FDIC Federal Register Citations

[Federal Register: April 5, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 64)]

[Notices]

[Page 16453-16454]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr05ap99-80]

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FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

Community Reinvestment Act

AGENCY: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.

ACTION: Withdrawal of prior interpretations.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)

is withdrawing certain interpretations and guidance provided to

financial institutions subject to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

that have been rendered obsolete by the 1995 revisions to the

regulations implementing the CRA promulgated by the Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (Board),

the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of

Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively, the agencies).

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 5, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

OCC: Malloy Harris, National Bank Examiner, Community and Consumer

Policy Division, (202) 874-4446; or Margaret Hesse, Senior Attorney,

Community and Consumer Law Division, (202) 874-5750, Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.

Board: Catherine M.J. Gates, Senior Review Examiner, Division of

Consumer and Community Affairs, (202) 452-3946; or James H. Mann,

Attorney, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, (202) 452-2412,

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551.

FDIC: Louise N. Kotoshirodo, Review Examiner, Division of

Compliance and Consumer Affairs, (202) 942-3599; or Robert W. Mooney,

Senior Fair Lending Specialist, Division of Compliance and Consumer

Affairs, (202) 942-3090, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550

17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429.

OTS: Richard R. Riese, Project Manager, Compliance Policy, (202)

906-6134; or Theresa A. Stark, Project Manager, Compliance Policy,

(202) 906-7054, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20552.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 806 of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), 12

U.S.C. 2905, requires the Federal financial supervisory agencies to

publish regulations to carry out the purposes of the CRA. On October

12, 1978, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (agencies)

jointly published regulations to implement the CRA (43 FR 47151) (1978

regulations).

To assist financial institutions subject to the CRA in interpreting

these regulations and to provide guidance on compliance with the CRA,

the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued

various interpretations and statements of policy, including the

``Uniform Interagency Community Reinvestment Act Final Guidelines for

Disclosure of Written Evaluations and Revised Assessment Rating

System'' (1990 Rating Guidelines) on May 1, 1990 (55 FR 18163) and the

``Community Reinvestment Act Policy Statement on Analyses of Geographic

Distribution of Lending'' (1991 Lending Analyses Policy Statement) on

December 6, 1991. The agencies also jointly issued a ``Statement of the

Federal Financial Supervisory Agencies Regarding the Community

Reinvestment Act'' (1989 Policy Statement), which was published in the

Federal Register on April 5, 1989 (54 FR 13742).

[[Page 16454]]

On May 4, 1995, the agencies revised their CRA regulations by

issuing a joint final rule (60 FR 22156). See 12 CFR Parts 25, 228, 345

and 563e, implementing 12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq. Subsequently, the

agencies published related clarifying amendments on December 20, 1995

(60 FR 66048) and May 10, 1996 (61 FR 21362). The revised regulations

were phased in over a two year period ending July 1, 1997, at which

time, the 1978 regulations fully expired and all provisions of the

revised regulations became applicable to all financial institutions

covered by the CRA.

On October 21, 1996, the FFIEC published agency staff guidance

under the new regulations in the form of ``Interagency Questions and

Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment'' (Interagency Q&As) to

consolidate staff guidance regarding the revised CRA regulations into a

comprehensive document to serve as informal staff guidance for

financial institutions, agency staff and the public (61 FR 54647). The

FFIEC supplemented, amended, and republished the Interagency Q&As on

October 7, 1997 (62 FR 52105). The Interagency Q&As to be their primary

vehicle for disseminating guidance interpreting their CRA regulations.

CDRI Review

Section 303 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory

Improvement Act of 1994 (CDRI Act) requires each federal banking agency

to streamline and modify its regulations and written policies to

improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and eliminate unwarranted

restraints on credit availability; remove inconsistencies and outmoded

and duplicative requirements; and work jointly with the other federal

banking agencies to make uniform all regulations implementing common

statutory or supervisory policies (12 U.S.C. 4803(a)). During the

review of their CRA regulations, the agencies identified

interpretations and policy statements issued under the 1978 regulations

that have been superseded or made obsolete. In particular, the agencies

have determined that the 1989 Policy Statement, the Rating Guidelines,

and the Lending Analysis Policy Statement are obsolete as they provide

guidance that is inconsistent with the revised regulations and should

be withdrawn.

Withdrawal of Guidance on 1978 Regulations

Since the revised regulations have been fully implemented, the

FFIEC finds that the guidelines and policy statements issued to

interpret the 1978 regulations have become obsolete. Consequently, the

FFIEC is withdrawing in its entirety the Rating Guidelines and the

Lending Analysis Policy Statement. By a separate notice, the agencies

are also withdrawing the 1989 Policy Statement. This notice appears

elsewhere in today's Federal Register. To the extent that any agency

individually adopted any of these guidelines and policy statements, it

has taken action to rescind such guidelines or policy statements.

Dated: March 30, 1999.

Keith J. Todd,

Executive Secretary, Federal Financial Institutions Examination

Council.

[FR Doc. 99-8142 Filed 4-2-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE FRB: 6210-01-P 25%; OTS: 6720-01-P 25%; FDIC: 6714-01-P

25%; OCC: 4810-33-P 25%.