Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On September 7, 2008, the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) entered into senior preferred stock purchase agreements (the Agreement or Agreements) with the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), which effectively provide protection to the holders of senior debt, subordinated debt, and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issued or guaranteed by these entities. In light of the financial support provided under the Agreements, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively, the agencies) are proposing to adopt a 10 percent risk weight for claims on, and the portion of claims guaranteed by, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The 10 percent risk weight would apply so long as an Agreement remains in effect with the respective entity.

The FDIC invites the commenter who filed a public comment at https://www.regulations.gov on April 14, 2008, relating to the FDIC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking involving ``Processing of Deposit Accounts in the Event of an Insured Depository Institution Failure and Large-Bank Deposit Insurance Determination Modernization'' to resubmit to the FDIC his or her comment relating to this action. We are taking this action because due to a technical software error, a public comment submitted via https://www.regulations.gov was not transmitted to the FDIC. Therefore, the FDIC will provide this commenter with a limited opportunity to resubmit his or her comment to the FDIC on or before November 24, 2008.

The FDIC is proposing to amend 12 CFR part 327 to: Alter the way in which it differentiates for risk in the risk-based assessment system; revise deposit insurance assessment rates, including base assessment rates; and make technical and other changes to the rules governing the risk-based assessment system.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively, the Agencies) are proposing to permit banks, bank holding companies, and savings associations (collectively, banking organizations) to reduce the amount of goodwill that a banking organization must deduct from tier 1 capital by the amount of any deferred tax liability associated with that goodwill. The proposed change would effectively reduce the amount of goodwill that a banking organization must deduct from tier 1 capital and would reflect a banking organization's maximum exposure to loss in the event that such goodwill is impaired or derecognized for financial reporting purposes.

The FDIC is issuing a final rule that amends certain of its regulations by conforming them to Federal statutes amended by the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006, the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 and the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005. On January 14, 2008, the FDIC adopted, an interim rule and requested public comment on, amendments to its regulations to implement such changes. Having received no comments on the interim rule, the FDIC is confirming the interim rule as final without change.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 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. 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.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 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, without revision, the Country Exposure Report (FFIEC 009) and the Country Exposure Information Report (FFIEC 009a), which are currently approved information collections. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC should modify the reports. The agencies will then submit the reports to OMB for review and approval.

In accordance with requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the FDIC hereby gives notice that it is submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for OMB review and approval of the new information collection described below. The collection is related to a mandate under section 7 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005 (``Reform Act'') (Pub. L. 109-173), which calls for the FDIC to conduct ongoing surveys ``on efforts by insured depository institutions to bring those individuals and families who have rarely, if ever, held a checking account, a savings account or other type of transaction or check cashing account at an insured depository institution (hereafter in this section referred to as the `unbanked') into the conventional finance system.'' Section 7 further instructs the FDIC to consider several factors in its conduct of the surveys, including: (1) ``What cultural, language and identification issues as well as transaction costs appear to most prevent `unbanked' individuals from establishing conventional accounts''; and (2) ``What is a fair estimate of the size and worth of the `unbanked' market in the United States.'' To satisfy the Congressional mandate, the FDIC intends to conduct two complementary surveys. One is a survey of FDIC-insured depository institutions on their efforts to serve underbanked, as well as unbanked, populations (underbanked populations include individuals who have an account with an insured depository but also rely on non-bank alternative financial service providers for transaction services or high-cost credit products). The FDIC has already obtained OMB approval for this survey and the survey effort is currently in process. The other is a survey of U.S. households to estimate the size and worth of the unbanked and underbanked markets and to identify the factors that inhibit their participation in the mainstream banking system. The household survey would be conducted for the FDIC by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as a supplement to its monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) in January 2009. This notice addresses the household survey.

The agencies are publishing guidance regarding the supervisory review process for capital adequacy (Pillar 2) provided in the Basel II advanced approaches final rule, which was published in the Federal Register on December 7, 2007 (advanced approaches final rule). The supervisory review process described in this guidance outlines the agencies' standards for satisfying the qualification requirements provided in the advanced approaches final rule; addressing the limitations of the minimum risk-based capital requirements for credit risk and operational risk; ensuring that each institution has a rigorous process for assessing its overall capital adequacy in relation to its risk profile and a comprehensive strategy for maintaining appropriate capital levels; and encouraging each institution to improve its risk identification and measurement techniques. This supervisory guidance applies to any bank, savings association, or bank holding company \1\ implementing the advanced approaches final rule.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively, the agencies) propose a new risk-based capital framework (standardized framework) based on the standardized approach for credit risk and the basic indicator approach for operational risk described in the capital adequacy framework titled ``International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards: A Revised Framework'' (New Accord) released by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The standardized framework generally would be available, on an optional basis, to banks, bank holding companies, and savings associations (banking organizations) that apply the general risk-based capital rules.

The FDIC proposes recordkeeping requirements for qualified financial contracts (QFCs) held by insured depository institutions in a troubled condition as defined in this proposed rule. The appendix to the proposed rule would require an institution in a troubled condition, upon written notification by the FDIC, to produce immediately at the close of processing of the institution's business day, for a period provided in the notification, electronic files for certain position level and counterparty level data; electronic or written lists of QFC counterparty and portfolio location identifiers, certain affiliates of the institution and the institution's counterparties to QFC transactions, contact information and organizational charts for key personnel involved in QFC activities, and contact information for vendors for such activities; and copies of key agreements and related documents for each QFC.

The FDIC is adopting a final rule requiring the largest insured depository institutions to adopt mechanisms that would, in the event of the institution's failure: provide the FDIC with standard deposit account and other customer information; and allow the placement and release of holds on liability accounts, including deposits. The final rule applies only to insured depository institutions having at least $2 billion in domestic deposits and either: more than 250,000 deposit accounts (currently estimated to be 152 institutions); or total assets over $20 billion, regardless of the number of deposit accounts (currently estimated to be 7 institutions). The FDIC is adopting the final rule concurrently with its adoption of an interim rule establishing practices for determining deposit and other liability account balances at a failed insured depository institution. With exceptions indicated in the final rule, institutions subject to this final rule will have eighteen months from the effective date of the final rule to implement its requirements.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is amending its regulations to permit state nonmember banks to participate or assist in financial education programs conducted on school premises where, in connection with the program, deposits are received, checks are paid, or money is lent, without the need to submit a branch application to, and receive prior approval from, the FDIC. However, any state nonmember bank that desires to engage in such financial education programs must satisfy certain conditions.

The FDIC, 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 continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Currently, the FDIC is soliciting comments concerning the following collections of information titled: Acquisition Services Information Requirements (3064-0072), Account Based Disclosures in Connection with Federal Reserve Regulations E, CC, and DD (3064-0084), and Prompt Corrective Actions (3064-0115).