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

The OCC, Board, FDIC and OTS (the Agencies) have jointly adopted final rules to implement section 6303(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Intelligence Reform Act), which imposes post-employment restrictions on senior examiners of depository institutions and depository institution holding companies. Under section 6303(b), and the Agencies' final implementing rules, a senior examiner employed by an Agency or a Federal Reserve Bank (Reserve Bank) may not knowingly accept compensation as an employee, officer, director, or consultant from certain depository institutions or depository institution holding companies he or she examined, or from certain related entities, for one year after the examiner leaves the employment or service of the Agency or Reserve Bank. If an examiner violates the one-year restriction, the statute requires the appropriate Federal banking agency to seek an order of removal and prohibition, a civil money penalty of up to $250,000, or both. Section 10(k) will become effective on December 17, 2005.

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. 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 OMB control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, ``Community and Economic Development Entities, Community Development Projects12 CFR part 24.''

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 considering various revisions to the existing risk-based capital framework that would enhance its risk sensitivity. These changes would apply to banks, bank holding companies, and savings associations (``banking organizations''). The Agencies are soliciting comment on possible modifications to their risk-based capital standards that would facilitate the development of fuller and more comprehensive proposals applicable to a range of activities and exposures. This ANPR discusses various modifications that would increase the number of risk-weight categories, permit greater use of external ratings as an indicator of credit risk for externally-rated exposures, expand the types of guarantees and collateral that may be recognized, and modify the risk weights associated with residential mortgages. This ANPR also discusses approaches that would change the credit conversion factor for certain types of commitments, assign a risk-based capital charge to certain securitizations with early-amortization provisions, and assign a higher risk weight to loans that are 90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status and to certain commercial real estate exposures. The Agencies are also considering modifying the risk weights on certain other retail and commercial exposures.

Section 2 of the Depository Institutions Disaster Relief Act of 1992 (DIDRA) authorizes the Agencies to make exceptions to statutory and regulatory requirements relating to appraisals for certain transactions. The exceptions are available for transactions that involve real property in major disaster areas when the exceptions would facilitate recovery from the disaster and would be consistent with safety and soundness. In this notice, the Agencies grant exceptions for certain real estate-related transactions in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The expiration dates for the exceptions are set out in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

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 proposed information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Currently, the OCC is soliciting comments concerning an information collection titled ``Bank Secrecy Act/Money Laundering Risk Assessment.''

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), 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. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' publication for public comment of proposed revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report), which are currently approved collections of information. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final approval. The agencies will then submit the revisions to OMB for review and approval.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (``we'' or ``the Agencies'') are reviewing our regulations to identify outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulatory requirements pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). Today, we request your comments and suggestions on ways to reduce burden in rules we have categorized as Banking Operations; Directors, Officers and Employees; and Rules of Procedure. All comments are welcome. We specifically invite comment on the following issues: whether statutory changes are needed; whether the regulations contain requirements that are not needed to serve the purposes of the statutes they implement; the extent to which the regulations may adversely affect competition; whether the cost of compliance associated with reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements, particularly on small institutions, is justified; whether any regulatory requirements are inconsistent or redundant; and whether any regulations are unclear. We will analyze the comments received and propose burden-reducing changes to our regulations where appropriate. Some of your suggestions for burden reduction might require legislative changes. Where legislative changes would be required, we will consider your suggestions in recommending appropriate changes to Congress.

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. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless the information collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, ``Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation12 CFR 27.'' The OCC also gives notice that it has sent the information collection to OMB for review and approval.

The OCC, Board, and FDIC (collectively, ``federal banking agencies'' or ``the agencies'') are issuing this joint final rule that revises certain provisions of our rules implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The agencies are taking this action after carefully considering public comments received in response to the joint notice of proposed rulemaking published on March 11, 2005 (the ``March proposal''). The joint final rule addresses regulatory burden imposed on small banks with an asset size between $250 million and $1 billion by exempting them from CRA loan data collection and reporting obligations. It also exempts such banks from the large bank lending, investment, and service tests, and makes them eligible for evaluation under the small bank lending test and a flexible new community development test. Holding company affiliation is no longer a factor in determining which CRA evaluation standards apply to a bank. In addition, the joint final rule revises the term ``community development'' to include activities to revitalize and stabilize distressed or underserved rural areas and designated disaster areas. Finally, it adopts without change the amendments to the regulations to address the impact on a bank's CRA rating of evidence of discrimination or other credit practices that violate an applicable law, rule, or regulation.

In accordance with requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (Agencies) hereby give notice that they plan to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for OMB review and approval of the information collection systems described below.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (Agencies) are publishing interim final rules to implement section 411 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). The interim final rules create exceptions to the statute's general prohibition on creditors obtaining or using medical information pertaining to a consumer in connection with any determination of the consumer's eligibility, or continued eligibility, for credit for all creditors. The exceptions permit creditors to obtain or use medical information in connection with credit eligibility determinations where necessary and appropriate for legitimate purposes, consistent with the Congressional intent to restrict the use of medical information for inappropriate purposes. The interim final rules also create limited exceptions to permit affiliates to share medical information with each other without becoming consumer reporting 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. 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 OMB control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, ``Fair Housing Home Loan Data System Regulation12 CFR 27.''

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), 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 August 17, 2004, the agencies requested public comment for 60 days on proposed revisions to the Country Exposure Report (FFIEC 009) and the Country Exposure Information Report (FFIEC 009a) (August proposal), which are currently approved information collections. After considering the comments received, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has modified the August proposal and is requesting public comment on the modified set of proposed revisions.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (Agencies), as part of their continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invite the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on a proposed renewal of a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 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 Agencies are reviewing the general instructions for the information collection. The Agencies are soliciting comments on how the instructions might be clarified. There would be no new or changed information requirements associated with the editorial changes to the instructions.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (collectively, ``we'' or ``the agencies'') are adopting, in final form, without change, the joint interim rule that was published for comment in the Federal Register on July 8, 2004. This joint final rule conforms our regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to changes in: the Standards for Defining Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas published by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in December 2000; census tracts designated by the U.S. Census Bureau (Census); and the Board's Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The joint final rule also makes a technical correction to a cross-reference within our CRA regulations. This joint final rule does not make substantive changes to the requirements of the CRA regulations, and it is identical to the joint interim final rule adopted by the agencies.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (the Agencies) have prepared this report pursuant to section 37(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831n(c)). Section 37(c) requires the Agencies to jointly submit an annual report to the Committee on Financial Services of the United States House of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the United States Senate describing differences between the capital and accounting standards used by the Agencies. The report must be published in the Federal Register.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), 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. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' publication for public comment of proposed revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report), which are currently approved collections of information. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final approval. The agencies will then submit the revisions to OMB for review and approval.

On December 20, 2004, the federal banking agencies (Board, FDIC, OCC, and OTS, collectively referred to as ``the Agencies'') published a proposal for public comment to standardize and expand the data collected from regulated institutions in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Shared National Credit (SNC) examinations. By standardizing and expanding the collection of data, the Agencies will be able to use advanced credit risk analytics that will be beneficial to the reporting banks and the Agencies. The Agencies are extending the comment period to give the public additional time to submit comments on the proposal.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (``we'' or ``the Agencies'') are reviewing our regulations to identify outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulatory requirements pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). Today, we request your comments and suggestions on ways to reduce burden in rules we have categorized as Money Laundering, Safety and Soundness, and Securities. All comments are welcome. We specifically invite comment on the following issues: Whether statutory changes are needed; whether the regulations contain requirements that are not needed to serve the purposes of the statutes they implement; the extent to which the regulations may adversely affect competition; whether the cost of compliance associated with reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements, particularly on small institutions, is justified; whether any regulatory requirements are inconsistent or redundant; and whether any regulations are unclear. We will analyze the comments received and propose burden-reducing changes to our regulations where appropriate. Some of your suggestions for burden reduction might require legislative changes. Where legislative changes would be required, we will consider your suggestions in recommending appropriate changes to Congress.