Transmittal Archive

The Board amended Regulation D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions) to reflect the annual indexing of the reserve requirement exemption amount and the low reserve tranche for 2022. The annual indexation of these amounts is required notwithstanding the Board’s action in March 2020 setting all reserve requirement ratios to zero. More... The Regulation D amendments set the reserve requirement exemption amount for 2022 at $32.4 million (increased from $21.1 million in 2021) and the amount of the low reserve tranche at $640.6 million (increased from $182.9 million in 2021). The adjustments to both of these amounts are derived using statutory formulas specified in the Federal Reserve Act. The increases in the exemption amount and low reserve tranche for 2022 are larger than in previous years, primarily reflecting the one-time effects of the Regulation D amendments that eliminated the six convenient transfer limit from the definition of a savings deposit and recognized savings deposits as a type of transaction account. The annual indexation of the reserve requirement exemption amount and low reserve tranche, though required by statute, will not affect depository institutions’ reserve requirements, which will remain zero. The final rule is effective January 7, 2022 (Regulation D, Docket R-1762) and was published in the Federal Register on December 8, 2021.

The Board issued a final rule that applies an inflation adjustment to the threshold for total consolidated assets in Regulation I. Federal Reserve Bank stockholders that have total consolidated assets above the threshold receive a different dividend rate on their Reserve Bank stock than stockholders with total consolidated assets at or below the threshold. More... The Federal Reserve Act requires that the Board annually adjust the total consolidated asset threshold to reflect the change in the Gross Domestic Product Price Index, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Based on the change in the Gross Domestic Product Price Index as of October 28, 2021, the total consolidated asset threshold will be $11,229,000,000 through December 31, 2022. The final rule is effective January 7, 2022 (Regulation I, Docket R-1761) and was published in the Federal Register on December 8, 2021.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) amended the Bank Secrecy Act civil penalty regulations relating to the requirements for reporting foreign financial accounts and for reporting transactions with foreign financial agencies. More... The amendments remove civil penalty language made obsolete with the enactment of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which revised the manner for computing the penalty, including providing a greater maximum penalty for willful violations than was previously authorized. The final rule is effective December 23, 2021 (Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), the same day it was published in the Federal Register.

The Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation amended their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to adjust the asset-size thresholds used to define “small bank” and “intermediate small bank.” More... As required by the CRA regulations, the adjustment to the threshold amount is based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The final rule is effective January 1, 2022 (Regulation BB, Docket R-1763) and was published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2021.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) amended the official commentary that interprets the requirements of Regulation C (Home Mortgage Disclosure) to reflect the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions based on the annual percentage change in the average of the CPI-W. More... Based on the 4.7 percent increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2021, the exemption threshold is adjusted to $50 million from $48 million. Therefore, banks, savings associations, and credit unions with assets of $50 million or less as of December 31, 2021, are exempt from collecting data in 2022. The final rule is effective January 1, 2022 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation C) and was published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2021.

The CFPB amended the official commentary that interprets the requirements of the CFPB’s Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to reflect changes in the asset-size thresholds for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption to the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan. More... These changes reflect updates to the exemption from the Truth in Lending Act’s escrow requirement of creditors that, together with affiliates that regularly extended covered transactions secured by first liens, had total assets of less than $2 billion (adjusted annually for inflation) and the exemption the CFPB added, by implementing section 108 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, for certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less (adjusted annually for inflation). These amendments are based on the annual percentage change in the average of the CPI-W. Based on the 4.7 percent increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2021, the exemption threshold for creditors and their affiliates that regularly extended covered transactions secured by first liens is adjusted to $2.336 billion from $2.230 billion. The exemption threshold for certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less (adjusted annually for inflation) is adjusted to $10.473 billion from $10 billion. The final rule is effective January 1, 2022 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z) and was published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2021.