C, Disaggregated Data on the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses, and Schedule RC-U, Loan Origination Activity (in Domestic Offices)) in light of the comments received. The FFIEC and the agencies have completed their evaluation of Schedule RI-C and will proceed with a modified version of the schedule, which will be completed by institutions with $1 billion or more in total assets beginning March 31, 2013. However, the FFIEC and the agencies are continuing their evaluation of proposed Schedule RC-U. The FFIEC's and the agencies' decision regarding proposed Schedule RC-U will be addressed in a future Federal Register notice, and any resulting new reporting requirements for loan origination data will not take effect before the June 30, 2013, report date.

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is announcing a new fee schedule applicable to transfers of U.S. Treasury book-entry securities maintained on the National Book-Entry System (NBES) that occur on or after January 2, 2013.