Office of Thrift Supervision 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

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.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to extend this information collection.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), OTS may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. On July 31, 2006, OTS requested public comment for 60 days (71 FR 43286) on proposed revisions to the Thrift Financial Report (TFR), which is currently an approved collection of information. The notice described regulatory reporting revisions proposed for the TFR, Schedule SC Consolidated Statement of Condition, Schedule SOConsolidated Statement of Operations, Schedule LDLoan Data, Schedule CF Consolidated Cash Flow Information, Schedule SISupplemental Information, Schedule SQConsolidated Supplemental Questions, and Schedule HCThrift Holding Company. The proposed revisions would eliminate ten line items from the TFR, revise six existing items, add 16 new items, and eliminate confidential treatment of Schedule HC data. After considering the comments received, OTS has adopted the proposed revisions, with the exception of the proposals to revise the language of the question in line HC840 and to eliminate the confidential treatment of data in Schedule HC. OTS is setting the effective date for the revisions at March 31, 2007. OTS is submitting the adopted revisions to OMB for review and approval.

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 (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 a proposal to extend, with revision, the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for banks and the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) for savings associations, 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 Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to extend this information collection.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (the Agencies), request comment on these Proposed Illustrations of Consumer Information for Nontraditional Mortgage Products. The illustrations are intended to assist institutions in implementing the consumer protection portion of the Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Product Risks (Interagency Guidance), which is being published simultaneously with this notice. The illustrations are not intended as model forms, and institutions will not be required to use them. Rather, they are provided at the request of commenters to the Interagency Guidance to illustrate the type of information that the Interagency Guidance contemplates.

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, has 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 are in the parallel run stage of qualifying to adopt this framework. The proposal describes the scope of reporting and the proposed reporting requirements. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the FFIEC should modify the proposed reporting requirements prior to giving its final approval. The agencies will then submit the proposed reporting requirements to OMB for review and approval and, upon approval, OMB will assign control numbers.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), OTS may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Today, OTS is submitting proposed revisions to this collection of information to OMB for review and approval.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the OCC, the Board, the FDIC, the OTS, the NCUA, and the FTC (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. Pursuant to section 214(e) of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act or Act), the Agencies are requesting public comment on a proposed information collection concerning the ``Survey of Information Sharing Practices with Affiliates'' (Survey).

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to extend this information collection.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. Today, the Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury solicits comments on proposed changes to the Thrift Financial Report (TFR), Schedule SCConsolidated Statement of Condition, Schedule SOConsolidated Statement of Operations, Schedule LDLoan Data, Schedule CFConsolidated Cash Flow Information, Schedule SISupplemental Information, Schedule SQ Consolidated Supplemental Questions, and Schedule HCThrift Holding Company. The proposed changes are to become effective with the March 31, 2007, report. At the end of the comment period, OTS will analyze the comments and recommendations received to determine if it should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving its final approval. OTS will then submit the revisions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, NCUA and FTC (the Agencies) request comment on a proposal that would implement sections 114 and 315 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). As required by section 114, the Agencies are jointly proposing guidelines for financial institutions and creditors identifying patterns, practices, and specific forms of activity, that indicate the possible existence of identity theft. The Agencies also are proposing joint regulations requiring each financial institution and creditor to establish reasonable policies and procedures for implementing the guidelines, including a provision requiring credit and debit card issuers to assess the validity of a request for a change of address under certain circumstances. In addition, the Agencies are proposing joint regulations under section 315 that provide guidance regarding reasonable policies and procedures that a user of consumer reports must employ when such a user receives a notice of address discrepancy from a consumer reporting agency.

On May 19, 2004, the Agencies issued and requested comment on a proposed Interagency Statement on Sound Practices Concerning Complex Structured Finance Activities (``Initial Statement'') of national banks, state banks, bank holding companies, Federal and state savings associations, savings and loan holding companies, U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, and SEC registered broker-dealers and investment advisers (collectively, ``financial institutions'' or ``institutions''). The Initial Statement described some of the internal controls and risk management procedures that may help financial institutions identify, manage, and address the heightened reputational and legal risks that may arise from certain complex structured finance transactions (``CSFTs''). After reviewing the comments received on the Initial Statement, the Agencies are requesting comment on a revised proposed interagency statement (``Revised Statement''). The Revised Statement has been modified in numerous respects to address issues and concerns raised by commenters, clarify the purpose, scope and effect of the statement, and make the statement more principles-based. These changes include reorganizing and streamlining the document to reduce redundancies and to focus the statement on those CSFTs that may pose heightened levels of legal or reputational risk to the relevant institution (referred to as ``elevated risk CSFTs''). In addition, the Agencies have modified the examples of transactions that may present elevated risk to make these examples more risk-focused, and have recognized more explicitly that an institution's review and approval process for elevated risk CSFTs should be commensurate with, and focus on, the potential risks presented by the transaction to the institution. As discussed below, the Revised Statement will not affect or apply to the vast majority of small financial institutions, nor does it create any private rights of action.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. Today, the Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury solicits comments on proposed changes to the Thrift Financial Report (TFR): Schedule DIConsolidated Deposit Information. The changes are in response to the increased levels of deposit insurance for retirement accounts provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC'') Board of Directors on March 14, 2006, in final rules effective April 1, 2006, implementing certain provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005, (``Reform Act'') (Pub. L. 109-171). The proposed changes to the TFR are to become effective with the September 30, 2006, report. At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which OTS should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving its final approval. OTS will then submit the revisions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval.

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) is amending its regulations to incorporate numerous technical and conforming amendments necessary to reflect the recent merger of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF).

This proposal would revise OTS guidance relating to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Accompanying this proposal and published in the Rules and Regulations portion of today's Federal Register, is a Final Rule revising the definition of ``community development'' in OTS's CRA rule. This proposal addresses topics related to that Final Rule among others. Public comment is invited on the proposed guidance, as well as any other community reinvestment issues.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, NCUA, and FTC (the Agencies) request comment to gather information useful for developing the guidelines and regulations required by section 312 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act). Pursuant to section 312, the Agencies, acting in consultation and coordination, must: Establish guidelines for use by persons that furnish information to consumer reporting agencies (furnishers) regarding the accuracy and integrity of the consumer information that they furnish to those agencies; and prescribe regulations that require furnishers to establish reasonable policies and procedures for implementing the guidelines. Section 312 also requires the Agencies jointly to prescribe regulations that identify the circumstances under which a furnisher shall be required to reinvestigate a dispute concerning the accuracy of information contained in a consumer report on a consumer based on a direct request of the consumer.

On December 29, 2005, the OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA (the Agencies) published for public comment proposed Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products (Guidance). The Agencies are extending the comment period on the proposed guidance for 30 days.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to extend this information collection.