Federal Reserve System December 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Consumer Handbook on Adjustable Rate Mortgages
This notice announces the availability of the revised Consumer Handbook on Adjustable Rate Mortgages by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (the OTS). The Consumer Handbook on Adjustable Rate Mortgages (the CHARM booklet) provides information to consumers about the features and risks of adjustable rate mortgage loans. Under Regulation Z (which implements the Truth in Lending Act), creditors must provide a copy of the CHARM booklet published by the Board and the OTS, or a suitable substitute, to consumers with every application for an adjustable rate mortgage loan. The CHARM booklet published by the Board and the OTS today replaces the CHARM booklet published in 1987 and most recently reprinted May 2005.
Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
The OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (collectively, the ``agencies'') are publishing this joint final rule to reinsert a provision that was inadvertently deleted when the agencies revised their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations in August 2005. This change is technical only and does not make any substantive revisions. The agencies are also amending their CRA regulations to increase the asset-size threshold to be used to define ``small bank'' and ``intermediate small bank.'' The regulation is amended to state the increase in the threshold amount based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index.
Home Mortgage Disclosure
The Board is publishing a final rule amending the staff commentary that interprets the requirements of Regulation C (Home Mortgage Disclosure). The staff commentary is amended to increase the asset-size exemption threshold for depository institutions based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The adjustment from $35 million to $36 million reflects the increase of that index by 3.32 percent during the twelve-month period ending in November 2006. Thus, depository institutions with assets of $36 million or less as of December 31, 2006, are exempt from collecting data in 2007.
Definitions of Terms and Exemptions Relating to the “Broker” Exceptions for Banks
The Board and the Commission jointly are issuing, and requesting comment on, proposed rules that would implement certain of the exceptions for banks from the definition of the term ``broker'' under Section 3(a)(4) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act''), as amended by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (``GLBA''). The proposed rules would define terms used in these statutory exceptions and include certain related exemptions. In developing this proposal, the Agencies have consulted with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (``OCC''), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC'') and the Office of Thrift Supervision (``OTS''). The proposal is intended, among other things, to facilitate banks' compliance with the GLBA.
Risk-Based Capital Guidelines; Capital Adequacy Guidelines; Capital Maintenance: Domestic Capital Modifications
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 revisions to the existing risk-based capital framework that would enhance its risk sensitivity without unduly increasing regulatory burden. These changes would apply to banks, bank holding companies, and savings associations (banking organizations). A banking organization would be able to elect to adopt these proposed revisions or remain subject to the Agencies' existing risk-based capital rules, unless it uses the Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework proposed in the notice of proposed rulemaking published on September 25, 2006 (Basel II NPR). In this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR or Basel IA), the Agencies are proposing to expand the number of risk weight categories, allow the use of external credit ratings to risk weight certain exposures, expand the range of recognized collateral and eligible guarantors, use loan-to-value ratios to risk weight most residential mortgages, increase the credit conversion factor for certain commitments with an original maturity of one year or less, assess a charge for early amortizations in securitizations of revolving exposures, and remove the 50 percent limit on the risk weight for certain derivative transactions. A banking organization would have to apply all the proposed changes if it chose to use these revisions. Finally, in Section III of this NPR, the Agencies seek further comment on possible alternatives for implementing the ``International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards: A Revised Framework'' (Basel II) in the United States as proposed in the Basel II NPR.
Risk-Based Capital Standards: Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework
On September 25, 2006, 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) issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking for public comment that proposed a new risk-based capital adequacy framework (Basel II NPR). The Basel II NPR would require some and permit other qualifying banks \1\ to use an internal ratings-based approach to calculate regulatory credit risk capital requirements and advanced measurement approaches to calculate regulatory operational risk capital requirements. The Basel II NPR describes the qualifying criteria for banks required or seeking to operate under the proposed framework and the applicable risk-based capital requirements for banks that operate under the framework. The Basel II NPR comment period will end on January 23, 2007.
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, and the OTS (collectively, 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, approved the agencies' publication for public comment of proposed new regulatory reporting requirements for banks \1\ that qualify for and adopt the Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework to calculate their risk-based capital requirement or banks that are in the parallel run stage of qualifying to adopt this proposed framework. This notice extends the comment period on this document for consistency with the extension of the comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking on the Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework, as published elsewhere in today's issue of the Federal Register.
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
Background On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act, as per 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board under conditions set forth in 5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1. Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the OMB 83-Is and supporting statements and approved collection of information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound Risk Management Practices
The OCC, Board, and FDIC (the Agencies) are issuing final joint Guidance on Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound Risk Management Practices (Guidance). This Guidance has been developed to reinforce sound risk management practices for institutions with high and increasing concentrations of commercial real estate loans on their balance sheets. This Guidance applies to national banks and state chartered banks (institutions). Further, the Board believes that the Guidance is broadly applicable to bank holding companies.
Loans to Executive Officers, Directors, and Principal Shareholders of Member Banks
The Board is adopting, on an interim basis, and soliciting comment on amendments to the Board's Regulation O to eliminate certain reporting requirements. These amendments implement section 601 of the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006. The Board proposed and supported eliminating these statutory reporting provisions because the Board had found that they did not contribute significantly to the effective monitoring of insider lending or the prevention of insider abuse.
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
Background On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act, as per 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board under conditions set forth in 5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1. Board-approved collections of information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Electronic Fund Transfers
The Board is proposing to amend Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official staff commentary to the regulation, which interprets the requirements of Regulation E. The proposed amendments would create an exception for certain small-dollar transactions from the requirement that terminal receipts be made available to consumers at the time of the transaction.
Electronic Fund Transfers
The Board is amending Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official staff commentary to the regulation. The final rule clarifies that the requirement to obtain a consumer's authorization to initiate an electronic fund transfer to the consumer's account to collect a fee for an EFT or check that has been returned applies to any person that intends to collect the fee in that manner, and not to the account-holding financial institution. The final rule also provides guidance on the consumer notice requirements when a person initiates an electronic fund transfer to collect a returned item fee or engages in an electronic check conversion transaction. The amendments supersede corresponding provisions addressing these issues in the Board's January 2006 final rule and August 2006 interim final rule.
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