[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%.
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