12 CFR Chapter I - COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

This final rule amends the procedures used by the public to obtain information from the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, and in legal proceedings.

On July 17, 2018, the Agencies published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (proposal) that would amend the regulations implementing section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act. Section 13 contains certain restrictions on the ability of a banking entity and nonbank financial company supervised by the Board to engage in proprietary trading and have certain interests in, or relationships with, a hedge fund or private equity fund. The proposed amendments are intended to provide banking entities with clarity about what activities are prohibited and to improve supervision and implementation of section 13. In response to requests from commenters regarding issues addressed in the proposal, the public comment period has been extended for 30 days until October 17, 2018. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the proposal and prepare their comments.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing an interpretive and procedural rule to implement and clarify the requirements of section 104(a) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which amended certain provisions of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC or agency) invites comments on this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit ideas for building a new framework to transform or modernize the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA). A new CRA regulatory framework would help regulated financial institutions more effectively serve the convenience and needs of their communities by encouraging more lending, investment, and activity where it is needed most; evaluating CRA activities more consistently; and providing greater clarity regarding CRA-qualifying activities. A transformed or modernized framework also would facilitate more timely evaluations of bank CRA performance, offer greater transparency regarding ratings, promote a consistent interpretation of the CRA, and encourage increased community and economic development in low- and moderate-income (LMI) areas. Revisions of this nature are consistent with the original intent of the CRA: To help meet the credit needs of the communities that banks serve. In addition, these types of revisions would align with the transformation of the banking industry and reduce the complexity, ambiguity, and burden associated with the regulations.

The OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (collectively, the agencies) are jointly issuing and inviting comment on an interim final rule that amends the agencies' liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) rule to treat liquid and readily-marketable, investment grade municipal obligations as high-quality liquid assets (HQLA). Section 403 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act amends section 18 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and requires the agencies, for purposes of their LCR rule and any other regulation that incorporates a definition of the term “high-quality liquid asset” or another substantially similar term, to treat a municipal obligation as HQLA (that is a level 2B liquid asset) if that obligation is, as of the LCR calculation date, “liquid and readily-marketable” and “investment grade.”

The Board invites comment on an interim final rule that raises the asset size threshold for determining applicability of the Board's Small Bank Holding Company and Savings and Loan Holding Company Policy Statement (Regulation Y, appendix C) (Policy Statement) to $3 billion from $1 billion of total consolidated assets. The interim final rule also makes related and conforming revisions to the Board's regulatory capital rule (Regulation Q) and requirements for bank holding companies (Regulation Y). In connection with these changes, the Board is modifying the respondent panel for certain holding company financial reports.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this final rule amending the regulation text and official interpretations for Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The Bureau is required to calculate annually the dollar amounts for several provisions in Regulation Z; this final rule revises, as applicable, the dollar amounts for provisions implementing TILA and amendments to TILA, including under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act), the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (HOEPA), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). The Bureau is adjusting these amounts, where appropriate, based on the annual percentage change reflected in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in effect on June 1, 2018.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, or our) is proposing to amend its regulations affecting the governance of Farm Credit System (System) institutions. The proposed rule would modify the existing outside director eligibility criteria by expanding the list of persons who would be excluded from nomination for an outside director's seat to ensure the independence of outside directors.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending Regulation P, which requires, among other things, that financial institutions provide an annual notice describing their privacy policies and practices to their customers. The amendment implements a December 2015 statutory amendment to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act providing an exception to this annual notice requirement for financial institutions that meet certain conditions.

The NCUA Board (Board) proposes to amend its regulations regarding loans to members and lines of credit to members. The proposal would reduce regulatory burden by making amendments to improve clarity and to make compliance easier. Specifically, the Board proposes to make the NCUA's loan maturity requirements more user friendly by identifying in one section all of the various maturity limits applicable to federal credit union (FCU) loans. The Board also proposes to make explicit in its regulations that the maturity date for a “new loan” under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is calculated from the new date of origination. Additionally, the Board seeks comment on whether the agency should provide longer maturity limits for 1-4 family real estate loans and other loans permitted by the Federal Credit Union Act (FCU Act) such as home improvement, mobile home, and second mortgage loans. Finally, the Board proposes to more clearly express the limits for loans to a single borrower or group of associated borrowers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is repealing two parts of the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) regulations, which define terms used in Finance Board regulations, and which describe the process by which the Finance Board conducted its monthly interest rate survey (MIRS). The repealed definitions are either obsolete or duplicate definitions that FHFA has previously adopted. The regulation relating to the MIRS has become outdated because it does not accurately describe the manner in which FHFA currently conducts the survey. Although FHFA intends to continue to conduct the MIRS in the same manner as it is doing presently, there is no need to carry over this provision into its own regulations. This final rule also repeals a number of subchapters of the Finance Board regulations that it had previously reserved, but which no longer serve any purpose because they include no regulatory text, corrects inaccurate cross-references in regulations described in this rulemaking, and amends a table to update information relating to information collections under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The NCUA Board (Board) is seeking comment on a proposed rule that would amend the NCUA's previously revised regulations regarding prompt corrective action (PCA). The proposal would delay the effective date of the NCUA's October 29, 2015 final rule regarding risk-based capital (2015 Final Rule) for one year, moving the effective date from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020. During the extended delay period, the NCUA's current PCA requirements would remain in effect. The proposal would also amend the definition of a “complex” credit union adopted in the 2015 Final Rule for risk-based capital purposes by increasing the threshold level for coverage from $100 million to $500 million. These proposed changes would provide covered credit unions and the NCUA with additional time to prepare for the rule's implementation, and would exempt an additional 1,026 credit unions from the rule without subjecting the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) to undue risk.

The Board is adopting a final rule (final rule) to establish single-counterparty credit limits for bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations with $250 billion or more in total consolidated assets, including any U.S. intermediate holding company of such a foreign banking organization with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets, and any bank holding company identified as a global systemically important bank holding company under the Board's capital rules. The final rule implements section 165(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires the Board to impose limits on the amount of credit exposure that such a bank holding company or foreign banking organization can have to an unaffiliated company in order to reduce the risks arising from the company's failure.