The enclosed materials pertain to the Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for the March 31, 1999, report date. Please complete your first quarter Call Report as soon as possible and submit the report electronically. Your completed report must be received by April 30, 1999, in accordance with the FILing requirements discussed below. No extensions of time for submitting reports are granted.

As you were previously advised (see FIL-4-99: Inactive Financial Institution Letters: dated January 21, 1999), the first quarter Call Report contains a limited number of revisions that were approved by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). Most of the revisions are instructional. The principal changes to the Call Report itself are:

• Eliminating the items in the securities schedule for "high-risk mortgage securities";

• Adding new items pertaining to accumulated gains (losses) on "cash flow hedges" to the equity capital section of the balance sheet and to the changes in equity capital schedule; and

• Expanding the scope of the item for "purchased credit card relationships" in the memoranda schedule to include "nonmortgage servicing assets."

For the March 31, 1999, report date, banks may report a reasonable estimate for any new or revised Call Report item for which the requested information is not readily available.

All banks are reminded to provide information on the level of auditing work performed by independent external auditors during 1998 (Schedule RC, Memorandum item 1). This information is reported only as of the March 31 report date each year.

A sample set of March 31, 1999, report forms is enclosed for your reference. Sample Call Report forms will be sent to every bank each quarter this year. Sample forms also are available on both the FFIEC's Web site ( www.ffiec.gov ) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Web site ( www.fdic.gov ). A paper copy of the Call Report forms, including the cover (signature) page, can be printed from the Web sites. In addition, banks that use Call Report software can print paper copies of the forms from their software.

Each bank must FILe its March 31, 1999, Call Report in one of the following two ways:

• A bank may use computer software to prepare its report and then FILe the report directly with the banking agencies' electronic collection agent, Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS). The Call Report data FILe can be sent to EDS electronically by modem or on a computer diskette.

• The institution may complete its report in paper form and arrange with EDS, a Call Report software vendor, or another party to convert its paper report to electronic form. If a party other than EDS performs this service, that party must electronically transmit the bank's Call Report data FILe to EDS.

The FILing of a Call Report that is submitted electronically to EDS by modem will be considered timely if it is transmitted to EDS no later than April 30, 1999. A bank using the paper-based alternative method must ensure that the party that is converting its report to electronic form has sufficient time to convert and transmit it to EDS by this date.

A bank that sends a computer diskette directly to EDS must mail the diskette to EDS no later than April 27, 1999. To be considered FILed on time, the diskette must be properly addressed, mailed first class, and postmarked on or before April 27, 1999. (A "Certificate of Mailing," U.S. Postal Service Form 3817, may also be used as proof of mailing.) Alternatively, a bank may send the diskette using an overnight delivery system no later than April 29, 1999. Any Call Report sent to EDS on a computer diskette that EDS cannot read will not be accepted and the bank must resubmit its report in readable form. This may result in EDS receiving the bank's Call Report data FILe after the submission deadline.

A bank that has or has had more than one foreign office, other than a "shell" branch or an International Banking Facility, is permitted an additional 15 days to complete its Call Report. Such a bank is required to electronically transmit its report to EDS no later than May 15, 1999.

For further information or assistance concerning the Call Reports, state member banks should contact their Federal Reserve District Bank. National and FDIC-supervised banks should telephone the FDIC's Call Reports Analysis Section in Washington, D.C., toll free at (800) 688-FDIC (3342) or at (202) 898-6607, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Attachments:

Supplemental Instructions

Call Report Instruction Book Update (Cover Pages) (8 Kb - PDF help or hard copy )

Call Report Instruction Book Update (250 Kb - PDF help or hard copy )

Distribution: Insured Commercial Banks and FDIC-Supervised Savings Banks

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