The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plan to implement a few revisions to the Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) on March 31, 1998, pending approval by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), which also has approved the revisions, provided advance notice of the reporting changes for 1998 in Financial Institution Letter (FIL) 8-98: Inactive Financial Institution Letters: dated January 20, 1998.

The reporting changes for March 31, 1998, for all banks are a reduction in the frequency of reporting "preferred deposits," a new item for reporting low level recourse transactions, and clarification of the reporting requirements for allowances and provisions for credit losses. The principal changes for larger banks are a reduction in detail on trading assets and new items for reporting capital requirements for market risk.

To further assist with your planning for the upcoming Call Report revisions, the attached document contains instructions related to these reporting changes, except for those pertaining to the market risk capital requirements. Because of the limited number of banks subject to these new capital requirements, the banking agencies are sending instructional guidance in this area directly to affected institutions. The instructional guidance accompanying this letter and on market risk also will be available on both the FFIEC's Web site (www.ffiec.gov) and the FDIC's Web site (www.fdic.gov). The revised Call Report instruction book pages that all banks will receive in their March 31, 1998, Call Report materials will cover all of the reporting changes taking effect in the first quarter.

The phase-in of the FFIEC's electronic filing requirement for Call Reports was completed with the reports for year-end 1997. With all Call Reports now filed electronically, the banking agencies will send the appropriate sample Call Report forms for 1998 to all banks as part of the March 31, 1998, Call Report materials. Banks should retain this sample set of forms for use through December 31, 1998. The agencies will send sample Call Report forms for June 30, September 30, and December 31, 1998, to banks only upon request. When completing your bank's quarterly Call Reports, you can request a sample form for the following quarter by marking the box located in the section of the report asking for the name of your bank's Call Report contact person.

Please forward this letter to the person responsible for preparing Call Reports at your bank. For more information or assistance, national banks and FDIC-supervised banks may contact the FDIC's Call Reports Analysis Section in Washington, DC, toll-free on 1-800-688-3342 or 202-898-6607. Assistance is provided Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. State member banks may contact their district Federal Reserve Bank.

Attachment:

Revisions to the Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for 1998 (84 kb, PDF help or hard copy )

Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)

NOTE: Paper copies of FDIC financial institution letters may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, N.W., Room 100, Washington, D.C. 20434 (800-276-6003 or (703) 562-2200).