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Deposit Insurance Assessment Appeals: Guidelines & Decisions AAC-2002-03 (November 25,
2002)
Decision At its meeting held on October 30, 2002, the Committee allowed the Bank,
pursuant to Committee rules, to appear and make an oral presentation of its
case for an assessment risk classification change. The Committee found that
the presentation was highly professional and extremely helpful in resolving
this matter, which involves application of the supervisory subgroup (SS)
cut-off dates set out in Financial Institution Letter (FIL)
30-2000 (May 25, 2000). The Bank is challenging its assignment by the FDIC to supervisory
subgroup 1B. That assignment was based, in part, on an October 20, 2000
examination conducted by the Banks primary federal regulator (the Office of
Thrift Supervision (OTS)), the last examination transmitted to the Bank
before the September 30, 2001 SS cut-off date. Supervisory subgroup assignments are made in accordance with the FDICs
regulations, specifically, 12 C.F.R.
§ 327.4(a)(2). That section requires
the FDIC to consider supervisory evaluations provided by an institutions
primary federal regulator and other relevant information in making these
assignments. Under guidelines set forth in FIL 30-2000, the FDIC assigns a supervisory
subgroup to each institution for each semiannual assessment period based on
a variety of factors, including FDIC review of the last examination
finalized and transmitted to the institution by the primary regulator on or
before the cut-off date. The FDICs review may also include: Other written
findings that result in a composite rating change by the primary regulator;
FDIC examinations finalized on or before the cut-off date; results of
offsite statistical analysis of reported financial statements; or other
pertinent information. Under the FIL, the cut-off date for the January 1
assessment period is the preceding September 30. The FIL expressly states
that the cut-off date refers to the date the written composite rating is
transmitted to the institution and not to the examination as of
date, the date of financial statements used in the examination, the starting
or closing date of the examination, or the date of exit meetings. The FDIC Board of Directors (Board) addressed the need for cut-off
dates in a 1993 rulemaking in which it called strict application of the
cut-off date the fairest approach. 58 Fed. Reg. 34357, 34359 (June
25, 1993). The Board articulated three bases for this view. First, the
approach is fair to all institutions and to the deposit insurance funds.
Whether upgraded or downgraded after the cut-off date, no insured
institution will see the effect of that change until the next semiannual
period. And cut-off dates protect the deposit insurance funds, since it is
likely that only upgraded institutions would ever seek reclassification of
their SS assignment. Second, if changes finalized after the cut-off date were
considered, assessment notices would in effect become preliminary notices,
subject to later revision for, potentially, hundreds of institutions.
Finally, the cut-off date preserves needed predictability for the risk-based
assessment system. In endorsing strict application of cut-off dates, the
Board allowed for exceptions only in unusual circumstances. To ensure greater fairness in the application of cut-off dates, and to
allow consideration of unusual circumstances, the FDIC continues to look at
the information referred to in FIL-30-2000 for a period of approximately six
weeks after the cut-off date, in what is known as the reconcilement
period. Institutions whose risk profile might have changed since their last
examination can be subject to upgrades or downgrades, as more recent exam
information may reflect, during the reconcilement period. Based upon certain
factors, institutions may be flagged for review in the reconcilement period,
although flagging is not a prerequisite for changing an institutions rating
during that period. Thus, under the guidelines set out in the FIL, the FDIC looks to see
whether exam results were transmitted in writing to the institution prior to
the cut-off date, unless an institution is reviewed during the reconcilement
period or there is evidence of a change that is confirmed by an ongoing exam
during that period. The Bank contends that as of and before the September 30, 2001 cut-off
date, facts and circumstances showed that it should have been assigned to SS
1A. The Bank maintains that improvement was evident during the reconcilement
period and was confirmed in its next examination, begun by OTS on October 9,
2001. The results of that examination, communicated to the Bank by OTS on
December 20, 2001, did in fact show improvement in the Banks CAMELS rating.
In hindsight, therefore, the Banks overall condition as of the September
30, 2001, cut-off date appears to have merited a supervisory subgroup
classification of 1A. This fact is at the core of the Banks argument. The
real question, however, is not whether the Bank was ultimately found to
merit an upgrade, but rather by what date did that information become
available. In the Committees view, the dispositive fact here is that the upgrade to
the Banks ratings became apparent only as of December 20, 2001, the date
OTS communicated its tentative exam results to the Bank. On November 16,
2001, the end of the reconcilement period, insufficient information was
available to merit a change in the Banks rating. By that date, the OTS exam
begun October 9, 2001, was not complete and no tentative ratings had been
assigned or even discussed. No issues involving the Banks SS rating were
raised by OTS at a meeting with the FDIC held November 27, 2001, to review
actions taken during the reconcilement process. Indeed, at a December 11,
2001, meeting between Bank management, the OTS, and the FDIC, OTS advised
the Bank that its ratings would be disclosed at the next planned
meeting. In short, there was no change to the banks rating confirmed in an
ongoing examination by its primary federal regulator during the
reconcilement period. The Committee concludes that there was insufficient evidence for the FDIC
to determine that an upgrade in the Banks condition was likely any time
prior to communication by OTS of the Banks tentative exam rating. By that
date, the September 30 cut-off and the reconcilement period had both passed.
To grant the Bank the relief it requests would require in effect an
extension of the cut-off date and reconcilement period to December 20, 2001.
If the Committee did so, it would depart from years of established and
consistent FDIC practice and would so attenuate the cut-off date as to
render it barely discernible and largely ineffective. While the FDIC would
like to reach out as far as possible to adjust supervisory subgroup
classifications, the Bank would have the FDIC reach too far. As a final
note, the cut-off date provides certainty for the industry as well as the
FDIC. It also sometimes results in a benefit for institutions that are
downgraded after the cut-off date, as happened to the Bank in the first
semiannual period of 2001. The Committee has carefully considered the oral presentation as well as
all of the written submissions made in this matter. Accordingly, while the
Committee sympathizes with the Banks position and is mindful that had the
results of the OTS exam been apparent sooner the result here might be
different, for the reasons set forth above the Banks appeal is denied. By direction of the Assessment Appeals Committee.
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Last Updated 06/30/2005 | Legal@fdic.gov |