The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. decided Tuesday not to regulate stored-value cards.
Instead, the agency will leave in place a legal opinion issued last August that limits deposit insurance to stored-value cards linked to a consumer's account. All other stored-value cards-the majority of the products offered-are not covered.
The FDIC left the door open for future regulation if consumers become confused over which stored-value products are insured.
At an open meeting, the agency also proposed exempting well-run, well- capitalized institutions from filing applications to open foreign branches or make foreign investments.
The plan also would allow FDIC-regulated banks to invest and trade government securities of countries in which they do not have a branch, authorize limited investment in nonfinancial firms overseas, and lift the 25%-of-capital cap on total foreign investments.
Meanwhile, the Office of Thrift Supervision on Monday issued its first on-line banking guidelines.
An eight-page memo warned the 1,302 thrifts supervised by the agency to make security their "paramount" concern, scrutinize technology vendors, inform consumers about their rights and protections, and prepare detailed business plans.
"The risks must be considered, and the appropriate controls put in place," said John F. Downey, OTS' executive director of supervision.
Examination procedures for electronic banking will be ready by the end of July, the agency noted.
