Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Comptroller of the Currency is adopting a final Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule that is based largely on the 1995 CRA rules, as revised, that were issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This final rule applies to national banks and savings associations. This action rescinds the CRA final rule published by the OCC on June 5, 2020, and facilitates the OCC's planned future issuance of updated interagency CRA rules with the Board and FDIC.

The OCC, the Board, and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations for their regulations that implement section 129H of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Section 129H of TILA establishes special appraisal requirements for ``higher-risk mortgages,'' termed ``higher-priced mortgage loans'' or ``HPMLs'' in the agencies' regulations. The OCC, the Board, the Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the Agencies) jointly issued final rules implementing these requirements, effective January 18, 2014. The Agencies' rules exempted, among other loan types, transactions of $25,000 or less, and required that this loan amount be adjusted annually based on any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the OCC, the Board, and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2021, the exemption threshold will increase from $27,200 to $28,500, effective January 1, 2022.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the agencies) have prepared this report pursuant to section 37(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Section 37(c) requires the agencies to jointly submit an annual report to the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the U.S. Senate describing differences among the accounting and capital standards used by the agencies for insured depository institutions (institutions).\1\ Section 37(c) requires that this report be published in the Federal Register. The agencies have not identified any material differences among the agencies' accounting and capital standards applicable to the insured depository institutions they regulate and supervise.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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 July 22, 2021, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on proposals to revise and extend for three years the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports) (FFIEC 031, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 051), which is currently an approved collection of information. The agencies requested comment on proposed changes to the instructions for reporting of deferred tax assets (DTAs) and to add a new item related to the standardized approach for counterparty credit risk (SA-CCR). The comment period for the notice has closed. The agencies are adding the new item related to SA-CCR as proposed. The agencies are deferring the proposed changes to the instructions for reporting of DTAs until a future notice, which will also provide an opportunity for additional comment on the instructions. The agencies hereby give notice of their plan to submit to OMB a request to approve the revision and extension of these information collections and again invite comment on the renewal.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information collection titled, ``Supervisory Guidance on Stress Testing for Banking Organizations with Total Consolidated Assets of More Than $10 Billion.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

The OCC, 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 a new information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of a collection of information titled, ``Libor Self- Assessment.''

The Comptroller of the Currency proposes to replace the current Community Reinvestment Act rule with rules based on the 1995 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rules, as revised, issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The proposal would replace the existing rule applicable to both national banks and savings associations with two separate rules, one for national banks and one for savings associations. Such action would effectively rescind the CRA final rule published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on June 5, 2020, and facilitate the issuance of joint CRA rules with the Board and FDIC.

The OCC announces a meeting of the Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee (MSAAC).

Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), Congress has passed and the President has signed a joint resolution disapproving the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) final rule titled ``National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders.'' This final rule established a test to determine when a national bank or Federal savings association (bank) makes a loan and is the ``true lender,'' including in the context of a relationship between a bank and a third party, such as a marketplace lender. Under the joint resolution and by operation of the CRA, this rule has no legal force or effect. The OCC is hereby removing it from the Code of Federal Regulations.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled, ``Release of Non-Public OCC Information.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has submitted the collection to OMB for review.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, Commission, FHFA, and HUD (the agencies) are providing notice of the extension of the period for the review, and publication of determination of the review, of the definition of qualified residential mortgage; the community-focused residential mortgage exemption; and the exemption for qualifying three-to-four unit residential mortgage loans, in each case as currently set forth in the Credit Risk Retention Regulations (as defined below) as adopted by the agencies.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled ``International RegulationPart 28.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

The OCC, 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 a new information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of a collection of information titled, ``Libor Self-Assessment.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled, ``Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB review.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the renewal of an information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of an information collection titled, ``Affiliate Marketing.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

The OCC is adopting as final, with one minor change, the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2020, that codifies and creates an exception to the standard withdrawal period for a bank administering a collective investment fund invested primarily in real estate or other assets that are not readily marketable (a covered CIF). Pursuant to the interim final rule, a bank administering a covered CIF may request OCC approval to extend the standard withdrawal period under limited circumstances and if certain conditions are met. The final rule adopts as final the changes made by the interim final rule and introduces a minor revision to one of the conditions necessary for the extension.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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 December 18, 2020, and February 5, 2021, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on proposals to revise and extend the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports) (FFIEC 031, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 051), the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002), and the Report of Assets and Liabilities of a Non-U.S. Branch that is Managed or Controlled by a U.S. Branch or Agency of a Foreign (Non-U.S.) Bank (FFIEC 002S), all of which are currently approved collections of information. After considering the comments received on the notices, the agencies are proceeding with the proposed revisions to the reporting forms and instructions related to the FDIC's amendments to the deposit insurance assessment system, effective with the June 30, 2021, report date, and the exclusion of sweep deposits and certain other deposits from reporting as brokered deposits, effective with the September 30, 2021, report date. The agencies hereby give notice of their plan to submit to OMB a request to approve the revision and extension of these information collections, and again invite comment on the renewal.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) are inviting comment on a proposed rule (proposal) under section 39 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act that would establish requirements for tax allocation agreements between institutions and their holding companies in a consolidated tax filing group. The proposal would promote safety and soundness by preserving depository institutions' ownership rights in tax refunds and ensuring equitable allocation of tax liabilities among entities in a holding company structure. Under the proposal, national banks, state banks, and savings associations that file tax returns as part of a consolidated tax filing group would be required to enter into tax allocation agreements with their holding companies and other members of the consolidated group that join in the filing of a consolidated group tax return. The proposal also would describe specific mandatory provisions in these tax allocation agreements, including provisions addressing the ownership of tax refunds received. If the agencies were to adopt the proposal as a final rule, the agencies would rescind the interagency policy statement on tax allocation agreements that was issued in 1998 and supplemented in 2014.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, NCUA, and FinCEN (collectively, the agencies), seek information and comment from interested parties on the extent to which the principles discussed in the interagency Supervisory Guidance on Model Risk Management (referred to as the ``model risk management guidance,'' or MRMG) support compliance by banks with Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) requirements. The agencies seek this information to enhance their understanding of bank practices in these areas and determine whether additional explanation or clarification may increase transparency, effectiveness, or efficiency. The OCC, Board, and FDIC, in consultation with NCUA and FinCEN, are concurrently issuing a statement to clarify that the risk management principles discussed in the MRMG are appropriate considerations in the context of the BSA/AML statutory and regulatory requirements.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC proposed revisions to a regulatory reporting requirement for national banks and federal savings associations titled, ``Company-Run Annual Stress Test Reporting Template and Documentation for Covered Institutions with Total Consolidated Assets of $250 Billion or More under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,'' and is now seeking comment on the final version of those revisions. The OCC also has submitted the collection to OMB for review.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announces a meeting of the Minority Depository Institutions Advisory Committee (MDIAC).

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a 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 OCC is soliciting comment on the renewal of its collection titled ``Uniform Interagency Transfer Agent Registration and Deregistration Forms.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, FCA, and NCUA (collectively, the Agencies) propose to supplement the Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Flood Insurance with new questions and answers regarding the acceptance of flood insurance policies issued by private insurers pursuant to the Agencies' private flood insurance final rule issued in February 2019. These questions and answers will assist lenders in meeting their responsibilities under the final rule and increase public understanding of the Agencies' respective flood insurance regulations. The Agencies solicit comment on all aspects of these new questions and answers.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled, ``Credit Risk Retention.''

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled, ``Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators.''