12 CFR Part 1263 - MEMBERS OF THE BANKS

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or Agency) is proposing to amend its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership to implement section 82001 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, which amended section 4(a) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to authorize certain credit unions without Federal share insurance to become Bank members. This proposed rule also would make appropriate conforming changes to FHFA's membership regulations.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has adopted a final rule revising its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership. The final rule adopts several key revisions included in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. These revisions will prevent the circumvention of the statute's membership restrictions by ineligible entities using captive insurers as conduits for Bank membership by defining the term “insurance company” to exclude captive insurers, thereby making them ineligible for Bank membership; permit any Bank that has admitted captives to membership a transition period within which to wind down its affairs with those entities; require a Bank to obtain and review an insurance company's audited financial statements when considering its application for membership; clarify the standards by which a Bank is to determine the “principal place of business” for its members, including specific standards for insurance companies and community development financial institutions; and remove obsolete provisions and make numerous non-substantive textual revisions so as to provide greater clarity. The final rule does not implement the proposed rule's provisions with respect to continuing eligibility requirements, in order, as explained below, to avoid compliance burdens that may outweigh the benefits. The specific revisions made, and the rationale for making them, are set forth in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing this final rule as a technical change to correct regulatory references to FHFA's address and postal zip code.

On September 12, 2014, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments proposing to amend its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership. The comment period for the proposed rule is set to expire on November 12, 2014. This notice extends the comment period through and including January 12, 2015.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is proposing to revise its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership primarily to require each applicant and member institution to hold one percent of its assets in “home mortgage loans” in order to satisfy the statutory requirement that an institution make long-term home mortgage loans; require each member to comply on an ongoing basis, rather than on a one-time basis as at present, with the foregoing requirement and, where applicable, with the requirement that it have at least 10 percent of its assets in “residential mortgage loans;” define the term “insurance company” to exclude from Bank membership captive insurers, but permit existing captive members to remain members for five years with certain restrictions on their ability to obtain advances; require a Bank to obtain and review an insurance company's audited financial statements when considering it for membership; and clarify the standards by which an insurance company's “principal place of business” is to be identified in determining the appropriate Bank district for membership.