New Identity Theft Brochure: The federal bank, credit union, and thrift regulatory agencies today announced publication of a revised identity theft brochure--You Have the Power to Stop Identity Theft--to assist consumers in preventing and resolving identity theft.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/20081222a.htm
bcreg/20081216a.htm

Fed Changes Payment System Risk policy: : The Federal Reserve Board adopted revisions to its Payment System Risk (PSR) policy that are designed to improve intraday liquidity management and payment flows for the banking system, while also helping to mitigate the credit exposures of the Federal Reserve Banks from daylight overdrafts.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/20081219a.htm
bcreg/20081217a.htm

Unfair and Deceptive Acts related to credit cards : Unfair and Deceptive Acts related to credit cards: The Federal Reserve Board, Federal Trade Commission Act, Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration approved final rules that would better protect credit card users by prohibiting certain unfair acts or practices and improving the disclosures consumers receive in connection with credit card accounts and other revolving credit plans. The final rules prohibiting certain credit card practices were adopted under the Among other things, the rules will: (1) protect consumers from unexpected interest charges; (2) forbid firm from using the two-cycle billing method; (3) provide consumers a reasonable amount of time to make payments; (4) prohibit use of payment allocation methods that increase interest; and (5) limit fees on subprime credit cards.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20081218a.htm
bcreg/20081217a.htm

Week Ending December 21, 2008

Agencies Approve Final Rule on Deduction of Goodwill from Tier 1 Capital: The federal banking and thrift regulatory agencies approved a final rule that would permit a banking organization to reduce the amount of goodwill it must deduct from tier 1 capital by any associated deferred tax liability.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/
bcreg/20081216a.htm

Agencies Release Annual CRA Asset-Size Threshold Adjustments for Small and Intermediate Small Institutions: The federal bank regulatory 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.  The annual adjustments for banks are required by the 2005 CRA regulatory amendments and for savings associations by the OTS 2007 CRA regulatory amendments.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/
bcreg/20081217a.htm

Week Ending December 14, 2008

No Updates

Week Ending December 7, 2008

Federal Reserve seeks public comment on proposed changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending): The Federal Reserve Board proposed for public comment changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) that would revise the disclosure requirements for mortgage loans.  The revisions would implement the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA) which was enacted in July 2008 as an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg
/20081205a.htm

Civil Money Penalty—Inflation Adjustment Amendment: Final Rule: On November 10, 2008, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published in the Federal Register the attached final rule amending its rules of practice and procedure to adjust the maximum amount of each civil money penalty (CMP) within its jurisdiction.  The adjustments apply only to violations or practices that occur after December 10, the effective date of this rule.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2008-35.html

Civil Money Penalty—Inflation Adjustment Amendment: Final Rule: The purpose of this issuance is to inform all national banks and federal branches and agencies of fees charged by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for year 2009. Changes are effective January 1, 2009.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2008-34.html

Week Ending November 30, 2008

Federal Reserve announces the creation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF): The Federal Reserve Board announced the creation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), a facility that will help market participants meet the credit needs of households and small businesses by supporting the issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) collateralized by student loans, auto loans, credit card loans, and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary
/20081125a.htm

Federal Reserve announces it will initiate a program to purchase the direct obligations of housing-related government-sponsored enterprises and mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae:The Federal Reserve announced on Tuesday that it will initiate a program to purchase the direct obligations of housing-related government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)--Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks--and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae.  Spreads of rates on GSE debt and on GSE-guaranteed mortgages have widened appreciably of late.  This action is being taken to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of houses, which in turn should support housing markets and foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary
/20081125b.htm

Week Ending November 23, 2008

Truth in Savings Act - Regulation DD: Revised Examination Procedures : Revised examination procedures for Regulation DD in the "Depository Services" booklet of the Comptroller's Handbook for Consumer Compliance clarify requirements for e-communication and the regulation's relationship to the E-Sign Act.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2008-33.html

Week Ending November 16, 2008

Agencies Seek Comment on Proposed Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines : The federal bank, thrift and credit union regulatory agencies today jointly issued for comment proposed Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines that reaffirm supervisory expectations for sound real estate appraisal and evaluation practices. The proposed guidance builds on the existing federal regulatory framework to clarify risk management principles and internal controls for ensuring that financial institutions’ real estate collateral valuations (both appraisals and evaluations) are reliable and support their real estate-related transactions. The initiative is intended to respond to heightened concerns over appraisals and credit quality.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2008-133.htm

OCC Responds on Credit Card Proposal: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency responded today to a request that it approve a new workout program for troubled credit card borrowers. In its response, the agency noted that while the OCC strongly encourages national banks to work with distressed borrowers, the agency cannot approve a plan that defers the timely recognition of losses, since that would compromise the transparency and integrity of a bank’s financial reports and could lead to a loss of public confidence in the banking system.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2008-132.htm

Interagency Statement on Meeting the Needs of Creditworthy Borrowers: The Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve have recently put into place several programs designed to promote financial stability and to mitigate procyclical effects of the current market conditions. These programs make new capital widely available to U.S. financial institutions, broaden and increase the guarantees on bank deposit accounts and certain liabilities, and provide backup liquidity to U.S. banking organizations. These efforts are designed to strengthen the capital foundation of our financial system and improve the overall functioning of credit markets.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2008-131.htm

Agencies Issue Final Rule to Implement Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act:The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board today announced the release of a joint final rule to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The Act prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with unlawful Internet gambling, including payments made through credit cards, electronic funds transfers, and checks.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg
/20081112b.htm

Week Ending November 2, 2008

Change in Capital: Treatment of Certain Claims on, or Guaranteed by, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Request for Comments: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (agencies) are seeking comment on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that would change the risk weight from 20 percent to 10 percent on Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) guaranteed securities, as well as their debt issuances.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2008-32.html

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: Legal Requirements: This bulletin provides general information about the provisions of the SCRA that are most likely to affect national banks, including the recent revisions to SCRA. This guidance supersedes OCC Advisory Letter 2004-8 (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act), June 18, 2004.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2008-30.html

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