New and Proposed Regulations
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New Regulations:
Other Real Estate Owned and Technical Amendments; Amendment of Effective Date and Correction-Effective Date - The correction in this document is effective January 1, 2020. The effective date of the final rule published on October 22, 2019 (84 FR 56369), is changed from December 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: On October 22, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published in the Federal Register a final rule to revise provisions on other real estate owned and make related technical amendments. The final rule had an effective date of December 1, 2019. The OCC has determined that an amendment of the effective date to January 1, 2020, is appropriate. (Federal Register Notice) Other Real Estate Owned and Technical Amendments; Correction-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: On October 22, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published in the Federal Register a final rule to revise the other real estate owned rule and make related technical amendments. The final rule had an effective date of December 1, 2019. On November 21, 2019, the OCC published a correction to that final rule in the Federal Register amending the final rule's effective date to January 1, 2020. This document corrects and supplements the November 21, 2019, final rule. (Federal Register Notice) Real Estate Appraisals-Effective Date October 9, 2019, except for the amendments in instructions 4, 5, 9, 10, 14, and 15, which are effective on January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, and FDIC (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a final rule to amend the agencies' regulations requiring appraisals of real estate for certain transactions. The final rule increases the threshold level at or below which appraisals are not required for residential real estate transactions from $250,000 to $400,000. The final rule defines a residential real estate transaction as a real estate-related financial transaction that is secured by a single 1-to-4 family residential property. For residential real estate transactions exempted from the appraisal requirement as a result of the revised threshold, regulated institutions must obtain an evaluation of the real property collateral that is consistent with safe and sound banking practices. The final rule makes a conforming change to add to the list of exempt transactions those transactions secured by residential property in rural areas that have been exempted from the agencies' appraisal requirement pursuant to the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The final rule requires evaluations for these exempt transactions. The final rule also amends the agencies' appraisal regulations to require regulated institutions to subject appraisals for federally related transactions to appropriate review for compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. (Federal Register Notice) Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C)-Effective Date January 1, 2020, except for the amendments to Sec. 1003.2 in amendatory instruction 6, the amendments to Sec. 1003.3 in amendatory instruction 7, and the amendments to supplement I to part 1003 in amendatory instruction 8, which are effective on January 1, 2022. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending Regulation C to adjust the threshold for reporting data about open-end lines of credit by extending to January 1, 2022, the current temporary threshold of 500 open-end lines of credit. The Bureau is also incorporating into Regulation C the interpretations and procedures from the interpretive and procedural rule that the Bureau issued on August 31, 2018, and implementing further the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. (Federal Register Notice) Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C) Adjustment to Asset-Size Exemption Threshold-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending the official commentary that interprets the requirements of the Bureau's Regulation C (Home Mortgage Disclosure) to reflect the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions based on the annual percentage change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Based on the 1.6 percent increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2019, the exemption threshold is adjusted to $47 million from $46 million. Therefore, banks, savings associations, and credit unions with assets of $47 million or less as of December 31, 2019, are exempt from collecting data in 2020. (Federal Register Notice) Truth In Lending (Regulation Z)-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Board and the Bureau are publishing final rules amending the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended TILA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage change in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2019, the exemption threshold will increase from $57,200 to $58,300 effective January 1, 2020. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Consumer Leasing Act's threshold for exempt consumer leases, the Board and the Bureau are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Consumer Leasing Act elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. (Federal Register Notice) Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) Adjustment To Asset-Size Exemption Threshold-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending the official commentary that interprets the requirements of the Bureau's Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to reflect a change in the asset-size threshold for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption to the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan. This amendment is based on the annual percentage change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Based on the 1.6 percent increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2019, the exemption threshold is adjusted to $2.202 billion from $2.167 billion. Therefore, creditors with assets of less than $2.202 billion (including assets of certain affiliates) as of December 31, 2019, are exempt, if other requirements of Regulation Z also are met, from establishing escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans in 2020. (Federal Register Notice) Consumer Leasing (Regulation M)-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Board and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer leases be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage change in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2019, the exemption threshold will increase from $57,200 to $58,300 effective January 1, 2020. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Truth in Lending Act's threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions, the Board and the Bureau are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Truth in Lending Act elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. (Federal Register Notice) Regulatory Capital Rule: Capital Simplification for Qualifying Community Banking Organizations-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a final rule that provides for a simple measure of capital adequacy for certain community banking organizations, consistent with section 201 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (final rule). Under the final rule, depository institutions and depository institution holding companies that have less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets and meet other qualifying criteria, including a leverage ratio (equal to tier 1 capital divided by average total consolidated assets) of greater than 9 percent, will be eligible to opt into the community bank leverage ratio framework (qualifying community banking organizations). Qualifying community banking organizations that elect to use the community bank leverage ratio framework and that maintain a leverage ratio of greater than 9 percent will be considered to have satisfied the generally applicable risk-based and leverage capital requirements in the agencies' capital rules (generally applicable rule) and, if applicable, will be considered to have met the well-capitalized ratio requirements for purposes of section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. The final rule includes a two-quarter grace period during which a qualifying community banking organization that temporarily fails to meet any of the qualifying criteria, including the greater than 9 percent leverage ratio requirement, generally would still be deemed well-capitalized so long as the banking organization maintains a leverage ratio greater than 8 percent. At the end of the grace period, the banking organization must meet all qualifying criteria to remain in the community bank leverage ratio framework or otherwise must comply with and report under the generally applicable rule. Similarly, a banking organization that fails to maintain a leverage ratio greater than 8 percent would not be permitted to use the grace period and must comply with the capital rule's generally applicable requirements and file the appropriate regulatory reports. (Federal Register Notice) Appraisals for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans Exemption Threshold-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The OCC, the Board, and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations for their regulations that implement section 129H of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Section 129H of TILA establishes special appraisal requirements for ``higher-risk mortgages,'' termed ``higher-priced mortgage loans'' or ``HPMLs'' in the agencies' regulations. The OCC, the Board, the Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the Agencies) issued joint final rules implementing these requirements, effective January 18, 2014. The Agencies' rules exempted, among other loan types, transactions of $25,000 or less, and required that this loan amount be adjusted annually based on any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the OCC, the Board, and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2019, the exemption threshold will increase from $26,700 to $27,200, effective January 1, 2020. (Federal Register Notice) Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosures-Effective Date January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this final rule amending an appendix for Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The Bureau is required to calculate annually the dollar amount of the maximum allowable charge for disclosures by a consumer reporting agency to a consumer pursuant to FCRA Section 609; this final rule establishes the maximum allowable charge for the 2020 calendar year. (Federal Register Notice) Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds-Effective Date: The effective date for amendatory instructions 1 through 14 (OCC), 16 through 29 (Board), 31 through 44 (FDIC), and 46 through 58 (CFTC) is January 1, 2020; the effective date for amendatory instructions 60 through 73 (SEC) is January 13, 2020; and the effective date for the addition of appendices Z at amendatory instructions 15 (OCC), 30 (Board), and 45 (FDIC) is January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, except for amendatory instruction 74 (SEC), which is effective January 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Compliance date: Banking entities must comply with the final amendments by January 1, 2021. Until the compliance date, banking entities must continue to comply with the 2013 rule (as set forth in appendices Z to 12 CFR parts 44, 248, and 351 and 17 CFR parts 75 and 255). Alternatively, a banking entity may voluntarily comply, in whole or in part, with the amendments adopted in this release prior to the compliance date, subject to the agencies’ completion of necessary technological changes. SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, FDIC, SEC, and CFTC are adopting amendments to 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. These final amendments are intended to provide banking entities with clarity about what activities are prohibited and to improve supervision and implementation of section 13. (Federal Register Notice) Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds; Corrections-Effective Date: January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on Thursday, November 14, 2019, regarding Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds. These corrections are necessary to standardize the language in the FDIC regulations with the other agencies' regulations. (Federal Register Notice) Community Reinvestment Act Regulations-Effective Date: January 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (collectively, the Agencies) are amending their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to adjust the asset-size thresholds used to define ``small bank'' or ``small savings association'' and ``intermediate small bank'' or ``intermediate small savings association.'' As required by the CRA regulations, the adjustment to the threshold amount is based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). (Federal Register Notice) Regulatory Capital Treatment for High Volatility Commercial Real Estate (HVCRE) Exposures-Effective Date: April 1, 2020. SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a final rule to revise the definition of ``high volatility commercial real estate (HVCRE) exposure'' in the regulatory capital rule. This final rule conforms this definition to the statutory definition of ``high volatility commercial real estate acquisition, development, or construction (HVCRE ADC) loan,'' in accordance with section 214 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA). The final rule also clarifies the capital treatment for loans that finance the development of land under the revised HVCRE exposure definition. (Federal Register Notice) Proposed Regulations: Permissible Interest on Loans That Are Sold, Assigned, or Otherwise Transferred - DATES: Comments must be received by January 21, 2020. SUMMARY: Federal law establishes that national banks and savings associations (banks) may charge interest at the maximum rate permitted to any state-chartered or licensed lending institution in the state where the bank is located. Federal law also provides national banks and Federal savings associations with the authority to enter into and assign contracts. Well-established authority also authorizes banks to sell, assign, or otherwise transfer loans. Despite these clear authorities, recent developments have created uncertainty about the ongoing validity of the interest term after a bank sells, assigns, or otherwise transfers a loan. This rule would clarify that when a bank sells, assigns, or otherwise transfers a loan, interest permissible prior to the transfer continues to be permissible following the transfer. (Federal Register Notice) Request for Information Regarding the Integrated Mortgage Disclosures Disclosures Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) Rule Assessment - DATES: Comments must be received on or before: January 21, 2020. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is conducting an assessment of the Integrated Mortgage Disclosures Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) Rule and certain amendments in accordance with section 1022(d) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). The Bureau is requesting public comment on its plans for assessing this rule as well as certain recommendations and information that may be useful in conducting the planned assessment. (Federal Register Notice) Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities - DATES: The comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking published on November 7, 2019 at 84 FR 59970, is reopened from December 9, 2019, to January 23, 2020. SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, FDIC, FCA, and FHFA (collectively, the agencies) are reopening the comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on November 7, 2019, to amend the agencies' regulations that require swap dealers and security-based swap dealers under the agencies' respective jurisdictions to exchange margin with their counterparties for swaps that are not centrally cleared (Proposed Swap Margin Amendments). Reopening the comment period that closed on December 9, 2019, will allow interested persons additional time to analyze and comment on the Proposed Swap Margin Amendments. (Federal Register Notice) Credit Risk Retention-Notice of Commencement of Review - DATES: Comments on the review must be received by February 3, 2020. SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, FDIC, Commission, FHFA, and HUD (the agencies) are providing notice of the commencement of the review of the definition of qualified residential mortgage; the community-focused residential mortgage exemption; and the exemption for qualifying three-to-four unit residential mortgage loans, in each case as currently set forth in the Credit Risk Retention Regulations (as defined below) as adopted by the agencies. (Federal Register Notice) Incorporation of Existing Statement of Policy Regarding Requests for Participation in the Affairs of an Insured Depository Institution by Convicted Individuals - DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 14, 2020. SUMMARY: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC'') proposes to revise the existing regulations requiring persons convicted of certain criminal offenses to obtain prior written consent before participating in the conduct of the affairs of any depository institution to incorporate the FDIC's existing Statement of Policy, and to amend the regulations setting forth the FDIC's procedures and standards applicable to an application to obtain the FDIC's prior written consent. Following the issuance of final regulations, the FDIC's existing Statement of Policy would be rescinded. The proposed incorporation of the Statement of Policy into the FDIC's regulations would provide for greater transparency as to its application, provide greater certainty as to the FDIC's application process and help both insured depository institutions and affected individuals to understand its impact and to potentially seek relief from its provisions. (Federal Register Notice) Community Reinvestment Act Regulations; Request for Public Input - DATES: Comments should be submitted by March 10, 2020. SUMMARY: On January 9, 2020, the OCC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the agencies) published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The OCC seeks public input with this request for information to assist in determining how the proposed rule might be revised to ensure that the final rule better achieves the statute's purpose of encouraging banks to help serve their communities by making the framework more objective, transparent, consistent, and easy to understand. Specifically, this request for information seeks bank-specific data and information to supplement currently-available data and to inform potential revisions to modernize and strengthen the CRA regulatory framework. (Federal Register Notice) For More Information Contact:
Jennifer Heaton, Vice President of Government & Executive Affairs |
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