Federal Reserve System March 10, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is amending its risk-based capital standards for bank holding companies to allow the continued inclusion of outstanding and prospective issuances of trust preferred securities in the tier 1 capital of bank holding companies, subject to stricter quantitative limits and qualitative standards. The Board also is revising the quantitative limits applied to the aggregate amount of cumulative perpetual preferred stock, trust preferred securities, and minority interests in the equity accounts of most consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, restricted core capital elements) included in the tier 1 capital of bank holding companies. The new quantitative limits become effective after a five-year transition period. In addition, the Board is revising the qualitative standards for capital instruments included in regulatory capital consistent with longstanding Board policies. The Board is adopting this final rule to address supervisory concerns, competitive equity considerations, and changes in generally accepted accounting principles and to strengthen the definition of regulatory capital for bank holding companies.