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Background and Summary of Regulation CC

9-740
FUNDS AVAILABILITY
Delayed availability—the holds that some banks1 place on checks deposited into their customers’ accounts before the funds may be withdrawn—was a subject of growing concern in the Congress for a number of years. Many argued that the holds placed by many banks were unduly long and that depositors have a right to prompter access to their funds. Banks that impose holds responded that their availability schedules reflected the time needed for the collection and return of checks not paid by the paying bank and provided a measure of protection against the risk that the bank could not recover funds from the depositor if those funds had already been withdrawn from the depositor’s account.
Congress concluded that federal legislation was required to address delayed-availability practices and in 1987 passed the Expedited Funds Availability Act (the EFA Act) (title VI of Pub. L. 100-86; 12 USC 4001-4010). The EFA Act, which is implemented by subparts A through C of Regulation CC, was enacted to ensure prompt availability of funds and to expedite the return of checks. It includes specific and detailed provisions requiring banks to (1) make funds available to their customers within specified time frames, (2) pay interest on interest-bearing transaction accounts not later than the day the bank receives credit, and (3) disclose their funds-availability policies to their customers.
Subpart A of Regulation CC defines terms and outlines enforcement authority. Generally, the terms in the regulation are defined as they are in the EFA Act. The Board has adopted a number of changes for the sake of clarity, to conform the terminology to that which is familiar to the banking industry, to define terms not defined in the act, and to carry out the purposes of the act.
Subpart B specifies schedules within which banks must make funds available for withdrawal. The regulation reflects the availability schedules provided in the EFA Act. The charts at 9-743 and 9-744 depict the schedules for local and nonlocal checks. Subpart B also includes rules regarding exceptions to the schedules, disclosure of funds-availability policies, and payment of interest.
Subpart C includes rules to speed the collection and return of checks. These rules cover the expeditious-return responsibilities of paying and returning banks, authorization of direct returns, notification of nonpayment of large-dollar returns by the paying bank, check-indorsement standards, and other related changes to the check-collection system.

1
Regulation CC terminology corresponds with the terminology of the Uniform Commercial Code, with some modifications. “Bank” is defined to include all depository institutions. A “paying bank” is the bank on which the check is drawn. In the case of payable-through drafts, the payable-through bank is the paying bank. A “returning bank” is an intermediary bank handling a returned check. A “depositary bank” is the bank in which the check was first deposited. (See section 229.2 of Regulation CC for the complete definitions of these terms.)
9-741

Availability Schedules

The EFA Act requires that cash deposits, wire transfers, and certain check deposits that Congress believes pose little risk to the depositary bank (such as Treasury checks and cashier’s checks) generally be made available for withdrawal by the business day after the day of deposit. The time when the depositary bank must make other check deposits available for withdrawal depends on whether the check is local or nonlocal to the depositary bank. A local check is a check deposited in a depositary bank that is located in the same Federal Reserve check-processing region as the paying bank, and a nonlocal check is one deposited in a different check-processing region. There are 48 Federal Reserve check-processing offices in the United States, and the territory served by each office constitutes a check-processing region.
As of September 1, 1990, proceeds of local and nonlocal checks must be available for withdrawal by the second and fifth business day following deposit, respectively. Special rules are provided for cash withdrawals, deposits at nonproprietary automated teller machines, and deposits made in banks outside the continental United States.
Congress provided several exceptions to the availability schedules. When a bank invokes one of these exceptions, it may extend the hold on a customer’s account beyond the statutory schedule by a reasonable period of time, as determined by Regulation CC.

9-743

Permanent Funds-Availability Schedules

Illustrates availability of different types of checks deposited the same day.
Permanent Funds-Availability Schedules
1 The first $100 of a day’s deposit must be made available for either cash withdrawal or check-writing purposes at the start of the next business day (§ 229.10(c)(1)(vii)).
2 Local checks must be made available for check-writing purposes by the second business day following deposit (§ 229.12(b)).
3 Nonlocal checks must be made available for check-writing purposes by the fifth business day following deposit (§ 229.12(c)).
4 $400 of the deposit must be made available for cash withdrawal no later than 5:00 p.m. on the dayspecified in the schedule. This is in addition to the $100 that must be made available on the business day following deposit (§ 229.12(d)).
5 The remainder of the deposit must be made available for cash withdrawal at the start of business the following day (§ 229.12(d)).

9-744

Permanent Funds-Availability Schedules

Illustrates availability of different types of checks deposited on separate days.
Permanent Funds-Availability Schedules
1 The first $100 of a day’s deposit must be made available for either cash withdrawal or check-writing purposes at the start of the next business day (§ 229.10(c)(1)(vii)).
2 Local checks must be made available for check-writing purposes by the second business day following deposit (§ 229.12(b)).
3 Nonlocal checks must be made available for check-writing purposes by the fifth business day following deposit (§ 229.12(c)).
4 $400 of the deposit must be made available for cash withdrawal no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day specified in the schedule. This applies to aggregate amount of deposits that must be made available on a specified day, and is in addition to the $100 that must be made available on the business day following deposit (§ 229.12(d)).
5 The remainder of the deposit must be made available for cash withdrawal at the start of business the following day (§ 229.12(d)).

9-745

Disclosures

Sections 229.15 through 229.18 cover the disclosure requirements of the regulation. Depository institutions are required to disclose their specific availability policies to their customers and to notify customers whenever they change their policies. Institutions must also disclose their specific availability policies to every new customer before opening an account and to anyone upon request. Other disclosures must be made at all locations where institution employees accept consumer deposits, at automated teller machines, and on all preprinted deposit slips provided to customers. Appendix C of the regulation contains a number of model forms and clauses designed to help institutions make the required disclosures.

9-746

Effect of the Return Rules on the Check-Collection System

The act gives the Board authority to make improvements in the check-collection and -return systems in order to shorten the time within which depositary banks learn of the nonpayment of checks, and thereby reduce the number of situations when the bank will be required by law to make funds available to its customers before it learns a check has been dishonored. The Board’s authority is broad and general and extends to checks that are not cleared through the Federal Reserve System. Previously, the Federal Reserve generally had the authority to regulate only those checks it collected.
9-747
The Paying Bank
Section 229.30 of Regulation CC requires that the process of returning be accomplished in an “expeditious manner,” thus requiring the paying bank to take steps to speed the flow of returned checks. The paying bank must dispatch returned checks with the same speed and diligence with which it would dispatch forward-collection checks received for deposit by noon on the banking day after the day of presentment of the returned check. This means that a check presented to the paying bank on Monday that is not paid must be dispatched as quickly as a check deposited in that bank on Tuesday morning that is drawn on the depositary bank. A paying bank also returns a check expeditiously under the new rules if it returns a local check to the depositary bank within two business days of presentment, or a nonlocal check within four business days of presentment.
Paying banks may dispatch returns by the same manner, and at the same time, as they send forward-collection checks. This will usually mean that returns will be sent via courier rather than mail. The paying bank is required to meet the deposit deadlines and sorting requirements set by any returning bank to which the returned check is sent.
A paying bank could return all checks to a single returning bank rather than sending them to multiple presenting banks. Paying banks can return checks to the depositary bank or to a bank agreeing to process returns, including the Federal Reserve. If the paying bank cannot identify the depositary bank from the indorsement, it may find it necessary to send that returned check back to the presenting bank.
Paying banks have the option to prepare a returned check for automated processing by high-speed equipment. The bank can produce a qualified returned check (QRC) by enclosing a returned check in a carrier envelope or attaching a strip to the bottom of the check, and encoding the carrier or strip with the nine-digit routing number of the depositary bank, a special returned check identifier, and the amount of the check. By creating QRCs, the paying bank facilitates expeditious return of the check to the depositary bank. Preparation of QRCs by paying banks also reduces the cost of the overall return process because returning banks will be able to handle these checks more efficiently.
Paying banks are required to provide notice of nonpayment on all returned checks of $2,500 or more, regardless of the channel of collection. Notices will have to be received by the depositary bank by 4:00 p.m. (local time) on the second business day following presentment of a check to the paying bank. This means that if a decision is made to return a check of $2,500 or more that was presented on Monday, the paying bank must ensure that the notice is received by the depositary bank no later than 4:00 p.m. Wednesday.
9-748
Returning Banks
Regulation CC holds returning banks to a standard similar to paying banks. Returning banks must handle returned checks in an “expeditious manner”; that is, returned checks must be processed and dispatched in the same general manner as forward-collection checks or returned to the depositary bank within the two-day/four-day time period established for paying banks. Returning banks may return a check directly to the depositary bank or to another returning bank as long as the route chosen for the return is expeditious.
Returning banks have the option to convert returns to QRCs. If a returning bank chooses to prepare a QRC, it may take a day to do so beyond the time when the check would otherwise have been dispatched. An extra day is not available when returning directly to the depositary bank, because preparation of a QRC would not speed such returns.
9-749
The Depositary Bank
Regulation CC requires that the depositary bank place a standard, complete, legible indorsement on the check. This will help paying and returning banks identify the depositary bank and, therefore, process the return promptly. Some banks may have corporate customers that encode checks prior to deposit and place the depositary bank’s indorsement on the check according to the new standard. Some small depositary banks may have their correspondent place its indorsement on the check as the depositary bank endorsement. Failure to follow the indorsement standard may reduce the right of the depository bank to recover a loss incurred because of the untimely return of a check from the bank that delayed the return, if the delay is due to a nonstandard indorsement.
Depositary banks must pay, in same-day funds, for returned checks on the day the checks are received. If paying banks and returning banks that return checks directly do not wish to receive same-day payment by wire transfer, cash, or Federal Reserve net settlement, or if the paying or returning bank does not maintain an account relationship with the depositary bank, the banks may agree on the form of payment, which may be a check or an ACH payment.
Under the new check-return rules, depositary banks will receive returned checks and notices of nonpayment earlier and will receive notices of nonpayment on all large-dollar returned checks, instead of only those checks which were collected through the Federal Reserve.

9-749.1

SUBSTITUTE CHECKS

Congress passed the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21 Act), which became effective October 28, 2004, to foster innovation in the payments system and to enhance its efficiency by reducing some of the legal impediments to check truncation. The law, which is implemented primarily by subpart D of Regulation CC, facilitates check truncation by creating a new negotiable instrument called a substitute check, which permits banks to truncate original checks, to process check information electronically, and to deliver substitute checks to banks that want to continue receiving paper checks. A substitute check is the legal equivalent of the original check and includes all the information contained on the original check. The law does not require banks to accept checks in electronic form, nor does it require banks to use the new authority granted by the act to create substitute checks.
Regulation CC sets out the rules regarding substitute checks that apply to banks, such as indorsement and identification requirements and requirements related to the disclosures and notices that banks provide to consumers. A substitute check is a paper reproduction of an original check that contains an image of the front and back of the original check, is suitable for automated processing in the same manner as the original check, and meets other technical requirements.
A bank that for consideration transfers, presents, or returns a substitute check (or a paper or electronic representation of a substitute check) warrants that (1) the substitute check contains an accurate image of the front and back of the original check and a legend stating that it is the legal equivalent of the original check and (2) no depositary bank, drawee, drawer, or indorser will be asked to pay a check that it already has paid. A substitute check that meets the Check 21 Act’s requirements regarding accuracy, bears the legend, and for which a bank has made the substitute-check warranties is the legal equivalent of the original check for all purposes and all persons.

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