Federal Reserve System – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Open Market Committee (``Committee'') is finalizing its interim final rule amending the Committee's regulations under the Freedom of Information Act (``FOIA''). The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (``Improvement Act'') amended the FOIA and required each federal agency to review its FOIA regulations and to issue certain revisions by December 27, 2016. Substantive revisions to the Committee's Rules Regarding Availability of Information (``Rules'') were made to conform to the Improvement Act, and the Committee made other technical changes to the Rules in order to clarify the existing procedures for requesting information and to update contact information. The interim final rule became effective on December 27, 2016. This rulemaking finalizes the interim rule with minor edits for consistency and clarification.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, without revision, the mandatory Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements Associated with the Guidance on Response Programs for Unauthorized Access to Customer Information (FR 4100; OMB No. 7100- 0309). On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.

The Board is adopting a final rule to promote U.S. financial stability by improving the resolvability and resilience of systemically important U.S. banking organizations and systemically important foreign banking organizations pursuant to section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Under the final rule, any U.S. top-tier bank holding company identified by the Board as a global systemically important banking organization (GSIB), the subsidiaries of any U.S. GSIB (other than national banks, federal savings associations, state nonmember banks, and state savings associations), and the U.S. operations of any foreign GSIB (other than national banks, federal savings associations, state nonmember banks, and state savings associations) would be subjected to restrictions regarding the terms of their non-cleared qualified financial contracts (QFCs). First, a covered entity generally is required to ensure that QFCs to which it is party provide that any default rights and restrictions on the transfer of the QFCs are limited to the same extent as they would be under the Dodd-Frank Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Second, a covered entity generally is prohibited from being party to QFCs that would allow a QFC counterparty to exercise default rights against the covered entity, directly or indirectly, based on the entry into a resolution proceeding under the Dodd-Frank Act or Federal Deposit Insurance Act, or any other resolution proceeding, of an affiliate of the covered entity. The final rule also amends certain definitions in the Board's capital and liquidity rules; these amendments are intended to ensure that the regulatory capital and liquidity treatment of QFCs to which a covered entity is party is not affected by the final rule's restrictions on such QFCs. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are expected to issue final rules that would subject GSIB subsidiaries for which the OCC and FDIC are the appropriate Federal banking agency to requirements substantively identical to those in this final rule.

Under the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), the Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) have the authority to open accounts for member banks and other eligible depository institutions (collectively, depository institutions). The Reserve Banks routinely open and maintain individual Federal Reserve accounts for eligible institutions. Joint accounts those where the rights and liabilities are shared among multiple depository institution account-holdershave not in the past been available as a standard account option, but in limited cases the Reserve Banks have opened such accounts for specific purposes. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) has approved final guidelines for evaluating requests for joint accounts at Reserve Banks intended to facilitate settlement between and among depository institutions participating in private-sector payment systems (private- sector arrangements). The guidelines broadly outline factors that will be considered in evaluating such requests, but are not intended to provide assurance that any specific arrangement would be granted a joint account. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with the type and extent of information necessary to evaluate a particular request likely dependent on the complexity of the arrangement.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to extend, with revision, the mandatory Banking Organization Systemic Risk Report (FR Y-15; OMB No. 7100-0352). On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delegated to the Board authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to approve and assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.