Federal Housing Finance Agency January 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has adopted a final rule revising its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership. The final rule adopts several key revisions included in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. These revisions will prevent the circumvention of the statute's membership restrictions by ineligible entities using captive insurers as conduits for Bank membership by defining the term ``insurance company'' to exclude captive insurers, thereby making them ineligible for Bank membership; permit any Bank that has admitted captives to membership a transition period within which to wind down its affairs with those entities; require a Bank to obtain and review an insurance company's audited financial statements when considering its application for membership; clarify the standards by which a Bank is to determine the ``principal place of business'' for its members, including specific standards for insurance companies and community development financial institutions; and remove obsolete provisions and make numerous non-substantive textual revisions so as to provide greater clarity. The final rule does not implement the proposed rule's provisions with respect to continuing eligibility requirements, in order, as explained below, to avoid compliance burdens that may outweigh the benefits. The specific revisions made, and the rationale for making them, are set forth in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.