Federal Reserve Board

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On May 3, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) reviewed a draft rule proposal that would require any US bank holding company identified as a global systemically important banking organization (GSIB), its subsidiaries and the US operations of any foreign GSIB (Covered Entities) to comply with new restrictions regarding non-cleared qualified financial contracts (QFCs).The Board currently estimates that the proposed rule would apply to 29 banking organizations, including eight US holding companies and approximately 21 foreign banking organizations.
Continue Reading Federal Reserve Board Proposes Restrictions on Qualified Financial Contracts Used by Systemically Important Banking Organizations

On April 19, the Federal Reserve Board implemented new procedures for examiners to conduct off-site loan reviews for community and small regional banks under the Board’s jurisdiction. The Board is offering this option as part of its ongoing efforts “to improve efficiency and provide burden reduction while maintaining quality supervision.”
Continue Reading Federal Reserve to Expand Off-Site Examinations

On March 4, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) announced a re-proposal of rules that set single-counterparty credit limits for domestic and foreign bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more. Prior versions of the rules, which will implement Section 165(e) of the Dodd-Frank Act, were proposed in 2011 and 2012.
Continue Reading Federal Reserve Board Proposes Enhanced Single-Counterparty Credit Limits for Large Banks

On February 19, federal banking agencies increased the number of small banks and savings associations eligible for an 18-month examination cycle rather than a 12-month cycle. The changes are intended to reduce regulatory compliance costs for smaller institutions, while still maintaining safety and soundness protections. Under the interim final rules, qualifying well-capitalized and well-managed banks and savings associations with less than $1 billion in total assets are now be eligible for an 18-month examination cycle. Previously, firms with less than $500 million in total assets could be eligible for the extended examination cycle. The examination cycle changes may also apply to qualifying well-capitalized and well-managed US branches and agencies of foreign banks with less than $1 billion in total assets.
Continue Reading Federal Banking Agencies Expand Number of Banks Qualifying for 18-Month Examination Cycle

On December 22, 2015, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, Agencies) announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank, small savings association, intermediate small bank and intermediate small savings association under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. Financial institutions are evaluated under different CRA examination procedures based upon their asset-size classification. Those meeting the small and intermediate small institution asset-size thresholds are not subject to the reporting requirements applicable to large banks and savings associations.
Continue Reading Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies Release CRA Asset-Size Thresholds for Small and Intermediate Small Institutions

On November 30, the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System approved a final rule specifying its procedures for emergency lending under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, the Federal Reserve’s authority to engage in emergency lending has been limited to programs and facilities with “broad-based eligibility” that have been established with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Dodd-Frank Act also prohibited lending to entities that are “insolvent” and imposed certain other limitations. According to the Federal Reserve, the final rule “incorporates a number of changes from the original proposal made in response to comments received on the proposal.” 
Continue Reading Federal Reserve Announces Final Rule on Emergency Lending

On November 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that the threshold for exempting loans from special appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans during 2016 will remain $25,500. The threshold amount will be effective January 1, 2016, and is the same threshold that applied in 2015–based on the annual percentage decrease in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as of June 1, 2015.
Continue Reading Agencies Announce Threshold for Smaller Loan Exemption From Appraisal Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans

On October 13, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) issued guidance that applies to insured depository institutions that are seeking to become state chartered member banks of the Federal Reserve System (state member banks), as well as to insured depository institutions merging with another institution where a state member bank would be the surviving entity, including those with $10 billion or less in total consolidated assets.
Continue Reading Federal Reserve Issues Guidance on Waiving of Examinations Prior to Membership or Merger Into a State Member Bank

On September 28, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, federal banking agencies) announced that they will hold an outreach meeting on Monday, October 19 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as part of their regulatory review under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). The meeting is the fifth in a series of outreach sessions that the federal banking agencies are holding throughout the country. The meeting will feature panel presentations by bankers and consumer and community groups. Interested persons also may present their views on any of the 12 categories of regulations listed here.
Continue Reading Banking Agencies Announce EGRPRA Meeting

On September 23, the Federal Reserve Board announced the approval of “enhancements” to the Federal Reserve Banks’ same-day automated clearing house (ACH) service. According to the Fed, “[t]he enhancements are intended to align the Reserve Banks’ same-day ACH service with recent amendments to NACHA’s (formerly known as the National Automated Clearing House Association) ACH…