12 CFR - Banks and Banking

On February 5, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) published a Request for Information Regarding Bureau Rules of Practice for Adjudication Proceedings (RFI), which provided that comments must be received on or before April 6, 2018. On February 22, 2018, the Bureau received a letter from two industry trade associations requesting a 30-day comment period extension for this RFI and for two other Bureau Requests for Information. The additional time is requested in order to allow commenters to develop meaningful responses to the RFI and the other identified Requests for Information. The Bureau believes the extension will allow all stakeholders the opportunity to provide more robust responses. In response to this request, the Bureau has determined that a 30 day extension of the comment period is appropriate.

The NCUA Board (Board) is issuing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit stakeholder comments on ways to streamline, clarify, and improve the standard Federal Credit Union (FCU) bylaws. The standard FCU bylaws provide a comprehensive set of corporate governance procedures that are mandatory for any FCU that had not adopted bylaws as of November 30, 2007. The Board is considering a number of significant changes to the FCU bylaws to provide enhanced operational flexibility to FCUs and to reduce regulatory compliance burdens on all FCUs.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is publishing for comment proposed amendments to Regulation J. The proposed amendments are intended to clarify and simplify certain provisions of Subpart A of Regulation J, remove obsolete provisions, and align the rights and obligations of sending banks, paying banks, and Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) with the Board's recent amendments to Regulation CC, Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks, to reflect the virtually all-electronic check collection and return environment. The proposed rule would also amend subpart B of Regulation J to clarify that terms used in financial messaging standards, such as ISO 20022, do not confer legal status or responsibilities.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing notice and providing an opportunity for the public to comment on proposed amendments to its regulation on the Federal Home Loan Banks' (Banks) Affordable Housing Program (AHP or Program). The proposed amendments would provide the Banks additional authority to allocate their AHP funds; authorize the Banks to establish special competitive funds that target specific affordable housing needs in their districts; provide the Banks authority to design and implement their own project selection scoring criteria, subject to meeting certain FHFA-prescribed outcome requirements; remove the requirement for retention agreements for owner-occupied units; further align the project monitoring requirements with those of other federal government funding programs; clarify the provisions on remediating AHP noncompliance; clarify certain operational requirements; and streamline and reorganize the regulation.

On February 23, 2018, the NCUA Board (Board) issued a final rule adopting amendments to its share insurance requirements rule to provide stakeholders with greater transparency regarding the calculation of each eligible financial institution's pro rata share of a declared equity distribution from the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). A clerical error appeared which confuses what CFR unit is being amended. This document corrects that error.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this final rule amending certain Regulation Z mortgage servicing rules issued in 2016 relating to the timing for servicers to transition to providing modified or unmodified periodic statements and coupon books in connection with a consumer's bankruptcy case.

The Board is amending its rules regarding delegation of authority to delegate to the Secretary of the Board the authority to review and determine an appeal of denial of access to Board records under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and the Board's rules regarding such access.

The FDIC is adopting a final rule (final rule) to amend its international banking regulations consistent with section 939A (section 939A) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) and the FDIC's authority under section 5(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act). The final rule adopts without change the revisions and amendments that the FDIC proposed in a June 2016 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR or proposed rule). These revisions and amendments include: Replacing references to credit ratings in the regulation's definition of investment grade with an alternative standard of creditworthiness; and making changes to the eligibility criteria for the types of assets that insured branches of foreign banks may pledge for the benefit of the FDIC.

The Board, OCC, FDIC, FCA, and FHFA (each an Agency and, collectively, the Agencies) are seeking comment on proposed amendments to the minimum margin requirements for registered swap dealers, major swap participants, security-based swap dealers, and major security-based swap participants for which one of the Agencies is the prudential regulator (Swap Margin Rule). The Agencies are proposing these amendments in light of the rules recently adopted by the Board, the OCC, and the FDIC that impose restrictions on certain non-cleared swaps and non-cleared security-based swaps and other financial contracts (Covered QFCs) (the QFC Rules). The QFC Rules amend the definition of “Qualifying Master Netting Agreement” in the Federal banking agencies' regulatory capital and liquidity rules to ensure that a Covered QFC is not prevented from being part of a Qualifying Master Netting Agreement solely because the Covered QFC conforms to the new requirements in the QFC Rules. The FCA also plans to propose amendments to its capital rules, including potential revisions to its regulatory definition of “Qualifying Master Netter Agreement,” which is expected to be identical to the definition used in the Federal banking agencies' regulatory capital and liquidity rules. The Agencies are proposing to amend the definition of “Eligible Master Netting Agreement” in the Swap Margin Rule so that it remains harmonized with the amended definition of “Qualifying Master Netting Agreement” in the Federal banking agencies' regulatory capital and liquidity rules, and amendments to the capital rules that the FCA separately plans to propose. This proposed rule would also ensure that netting agreements of firms subject to the Swap Margin Rule are not excluded from the definition of “Eligible Master Netting Agreement” based solely on their compliance with the QFC Rules. The Agencies are also proposing that any legacy non-cleared swap or non-cleared security-based swap ( i.e., a non-cleared swap or non-cleared security-based swap entered into before the applicable compliance date) that is not subject to the margin requirements of the Swap Margin Rule would not become subject to the provisions of the Swap Margin Rule if the non-cleared swap or non-cleared security-based swap is amended solely to comply with the requirements of the QFC Rules.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, and the official interpretations to those regulations. This rulemaking relates to a final rule published in the Federal Register on November 22, 2016, as amended on April 25, 2017, regarding prepaid accounts under Regulations E and Z. The Bureau is finalizing modifications to several aspects of that rule, including with respect to error resolution and limitations on liability for prepaid accounts where the financial institution has not successfully completed its consumer identification and verification process; application of the rule's credit-related provisions to digital wallets that are capable of storing funds; certain other clarifications and minor adjustments; technical corrections; and an extension of the overall effective date to April 1, 2019.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final rule on the housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for 2018 through 2020. The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (the Safety and Soundness Act) requires FHFA to establish annual housing goals for mortgages purchased by the Enterprises. The housing goals include separate categories for single-family and multifamily mortgages on housing that is affordable to low-income and very low-income families, among other categories. The final rule establishes the benchmark levels for each of the housing goals and subgoals for 2018 through 2020. In addition, the final rule makes a number of clarifying and conforming changes, including revisions to the requirements for the housing plan that an Enterprise may be required to submit to FHFA in response to a failure to achieve one or more of the housing goals or subgoals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is finalizing its interim final rule that amended its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulation. The amendments to FHFA's regulation incorporate the requirements of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 by giving notice of the circumstances under which FHFA may extend the time limit for responding to a FOIA request due to unusual circumstance; notifying a requester of their right to seek dispute resolution services; affording a requester a minimum of 90 days to file an administrative appeal; and clarifying and updating the existing regulation. The interim final rule became effective on March 15, 2017. This final rule finalizes the interim final rule with minor revisions for consistency and clarification.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist the Bureau in considering whether and how to amend the Bureau's Rules of Practice for Adjudication Proceedings.

The NCUA Board (Board) proposes to amend part 709 of its rules to update and clarify the procedures that apply to claims administration for federally insured credit unions that enter involuntary liquidation. Specifically, the proposal would amend the current rule's payout priority provision by specifying the conditions that claims in the nature of severance must meet to be allowed as provable claims.

This rule implements inflation adjustments to civil money penalties (CMPs) that the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation (FCSIC) may impose under the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended. These adjustments are required by 2015 amendments to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990.

The NCUA Board (Board) is amending its regulations to adjust the maximum amount of each civil monetary penalty (CMP) within its jurisdiction to account for inflation. This action, including the amount of the adjustments, is required under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

This regulation implements inflation adjustments to civil money penalties (CMPs) that the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) may impose or enforce pursuant to the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended (Farm Credit Act), and pursuant to the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended by the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (Reform Act), and further amended by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Biggert-Waters Act).

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Board”) is issuing a final rule amending its rules of practice and procedure to adjust the amount of each civil money penalty (“CMP”) provided by law within its jurisdiction to account for inflation as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 11, 2013, regarding Regulatory Capital Rules. This publication corrects a typographical error in those rules whereby a transition provision was unintentionally deleted. The Board also published inconsistent amendments to Regulation Q in final rules published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2014, and August 14, 2015, that pertain to firms identified as global systemically important bank holding companies (GSIBs). This publication resolves these inconsistencies.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is proposing to revise its Regulation M, which was issued to implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) transferred rulemaking authority for a number of consumer financial protection laws, including the CLA, from the Board to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau). Under section 1029 of the Dodd-Frank Act, however, the Board retains authority to issue rules for motor vehicle dealers that are predominantly engaged in the sale and servicing of motor vehicles, the leasing and servicing of motor vehicles, or both, and are otherwise not subject to the Bureau's regulatory authority. The Board is proposing to revise its Regulation M and the accompanying Official Staff Commentary to reflect this change in the persons covered by the Board's Regulation M.

This document makes technical corrections to regulations that were published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2017. The FDIC added Part 382 to its regulations to improve the resolvability of systemically important U.S. banking organizations and systemically important foreign banking organizations and enhance the resilience and the safety and soundness of certain State savings associations and State-chartered banks and made certain conforming changes to Part 329. This document is being published to make technical corrections to certain rules under Parts 329 and 382 and make effective amendatory instruction 6 in the previously published regulation.