On November 30, 2020, the Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a statement encouraging banks to transition away from U.S. dollar (USD) London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) as soon as practicable in order to facilitate an orderly—and safe and sound—LIBOR transition. More... Banks must cease entering into new contracts that use USD LIBOR as a reference rate by December 31, 2021. For more information, see the interagency statement on the Board’s website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20201130a1.pdf.

To mitigate temporary transition costs on banking organizations related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Board, the FDIC, and the OCC issued an interim final rule to permit national banks, savings associations, state banks, bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations with under $10 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2019, to use asset data as of December 31, 2019, in order to determine the applicability of various regulatory asset thresholds during calendar years 2020 and 2021. More... For the same reasons, the Board is temporarily revising the instructions to a number of its regulatory reports to provide that community banking organizations may use asset data as of December 31, 2019, in order to determine reporting requirements for reports due in calendar years 2020 or 2021. The interim final rule is effective December 2, 2020 (Regulation H, Regulation K, Regulation L, Regulation Q, Regulation Y, Regulation II, and Regulation LL, Docket R-1731), the same day it was published in the Federal Register.

On November 19, 2020, the Board, the FDIC, the National Credit Union Administration, the OCC, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a joint fact sheet to provide clarity to banks on how to apply a risk-based approach to charities and other nonprofit organizations (NPOs) consistent with the customer due diligence (CDD) requirements contained in FinCEN’s 2016 CDD final rule. More... The statement is intended to clarify that, consistent with a risk-based approach, the level and type of CDD should be appropriate for the risks presented by each customer. The agencies are issuing the joint fact sheet to reaffirm that the level of money laundering, terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk associated with charities and other NPOs varies; these bank customers do not present a uniform or unacceptably high ML/TF risk (Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at 3-1876).

The Board, the FDIC, and the OCC adopted as final the revisions to the regulatory capital rule and the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) rule made under three interim final rules published in the Federal Register on March 23, April 13, and May 6, 2020. More... The agencies are adopting these interim final rules as final with no changes. Under this final rule, banking organizations may continue to neutralize the regulatory capital effects of participating in the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF) and the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (PPPLF), and are required to continue to neutralize the LCR effects of participating in the MMLF and the PPPLF. In addition, Paycheck Protection Program loans will receive a 0 percent risk weight under the agencies’ regulatory capital rules. The final rule is effective December 28, 2020 (Regulation Q and Regulation WW; Dockets R-1711, 1712, and 1717) and was published in the Federal Register on October 28, 2020.

The Board, the FDIC, and the OCC adopted as final the revisions to the definition of eligible retained income made under the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on March 20, 2020, for all depository institutions, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies subject to the agencies’ capital rule. More... The final rule revises the definition of eligible retained income to make more gradual any automatic limitations on capital distributions that could apply under the agencies’ capital rule. Separately, in this final rule, the Board also is adopting as final the definition of eligible retained income made under the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2020, for purposes of the Board’s total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) rule. The final rule adopts these interim final rules with no changes. The final rule is effective January 1, 2021 (Regulation Q and Regulation YY, Dockets R-1703 and 1706) and was published in the Federal Register on October 8, 2020.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). More... The CFPB is required to calculate annually the dollar amounts for several provisions in Regulation Z; this final rule revises, as applicable, the dollar amounts for provisions implementing TILA and amendments to TILA, including under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act), the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (HOEPA), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). The CFPB is adjusting these amounts, where appropriate, based on the annual percentage change reflected in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in effect on June 1, 2020. The final rule is effective January 1, 2021 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z) and was published in the Federal Register on August 19, 2020.

With certain exceptions, Regulation Z requires creditors to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer’s ability to repay any residential mortgage loan, and loans that meet Regulation Z’s requirements for “qualified mortgages” (QMs) obtain certain protections from liability. More... One category of QMs consists of loans that are eligible for purchase or guarantee by either the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs), while operating under the conservatorship or receivership of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The GSEs are currently under federal conservatorship. In 2013, the CFPB established this category of QMs (temporary GSE QM loans) as a temporary measure that would expire with respect to each GSE on the date that GSE exits conservatorship, or on January 10, 2021, whichever comes first. In this final rule, the CFPB amends Regulation Z to replace the January 10, 2021, sunset date of the temporary GSE QM loan definition with a provision stating that the temporary GSE QM loan definition will be available only for covered transactions for which the creditor receives the consumer’s application before the mandatory compliance date of final amendments to the general QM loan definition in Regulation Z. This final rule does not amend the provision stating that the temporary GSE QM loan definition expires with respect to a GSE when that GSE exits conservatorship. The final rule is effective December 28, 2020 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, Docket CFPB-2020-0021) and was published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2020.

The Board issued a final rule revising its regulation implementing the Privacy Act of 1974 (12 CFR part 261a) to add BGFRS-43 “FRB—Security Sharing Platform,” to the list of systems of records identified as “exempt” systems of records. More... The final rule is effective November 19, 2020 (Rules Regarding Access to Personal Information under the Privacy Act of 1974, Docket R-1704), the same day it was published in the Federal Register.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, notice was given that the Board proposes to modify existing system of records BGFRS-33 “FRB—Telephone Call Detail Records” to reflect changes in the format, location, and source of its wireless phone records. More... The Board also proposes to rename the system of records BGFRS-33 “FRB—Wired and Wireless Telephone Records,” as it stores information on the use of Board telephones, both wired and wireless. The modified system of records will become effective December 31, 2020, without further notice, unless comments dictate otherwise (Rules Regarding Access to Personal Information under the Privacy Act of 1974, Systems of Records of the Federal Reserve System). The modified system of records was published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2020.