The enclosed materials pertain to the Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for the March 31, 2001, report date. Please complete your first quarter Call Report, review it for accuracy, and submit the report electronically as soon as possible. Except for certain banks with foreign offices, your completed report must be received by April 30, 2001, in accordance with the filing requirements discussed below. No extensions of time for submitting reports are granted.

If you complete the preparation and review of your report before April 30, please file the report immediately rather than waiting until the submission deadline. Should you later find that certain information needs to be revised, please make the appropriate changes to the report and promptly submit the revised Call Report data file electronically. Early submission aids the banking agencies in editing and reviewing the reports.

As the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) previously advised you, the banking agencies are implementing various Call Report revisions this quarter (see FIL-5-2001 dated January 17, 2001). These revisions are under review by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Banks that previously filed the Call Report on either the FFIEC 032, 033, or 034 report form should note that these three reports have been replaced this quarter with the FFIEC 041 report form. Banks with foreign offices will continue to complete the FFIEC 031 report form. A sample set of March 31, 2001, report forms is enclosed for your reference. Sample forms also are available on both the FFIEC's Web site ( www.ffiec.gov ) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC's) Web site ( www.fdic.gov ).

Other principal changes in the March 31 Call Report include deletions of existing items and reductions in the amount of detail in certain areas, the adoption of uniform loan categories and standard definitions throughout the report, a new regulatory capital reporting approach and revised capital schedule, additional noninterest income categories in the income statement, and new items for Federal Home Loan Bank advances. In addition, beginning this quarter, data on loans, leases, and other assets that are past due 30 through 89 days will no longer be treated as confidential on an individual bank basis. The enclosed update to your Call Report instruction book replaces the General Instructions and the instructions for all of the report schedules.

To ease the transition to standard loan category definitions for reporting loan information outside the loan schedule (Schedule RC-C) on the FFIEC 041 report form, banks that filed the FFIEC 033 and 034 report forms in 2000 may use their best efforts through year-end 2001 to report loan information by loan category in Schedules RC-K, RC-N, RI, and RI-B, part I. Furthermore, for the March 31, 2001, report date only, all banks may provide reasonable estimates for any other new or revised item for which the requested information is not readily available.

Banks should note that Memorandum items 1, 2, 4, and 5 on assets sold with recourse, loan servicing, and credit card securitizations in new Schedule RC-S should be completed, if applicable, in the March 31 Call Report. The remainder of this new schedule will take effect as of June 30, 2001. All banks also are reminded to provide information on the level of auditing work performed by independent external auditors during 2000 (Schedule RC, Memorandum item 1). This auditing information is collected only as of the March 31 report date each year.

Each bank must file its March 31, 2001, 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.
• An 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, 2001. A bank that submits its Call Report to EDS on a computer diskette must make sure that the diskette is properly addressed, mailed first class, and postmarked on or before April 27, 2001, to be considered filed on time. Alternatively, a bank may send the diskette to EDS using an overnight delivery system no later than April 29, 2001. However, 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, 2001.

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 Reports Analysis and Quality Control 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.