Office of the Comptroller of the Currency November 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) contains two directives to Federal agencies including the OCC. First, section 939A directs all Federal agencies to review, no later than one year after enactment, any regulation that requires the use of an assessment of creditworthiness of a security or money market instrument and any references to, or requirements in, such regulations regarding credit ratings. Second, the agencies are required to remove any references to, or requirements of reliance on, credit ratings and substitute such standard of credit- worthiness as each agency determines is appropriate. The statute further provides that the agencies shall seek to establish, to the extent feasible, uniform standards of creditworthiness, taking into account the entities the agencies regulate and the purposes for which those entities would rely on such standards. Through this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the OCC seeks comment on a proposal to revise its regulations pertaining to investment securities, securities offerings, and foreign bank capital equivalency deposits to replace references to credit ratings with alternative standards of creditworthiness. The OCC also is proposing to amend its regulations pertaining to financial subsidiaries of national banks to better reflect the language of the underlying statute, as amended by section 939(d) of the Dodd- Frank Act.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Currently, the OCC is soliciting comment concerning its extension, without change, of an information collection titled, ``Release of Non-Public Information12 CFR 4, Subpart C.''

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. 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 extend, with revision, the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report), which are currently approved collections of information. The proposed new data items would be added to the Call Report as of the June 30, 2012, report date, except for two proposed revisions that would take effect March 31, 2012, in connection with the initial filing of Call Reports by savings associations. In addition, proposed instructional changes would take effect March 31, 2012. 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 Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has determined to carry on the work of the Minority Depository Institutions Advisory Committee (MDIAC or Committee) formerly administered by the Office of Thrift Supervision, as it is necessary and in the public interest in order for the OCC to preserve the present number of minority depository institutions and encourage the creation of new minority depository institutions. The OCC is seeking nominations of individuals who are officers and/or directors of minority depository institutions, or officers and/or directors of other depository institutions with a commitment to supporting minority depository institutions.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and SEC (individually, an ``Agency,'' and collectively, ``the Agencies'') are requesting comment on a proposed rule that would implement Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act'') which contains certain prohibitions and restrictions on the ability of a banking entity and nonbank financial company supervised by the Board to engage in proprietary trading and have certain interests in, or relationships with, a hedge fund or private equity fund.