The Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, “the agencies”) reissued on September 6, 2017, Frequently Asked Questions on the Current Expected Credit Losses Methodology, with additional frequently asked questions (FAQs) numbered 24 through 37. More... These FAQs were developed by the agencies to assist institutions and examiners in their implementation of the new accounting standard for credit losses recently issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The agencies plan to publish additional FAQs and/or update existing FAQs periodically (Guidance, Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses at 3-1489).

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, is making technical corrections to a final rule published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. The final rule relates to certain customer due diligence standards applicable to covered financial institutions, defined as banks, brokers or dealers in securities, mutual funds, and futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in commodities. More... As published, the final rule contains technical errors that could cause confusion if not corrected. These technical corrections are effective September 28, 2017 (Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at 3-1700), the same day they were published in the Federal Register.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is amending certain mortgage servicing rules issued by the CFPB in 2013. This final rule clarifies, revises, or amends provisions regarding force-placed insurance notices, policies and procedures, early intervention, and loss mitigation requirements under Regulation X’s servicing provisions; and prompt crediting and periodic statement requirements under Regulation Z’s servicing provisions. More... The final rule also addresses proper compliance regarding certain servicing requirements when a person is a potential or confirmed successor in interest, is a debtor in bankruptcy, or sends a cease communication request under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The final rule also makes technical corrections to several provisions of Regulations X and Z. The CFPB is issuing concurrently with this final rule an interpretive rule under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act relating to servicers’ compliance with certain mortgage servicing rules. The final rule is effective October 19, 2017, except for several amendments that become effective April 19, 2018 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation X at 6-1370 and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z at 6-5600, Docket CFPB-2014-0033) and was published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2016.

The CFPB is issuing an interim final rule amending a provision of the Regulation X mortgage servicing rules issued in 2016 relating to the timing for servicers to provide modified written early intervention notices to borrowers who have invoked their cease communication rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. More... The CFPB requests public comment on this interim final rule. The interim final rule is effective October 19, 2017 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation X at 6-1370, Docket CFPB-2017-0031) and was published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2017. Comments on the interim final rule must be received by November 15, 2017.

The CFPB is modifying the federal mortgage disclosure requirements under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) that are implemented in Regulation Z. This rule memorializes the CFPB’s informal guidance on various issues and makes additional clarifications and technical amendments. More... This rule also creates tolerances for the total of payments, adjusts a partial exemption mainly affecting housing finance agencies and nonprofits, extends coverage of the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosure requirements to all cooperative units, and provides guidance on sharing the integrated disclosures with various parties involved in the mortgage origination process. The final rule is effective October 10, 2017 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z at 6-5600, Docket CFPB-2016-0038) and was published in the Federal Register on August 11, 2017.

The Federal Open Market Committee is finalizing its interim final rule amending the Committee’s regulations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (Improvement Act) amended FOIA and required each federal agency to review its FOIA regulations and to issue certain revisions by December 27, 2016. More... Substantive revisions to the Committee’s Rules Regarding Availability of Information were made to conform to the Improvement Act, and the Committee made other technical changes to the rules in order to clarify the existing procedures for requesting information and to update contact information. The interim final rule became effective on December 27, 2016. This rulemaking finalizes the interim rule with minor edits for consistency and clarification. The final rule is effective November 1, 2017 (Federal Open Market Committee, Rules Regarding Availability of Information at 8-812) and was published in the Federal Register on October 2, 2017.

The Board has revised part II of the Federal Reserve Policy on Payment System Risk related to the transaction posting times used for measuring balances intraday in institutions’ accounts at the Federal Reserve Banks to conform to amendments to regulations governing the use of the Automated Clearing House Network by federal agencies announced by the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service). More... Specifically, the amended posting rules conform to the decision of the Fiscal Service to allow federal agencies to originate and receive same-day entries beginning September 15, 2017. The policy statement revisions became effective September 15, 2017 (Federal Reserve Policy Statement on Payment System Risk at 9-1000, Docket OP-1572) and were published in the Federal Register on October 6, 2017.

On August 17, 2017, the Board published in the Federal Register a proposed new rating system for its supervision of large financial institutions. To facilitate effective public comment, the Board has determined that an extension of the public comment period until November 30, 2017, is appropriate. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the proposal and prepare their comments. Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must be received by November 30, 2017 (Docket R-1569).

In March 2017, the Board, the FDIC, and the OCC submitted a report to Congress pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996, in which they committed to meaningfully reduce regulatory burden, especially on community banking organizations. Consistent with that commitment, the agencies are inviting public comment on a notice of proposed rulemaking that would simplify compliance with certain aspects of the capital rule. More... A majority of the proposed simplifications would apply solely to banking organizations that are not subject to the advanced approaches capital rule. Specifically, the agencies are proposing that non-advanced approaches banking organizations apply a simpler regulatory capital treatment for: mortgage servicing assets; certain deferred tax assets arising from temporary differences; investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions; and capital issued by a consolidated subsidiary of a banking organization and held by third parties (minority interest). More generally, the proposal also includes revisions to the treatment of certain acquisition, development, or construction exposures that are designed to address comments regarding the current definition of high volatility commercial real estate exposure under the capital rule’s standardized approach. Under the standardized approach, the proposed revisions to the treatment of acquisition, development, or construction exposures would not apply to existing exposures that are outstanding or committed prior to any final rule’s effective date.

In addition to the proposed simplifications, the agencies also are proposing various additional clarifications and technical amendments to the agencies’ capital rule, which would apply to both non-advanced approaches banking organizations and advanced approaches banking organizations. Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must be received by December 26, 2017 (Docket R-1576).