Office of the Comptroller of the Currency September 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 a 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 the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic and Foreign Offices (FFIEC 031), the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic Offices Only (FFIEC 041), and the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic Offices Only and Total Assets Less Than $1 Billion (FFIEC 051), which are currently approved collections of information. The Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income are commonly referred to as Call Reports. The FFIEC has also approved the Board's publication for public comment, on behalf of the agencies, of a proposal to revise and extend 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) as well as the agencies' publication for public comment of proposals to revise and extend the Foreign Branch Report of Condition (FFIEC 030), the Abbreviated Foreign Branch Report of Condition (FFIEC 030S), and the Regulatory Capital Reporting for Institutions Subject to the Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework (FFIEC 101), all of which are currently approved collections of information. The proposed revisions generally address the revised accounting for credit losses under the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2016-13, ``Financial InstrumentsCredit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments'' (ASU 2016-13). This proposal also includes reporting changes for regulatory capital related to implementing the agencies' recent notice of proposed rulemaking on the implementation and capital transition for the current expected credit losses methodology (CECL). In addition, this notice includes other revisions to the Call Reports and the FFIEC 101 resulting from two sections of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA), effective upon enactment on May 24, 2018, that affect the information reported in these reports and for which the agencies submitted emergency review requests to OMB that OMB has approved. The proposed revisions related to ASU 2016-13 would begin to take effect March 31, 2019, for reports with quarterly report dates and December 31, 2019, for reports with an annual report date, with later effective dates for certain respondents. At the end of the comment period for this notice, the comments received will be reviewed to determine whether the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposed revisions to one or more of the previously identified reports. As required by the PRA, the agencies will then publish a second Federal Register notice for a 30-day comment period and submit the final Call Reports, FFIEC 002, FFIEC 002S, FFIEC 030, FFIEC 030S, and FFIEC 101 to OMB for review and approval.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is proposing to amend its enforceable guidelines relating to recovery planning standards for insured national banks, insured federal savings associations, and insured federal branches (Guidelines) to increase the average total consolidated assets threshold for applying the Guidelines from $50 billion to $250 billion. In addition, the proposed change to the Guidelines would decrease from 18 months to 12 months the time within which a bank should comply with the Guidelines after the bank becomes subject to them. Finally, the proposal would make technical amendments to remove outdated compliance dates.

The OCC is inviting comment on a proposed rule to implement a new section of the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA). The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA) amended HOLA to add a new section that allows a Federal savings association with total consolidated assets of $20 billion or less, as of December 31, 2017, to elect to operate as a covered savings association. A covered savings association has the same rights and privileges as a national bank and is subject to the same duties and restrictions as a national bank. A covered savings association retains its Federal savings association charter and existing governance framework. The new section of HOLA requires the OCC to issue rules that, among other things, establish streamlined standards and procedures for elections to operate as covered savings associations and clarify requirements for the treatment of covered savings associations.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC or agency) invites comments on this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit ideas for building a new framework to transform or modernize the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA). A new CRA regulatory framework would help regulated financial institutions more effectively serve the convenience and needs of their communities by encouraging more lending, investment, and activity where it is needed most; evaluating CRA activities more consistently; and providing greater clarity regarding CRA-qualifying activities. A transformed or modernized framework also would facilitate more timely evaluations of bank CRA performance, offer greater transparency regarding ratings, promote a consistent interpretation of the CRA, and encourage increased community and economic development in low- and moderate-income (LMI) areas. Revisions of this nature are consistent with the original intent of the CRA: To help meet the credit needs of the communities that banks serve. In addition, these types of revisions would align with the transformation of the banking industry and reduce the complexity, ambiguity, and burden associated with the regulations.