The Board is adopting, in final form and without change, an interim final rule amending Regulation I. The final rule establishes procedures for payment of dividends by the Federal Reserve Banks to implement the provisions of section 32203 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. More... The final rule sets out the dividend rates applicable to Reserve Bank depository institution stockholders and amends provisions of Regulation I regarding treatment of accrued dividends when a Reserve Bank issues or cancels Federal Reserve Bank capital stock. The final rule is effective January 1, 2017 (Regulation I at 3-460, Docket R-1533) and was published in the Federal Register on November 23, 2016.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, issued this final rule to prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining a correspondent account for, or on behalf of, North Korean banking institutions. More... The rule further prohibits U.S. financial institutions from processing transactions for the correspondent account of a foreign bank in the United States if such a transaction involves a North Korean financial institution, and requires institutions to apply special due diligence to guard against such use by North Korean financial institutions. The final rule is effective December 9, 2016 (Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at 3-1700) and was published in the Federal Register on November 9, 2016.

The Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies’ regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer leases be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). More... If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and the CFPB will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. The final rule memorializes this as well as the agencies’ calculation method for determining the adjustment in years following a year in which there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2016, the exemption threshold will remain at $54,600 through 2017. The final rule is effective January 1, 2017 (Regulation M at 6-500 and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation M at 6-5500, Docket R-1545) and was published in the Federal Register on November 30, 2016.

The Board, the CFPB, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations for their regulations that implement section 129H of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Section 129H of TILA establishes special appraisal requirements for “higher-risk mortgages,” termed “higher-priced mortgage loans” or “HPMLs” in the agencies’ regulations. The Board, the CFPB, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the OCC (collectively, “the agencies”) issued joint final rules implementing these requirements, effective January 18, 2014. More... The agencies’ rules exempted, among other loan types, transactions of $25,000 or less, and required that this loan amount be adjusted annually based on any annual percentage increase in the CPI-W. If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board, CFPB, and OCC will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. The final rule will memorialize this as well as the agencies’ calculation method for determining the adjustment in years following a year in which there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2016, the exemption threshold will remain at $25,500 through 2017. The final rule is effective January 1, 2017 (Regulation Z at 6-600 and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z at 6-5600, Docket R-1443) and was published in the Federal Register on November 30, 2016.

The Board and the CFPB are finalizing amendments to the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies’ regulations that implement TILA. The Dodd-Frank Act amended TILA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W. More... If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and the CFPB will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. The final rule memorializes this as well as the agencies’ calculation method for determining the adjustment in years following a year in which there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W. Based on the CPI-W in effect as of June 1, 2016, the exemption threshold will remain at $54,600 through 2017. The final rule is effective January 1, 2017 (Regulation Z at 6-600 and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z at 6-5600, Docket R-1546) and was published in the Federal Register on November 30, 2016.

The CFPB is amending Regulation C to implement amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act made by section 1094 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Consistent with section 1094 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB is adding several new reporting requirements and clarifying several existing requirements. The CFPB is also modifying the institutional and transactional coverage of Regulation C. More... The final rule also provides extensive guidance regarding compliance with both the existing and new requirements. The final rule is effective January 1, 2018, except that the amendment to section 1003.2 in amendatory instruction 3 is effective January 1, 2017 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation C at 6-5200) and was published in the Federal Register on October 28, 2015.

The CFPB issued a final rule amending the regulatory text and official interpretations for Regulation Z, which implements TILA. 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 amendments to TILA under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994, and the Dodd-Frank Act. More... In addition to adjusting these amounts, where appropriate, based on the annual percentage change reflected in the Consumer Price Index in effect on June 1, 2016, the CFPB is correcting a calculation error pertaining to the 2016 subsequent violation penalty safe harbor fee. The final rule is effective January 1, 2017 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z at 6-5600) and was published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2016.

At its meeting held on September 20-21, 2016, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) approved the revision of the documents governing the Federal Reserve System’s foreign currency operations, including the Authorization for Foreign Currency Operations (Foreign Authorization), the Foreign Currency Directive (Foreign Directive), and the Procedural Instructions with Respect to Foreign Currency Operations (Procedural Instructions). More... Among the amendments to these documents was the removal of the definition of and provisions governing the Foreign Currency Subcommittee from the Foreign Authorization and their incorporation into the FOMC’s Rules of Organization and Rules of Procedure, as appropriate. These amendments to FOMC rules are effective September 20, 2016 (Federal Open Market Committee, Rules of Organization at 8-800 and Rules of Procedure at 8-805).