Advertisement of Membership
The FDIC issued for public comment a proposed amendment to Part 328 of its regulations
concerning the advertisement of membership. The proposed rule would consolidate the
provisions that require FDIC-insured institutions to display official signs; extend to all
insured depository institutions the official advertising statement that is currently
required only for insured banks; streamline the exceptions to the required use of the
official advertising statement; prohibit the use of the official advertising statement in
advertisements concerning nondeposit products; and delegate to certain FDIC officials the
authority to approve the translation of the official advertising statement into other
languages.
Approved: January 21, 1997
Published: February 11, 1997
Resolution and Receivership Rules
The FDIC issued for public comment certain technical revisions to its regulation on
resolutions and receiverships contained in Part 360. The FDIC proposed an amendment to
correct a typographical error and another to remove an unnecessary section relating to
security interests of Federal Home Loan Banks in FDIC-administered receiverships.
Approved: February 4, 1997
Published: February 20, 1997
Uniformity in Risk-Based Capital Standards
The FDIC, along with the other bank and thrift regulatory agencies, issued for public
comment amendments to Part 325 of its regulations regarding risk-based capital standards
and leverage capital standards. The effect of the proposal would be to have uniform
risk-based capital treatments for construction loans on presold residential properties,
real estate loans secured by junior liens on 1-to-4 family residential properties, and
investments in mutual funds. The proposal would result in uniform and simplified minimum
Tier 1 leverage capital standards.
Approved: February 4, 1997
Published: October 27, 1997
Outreach Programs
The FDIC issued for public comment a proposed rule to Part 361 of its regulations that
provide that the FDIC certify the eligibility of businesses and law firms for the minority
and womens contracting program. The purpose of the proposed amendment would be to
replace a self-certification system with a more formal certification program. The proposed
rule also would establish an outreach program for individuals with disabilities.
Approved: March 25, 1997
Published: April 14, 1997
Simplification of Deposit Insurance Rules
The FDIC proposed amendments to Part 330 of its regulations to clarify and simplify the
deposit insurance regulations. The proposed rule includes many technical changes to the
regulations, the most notable being the inclusion of common examples illustrating how the
FDIC insures the most basic types of deposit accounts, primarily consumer accounts.
Approved: April 29, 1997
Published: May 14, 1997
Municipal Securities Dealers
The FDIC proposed to rescind Part 343 of its regulations that requires insured state
nonmember banks that are municipal securities dealers to report certain information about
people who are or seek to be municipal securities principals or municipal securities
representatives. The FDIC determined that it is not required by law to issue its own
regulations governing the professional qualification of these individuals and that the
current regulation is unnecessary and duplicative.
Approved: April 29, 1997
Published: May 16, 1997
Notification of Changes in Insured Status
The FDIC issued for public comment amendments to Part 307 of its regulations to clarify
that an insured depository institution must provide the FDIC with a certification of any
partial or total assumption of deposits from another insured depository institution,
unless the deposits assumed are from an institution in default.
Approved: April 29, 1997
Published: May 14, 1997
International Banking Activities
The FDIC issued for public comment amendments to various parts of its regulations
regarding international banking activities. The proposed rules would allow well-managed,
state nonmember banks with international operations to undertake a number of activities
abroad without filing a formal application. The proposed rules also would clarify existing
regulations for state-licensed, insured branches of foreign banks, and simplify
regulations on the accounting treatment for foreign lending activities of state nonmember
banks.
Approved: June 24, 1997
Published: July 15, 1997
Capital Treatment of Servicing Assets
The FDIC, along with the other bank and thrift regulatory agencies, issued for public
comment a proposed amendment to Part 325 of its regulations regarding the regulatory
capital treatment of mortgage servicing assets. The proposed rule would ease limits on the
volume of mortgage servicing assets that FDIC-supervised banks can recognize in
calculating Tier 1 capital. The proposed rule also would align the terminology used in the
FDICs capital standards more closely with that used under generally accepted
accounting principals. This proposed rule was developed in response to a Financial
Accounting Standards Board ruling that affects servicing assets.
Approved: July 22, 1997
Published: August 4, 1997
Activities and Investments of Insured State Depository Institutions
The FDIC issued for public comment a proposal to consolidate the securities activities
regulation and the regulation governing the activities and investments of savings
associations into Part 362 of the agencys regulations, which
governs activities and investments of insured state banks. The new Part 362 would provide
streamlined notice procedures for certain real estate and equity securities activities and
investments. The proposed rule would also provide safety and soundness guidelines relating
to certain real estate activities and investments, as well as delete provisions, clarify
language and promote consistency.
Approved: August 26, 1997
Published: September 12, 1997
Capital Standards for Unrealized Gains on Certain Equity Securities
The FDIC, along with the other bank and thrift regulatory agencies, issued for public
comment a proposed amendment to Part 325 of its regulations regarding unrealized holding
gains on certain equity securities. The proposed amendment would permit institutions to
recognize Tier 2 capital limited amounts of unrealized gains on available for sale equity
securities with readily determinable fair values.
Approved: September 16, 1997
Published: October 27, 1997
Treatment of Recourse and Direct Credit Substitutes
The FDIC, along with the other bank and thrift regulatory agencies, issued for comment a
proposed amendment to Part 325 of its regulations regarding treatment of recourse
arrangements and direct credit substitutes. Recourse arrangements arise when an
institution retains all or part of the risk of loss on an asset or pool of assets it has
sold to another party. A direct credit substitute is an arrangement, such as a guarantee,
in which an institution assumes all or part of the risk of loss on an asset or asset pool
owned by another party, even though the institution had not owned or sold the asset. The
proposal would treat recourse obligations and direct credit substitutes consistently, and
would use credit ratings and possibly certain other alternative approaches to match the
risk-based capital assessment more closely to a banking organization's relative risk
of loss in asset securitizations. The agencies intend that any final rules adopted that
result in increased risk-based capital requirements apply only to transactions consummated
after the effective date of the final rules.
Approved: September 16, 1997
Published: November 5, 1997
Applications, Requests and Other Notices
The FDIC issued for public comment amendments to Part 303 of its regulations, as well as
other related sections of the regulations. The proposed amendments would streamline
processing for well-managed and well-capitalized institutions, reduce regulatory burden,
remove inconsistencies and outmoded requirements, and present the regulation in a more
user-friendly format. The most significant feature of the proposed rule would expedite
processing for most filings by well-managed and well-capitalized depository institutions,
typically for deposit insurance, mergers, branches, trust powers, stock buy-backs, and
certain foreign banking activities. An estimated 90 percent of banks supervised by the
FDIC would be eligible.
Approved: September 23, 1997
Published: October 9, 1997
Interest on Deposits
The FDIC issued for comment a proposed amendment to Part 329 of its regulations regarding
interest on deposits. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act requires that the FDIC prohibit
insured nonmember banks and insured branches of foreign banks from paying interest or
dividends on demand deposits. Under the proposed amendment, these institutions
automatically would become subject to the exceptions to the prohibition adopted by the
Federal Reserve Board for its member banks, regardless of whether the FDIC had issued or
authorized the specific exception.
Approved: October 6, 1997
Published: October 16, 1997