Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, NCUA, and FTC (the Agencies) request comment to gather information useful for developing the guidelines and regulations required by section 312 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act). Pursuant to section 312, the Agencies, acting in consultation and coordination, must: Establish guidelines for use by persons that furnish information to consumer reporting agencies (furnishers) regarding the accuracy and integrity of the consumer information that they furnish to those agencies; and prescribe regulations that require furnishers to establish reasonable policies and procedures for implementing the guidelines. Section 312 also requires the Agencies jointly to prescribe regulations that identify the circumstances under which a furnisher shall be required to reinvestigate a dispute concerning the accuracy of information contained in a consumer report on a consumer based on a direct request of the consumer.

On January 13, 2006, the OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (the Agencies) published for public comment proposed Interagency Guidance on Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound Risk Management Practices. The Agencies are extending the comment period on the proposed guidance for 30 days.

The OCC, Board, and FDIC (collectively, ``the Agencies'') are publishing revised guidance (Questions and Answers) relating to the Community Reinvestment Act (``the Act'' or ``CRA''). The Questions and Answers primarily addresses topics included in the revisions that the Agencies made to their CRA regulations, which became effective September 1, 2005.

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 renewal or revision of the information collection systems described below.

On December 29, 2005, the OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (the Agencies) published for public comment proposed Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products (Guidance). The Agencies are extending the comment period on the proposed guidance for 30 days.

The FDIC is adopting a final rule which clarifies and simplifies the procedures to be used when all of the deposit liabilities of an insured depository institution have been assumed by another insured depository institution or institutions. The final regulation would modify the current rule's requirements by: Making clear that an insured institution is required to file a ``certification'' when all of its deposits are assumed, but no certification is required if only a portion of its deposits are assumed; and requiring that the transferring institution, or its legal successor, file the certification rather than the assuming institution. The rule also clarifies that the transferring institution's status as an insured institution automatically terminates upon the FDIC's receipt of an accurate certification stating that: All of its deposits have been assumed by an insured depository institution or institutions, and the legal authority of the transferring institution to accept deposits has been terminated contemporaneously with the deposit assumption. In such a situation, and in a situation in which the FDIC has been appointed receiver of an insured institution, little practical purpose would be served by an order terminating deposit insurance, and the final rule provides that no such order will be issued in such situations. Finally, the rule would provide more specificity concerning how notice is given to depositors when an insured depository institution voluntarily terminates its insured status without the assumption of all of its deposits by an insured institution. In sum, the revisions would make the insurance termination process somewhat easier for insured depository institutions, and somewhat more efficient for the FDIC.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Banking Supervisory Agencies \1\, as part of their continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Banking Supervisory Agencies are soliciting comments concerning the Suspicious Activity Report by Depository Institutions, which is being revised and reformatted to standardize this report with suspicious activity reports being filed by other financial institutions. The report also is being revised to support joint filing, providing the necessary data blocks and instructions for completing a jointly filed suspicious activity report. The instructions limit joint filing to those suspicious activities that do not involve insider abuse.

The OTS, Board, FDIC, NCUA, and OCC (collectively, the ``Agencies''), have finalized the Interagency Advisory on the Unsafe and Unsound Use of Limitation of Liability Provisions in External Audit Engagement Letters (``Advisory''). The Advisory informs financial institutions'' boards of directors, audit committees, and management that they should not enter into agreements that incorporate unsafe and unsound external auditor limitation of liability provisions with respect to engagements for financial statement audits, audits of internal control over financial reporting, and attestations on management's assessment of internal control over financial reporting.

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 proposed and/or 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 continuing collection of information titled: Certification of Compliance with Mandatory Bars to Employment (3064-0121).

The OCC, Board, FDIC and OTS (``we'' or ``the Agencies'') are reviewing our regulations to identify outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulatory requirements pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). Today, we request your comments and suggestions on ways to reduce burden with respect to rules regarding Prompt Corrective Action and the Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements, which are in the Capital and Community Reinvestment Act categories of regulations. All comments are welcome. We specifically invite comment on the following issues: whether statutory changes are needed; whether the regulations contain requirements that are not needed to serve the purposes of the statutes they implement; the extent to which the regulations may adversely affect competition; whether the cost of compliance associated with reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements, particularly on small institutions, is justified; whether any regulatory requirements are inconsistent or redundant; and whether any regulations are unclear. This is our last request for comment on categories of regulations in the first 10-year cycle of regulatory review under EGRPRA. We will analyze the comments received and propose burden-reducing changes to our regulations where appropriate. Some of your suggestions for burden reduction might require legislative changes. Where legislative changes would be required, we will consider your suggestions in recommending appropriate changes to Congress.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (the Agencies), request comment on this proposed Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products (Guidance). The Agencies expect institutions to effectively assess and manage the risks associated with their credit activities, including those associated with nontraditional mortgage loan products. Institutions should use this guidance in their efforts to ensure that their risk management and consumer protection practices adequately address these risks.

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.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (Agencies) are publishing final rules to implement section 411 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). The final rules create exceptions to the statute's general prohibition on creditors obtaining or using medical information pertaining to a consumer in connection with any determination of the consumer's eligibility, or continued eligibility, for credit for all creditors. The exceptions permit creditors to obtain or use medical information in connection with credit eligibility determinations where necessary and appropriate for legitimate purposes, consistent with the Congressional intent to restrict the use of medical information for inappropriate purposes. The final rules also create limited exceptions to permit affiliates to share medical information with each other without becoming consumer reporting agencies. The final rules are substantially similar to the rules adopted by the Agencies on an interim final basis in June 2005.

This proposal would revise guidance of the staffs of the OCC, Board, and FDIC (collectively, ``the agencies'') relating to the Community Reinvestment Act (``the Act'' or ``CRA'') to address topics related to the revisions the agencies made to their regulations that implement the CRA. After reviewing comments on this proposal, these questions and answers will be added to the Interagency Questions and Answers, an existing document that contains informal staff guidance for examiners and other agency personnel, financial institutions, and the public. Public comment is invited on the proposed guidance, as well as any other community reinvestment issues.

The FDIC is adopting a final rule governing the insurance coverage of deposits of qualified tuition savings programs under section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. The final rule makes no substantive changes to a previous interim final rule. Under the rule, the deposits of a qualified tuition savings program will be insured on a ``pass-through'' basis to the program participants. In other words, the deposits will be insured up to $100,000 for the interest of each participant in aggregation with the participant's other deposits (if any) at the same insured depository institution.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is amending an interpretative rule (12 CFR 333.101(b)) which states that insured State nonmember banks not exercising trust powers may offer self- directed traditional Individual Retirement and Keogh Plan accounts without the prior written consent of the FDIC. As amended, the interpretive ruling is expanded to expressly cover Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, Roth Individual Retirement Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, and other similar accounts.

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. On August 17, 2004, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), published a notice in the Federal Register (69 FR 51145) (August proposal) requesting public comment on proposed revisions to the Country Exposure Report (FFIEC 009) and the Country Exposure Information Report (FFIEC 009a), which are currently approved information collections. After considering the two comments received, the FFIEC and the agencies modified the August 2004 proposal. On April 19, 2005, the agencies published a notice in the Federal Register (April proposal) requesting public comment on the modified August 2004 proposal. The FFIEC and the agencies have considered the three comments received and have made further modifications to the April proposal. The agencies are now submitting requests to OMB for approval of the revisions to the FFIEC 009 and FFIEC 009a reports that have been adopted by the FFIEC.

Section 2 of the Depository Institutions Disaster Relief Act of 1992 (DIDRA) authorizes the Agencies to make exceptions to statutory and regulatory requirements relating to appraisals for certain transactions. The exceptions are available for transactions that involve real property in major disaster areas when the exceptions would facilitate recovery from the disaster and would be consistent with safety and soundness. In this notice, the Agencies grant exceptions for certain real estate-related transactions in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The expiration dates for the exceptions are set out in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

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 proposed revisions to 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.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (``we'' or ``the Agencies'') are reviewing our regulations to identify outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulatory requirements pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). Today, we request your comments and suggestions on ways to reduce burden in rules we have categorized as Banking Operations; Directors, Officers and Employees; and Rules of Procedure. All comments are welcome. We specifically invite comment on the following issues: whether statutory changes are needed; whether the regulations contain requirements that are not needed to serve the purposes of the statutes they implement; the extent to which the regulations may adversely affect competition; whether the cost of compliance associated with reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements, particularly on small institutions, is justified; whether any regulatory requirements are inconsistent or redundant; and whether any regulations are unclear. We will analyze the comments received and propose burden-reducing changes to our regulations where appropriate. Some of your suggestions for burden reduction might require legislative changes. Where legislative changes would be required, we will consider your suggestions in recommending appropriate changes to Congress.

The OCC, Board, FDIC and OTS (the Agencies) propose to adopt rules to implement section 6303(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Intelligence Reform Act), which added a new section 10(k) to the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act). Section 10(k) imposes post-employment restrictions on senior examiners of depository institutions and depository institution holding companies. Under section 10(k), a senior examiner employed or commissioned by an Agency may not knowingly accept compensation as an employee, officer, director, or consultant from certain depository institutions or depository institution holding companies he or she examined, or from certain related entities, for one year after the examiner leaves the employment or service of the Agency. If an examiner violates the one-year restriction, the statute requires the appropriate Federal banking agency to seek penalties. Accordingly, the examiner may be subject to an order of removal and prohibition or a civil money penalty of up to $250,000. The Agencies have the discretion to seek both types of remedy. Section 10(k) will become effective on December 17, 2005.