Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council

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3501 Fairfax Drive - Room B7081a - Arlington, VA 22226-3550 - (703) 516-5588 - FAX (703) 562-6446 - http://www.ffiec.gov

TO: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

SUBJECT: Required Enrollment for FFIEC Central Data Repository (CDR), Beginning July 11

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Call Report agencies – the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – have created a secure, shared database for collecting, managing, validating and distributing Call Report data. The new system, the Central Data Repository (CDR), will be implemented for the third Call Report period of 2005 and will be the only method available for banks to submit their Call Reports.

In preparation for the October 2005 implementation of the CDR, financial institutions will be required to enroll in the CDR during an eight-week period beginning in July. To ensure a smooth transition to reporting through the CDR, the enrollment process will be conducted in stages. Financial institutions will be assigned to specific enrollment windows according to the alphabetical order of the cities where their institutions are headquartered (see table below).

Institutions will be notified of their enrollment window via e-mail one week prior to the commencement date and will be given the opportunity to enroll earlier if they are not able to enroll during their scheduled window. (For example, banks that are part of a multi-bank holding company may wish to enroll at one time.)

To begin the enrollment process, a Delegated Site Administrator (DSA) for each financial institution will be required to register first. Financial institutions are encouraged to identify a minimum of two DSAs to allow for staff turnover and unexpected absences during reporting periods. DSAs will be responsible for managing their institutions' users and their levels of access. Users can be employees of the institution or bank holding company, Call Report Software Vendors or other outside data servicers. After the first DSA has enrolled, additional individuals will be able to enroll by requesting an account from the CDR log-on screen. The first DSA will be notified of each account request for the DSA's institution; DSAs determine whether or not to grant access to new users.

To enroll in the CDR, each user must have an individual e-mail account and the capability to regularly receive e-mail notifications from the CDR (CDR e-mail addresses are listed in the attached brochure). Institutions that restrict incoming e-mails will need to adjust their systems or processes to successfully receive pertinent information from the CDR. For access to the CDR, financial institutions will need reliable Internet service and a Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 or higher) that supports U.S. domestic encryption standards (128 bit or higher). By meeting these technological requirements prior to enrollment, institutions will expedite their enrollment process and their ability to transmit Call Report data via the CDR. Additionally, institutions and software vendors will be able to receive updated notifications from the FFIEC agencies concerning instructions, technical and data quality errors, and other important information.

The CDR implementation and global enrollment plan was developed in cooperation with industry representatives, including software vendors, trade associations, and a number of banks from across the country that participate in the Financial Institutions Focus Group for the CDR project. Additional information on the CDR and the Call Report data modernization initiative is available at www.FFIEC.gov/FIND.

After enrollment, changes to the Call Reporting process should be largely transparent to bankers. Institutions will continue to interface with their primary federal regulator and the Call Report preparation software vendors they currently use in a similar manner as they do today.

Helpful materials on global enrollment, including a user guide with screen prints, are available on the CDR Web site at CDR.FFIEC.GOV/CDR under "Help." Questions about the CDR or the global enrollment process can be submitted via the www.FFIEC.gov/FIND site or directed to the CDR Help Desk at 1-888-CDR-3111.

Please forward this letter to individuals within your organization who are involved in the preparation of your bank's Call Report data and to information technology staff who support this function.

Tamara J. Wiseman

Executive Secretary

Distribution: 

Insured Commercial Banks and FDIC-Supervised Savings Banks