Regulatory Roundup

MERGER ACCOUNTING: Proposal on Sept. 8 by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to eliminate the pooling-of-interests method of M&A accounting. Public hearings are expected in the first quarter of 2000, and a final standard could be issued later that year. An interim draft approved April 21 suggested requiring merging parties to use "purchase" accounting. A copy of the proposal is available on the FASB's Web site at www.fasb.org. Comments due Dec. 7.

RECEIVERSHIP ASSETS: Proposal by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Aug. 31 to prohibit the agency -- when acting as receiver or conservator -- from recovering financial assets transferred by the failed institution as part of a securitization or participation. For the prohibition to apply, such transfers would have had to meet all conditions for sale accounting under generally accepted accounting principles. Expected to be published soon in the Federal Register. Comments due 60 days later.

INSURANCE PREMIUMS: Proposal by the FDIC on Aug. 31 to reduce to 15 days, from 30, the time a bank is given to pay its insurance premium after being billed. Proposal also would triple, to 90 days, the time a bank or thrift has to request a review of its premium assessment. To be published soon with comments due 45 days later.

ASSET PURCHASES: Proposal by the FDIC on Aug. 31 to bar people who profited from, or helped cause, the failure of a bank or thrift from buying that institution's assets. In some cases, prohibitions would also apply to individuals who have defaulted on loans or been convicted of financial crimes. To be published soon with comments due 90 days later.

HOME LOAN BANKS: Proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Board on July 28 to change the capital and investments of the 12 Federal Home Loan banks. To be published soon with comments due 90 days later.

BASEL PAPERS: The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued three proposals on July 27, covering principles for managing and disclosing capital risk, best practices for credit risk disclosure, and guidelines for managing settlement risk in foreign exchange transactions. A copy is available on the Bank for International Settlements' Web site at www.bis.org. Comments due Nov. 30.

REG B: Proposal by the Federal Reserve Board to let lenders collect race and gender data on more borrowers. Published Aug. 16. Comments due Nov. 10.

ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURES: Interim rule issued on Aug. 18 by the Federal Reserve Board allowing banks to send savings account statements electronically, effective Sept. 1. Proposal to let banks make consumer protection disclosures on-line to borrowers revised by the Fed. Published Aug. 31. Comments due Oct. 29.

CAPITAL RULES: Proposal by the Basel Committee to update the 1988 international risk-based capital accords. Rather than basing capital requirements on the type of asset a bank holds, capital would be based on the riskiness of the bank's borrowers as determined by a rating agency such as Standard & Poor's. Published by the Basel Committee on June 3. A copy is available on the Bank for International Settlements' Web site at www.bis.org. Comments due March 31.

CREDIT RISK: The Basel Committee issued a paper questioning whether credit risk models are sophisticated enough to be used to set regulatory capital requirements. Published May 3. Comments due Oct. 1.

FANNIE/FREDDIE CAPITAL: Proposal by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to create risk-based capital standards for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Published April 13. Comment deadline extended three months, to Nov. 11. Recent Actions

INTERLOCKS: The FDIC issued a final rule on Aug. 31 updating the circumstances under which a manager can -- and cannot -- work simultaneously for two unaffiliated banks or holding companies. Officials serving at an institution with assets more than $2.5 billion cannot serve at another institution with assets exceeding $1.5 billion. To be published soon in the Federal Register.

MONEY LAUNDERING: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a final rule requiring so-called "money service businesses" -- including check cashers and currency exchanges -- to report suspicious customer activity to law enforcement. The rule also gave these businesses until Dec. 31, 2001, to register with the Treasury and until Jan. 1, 2002, to maintain a current list of their agents. Published Aug. 20. Effective Sept. 20.

SBA LOANS: The Small Business Administration issued a final rule announcing its intent to sell, via competitive bid, loans made under its 7a, 501, 502, 503, and 504 guarantee programs, as well as some loans originated by the agency. Published and effective Aug. 13. Action Expected Soon

CREDIT REPORTING: Bank and thrift regulators are working on joint guidelines urging subprime lenders to report positive borrower payment histories to credit bureaus. Separately, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has been discussing the credit reporting issue with the Federal Trade Commission.

THRIFT RULE: The Office of Thrift Supervision is expected to issue a rule by yearend to clarify when a unitary thrift holding company may own more than one thrift but still engage in nonfinancial activities.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is expected soon to propose a rule requiring securities brokers and dealers to report suspicious transactions by customers.

LOAN POOLING: The SBA is expected to propose a rule soon that would let several lenders pool and sell the nonguaranteed portions of their 7a loans. Community Closed

COMMUNITY BANKS: Proposal by the OCC to help small national banks qualify for subchapter S treatment. Published June 14. Comments were due Aug. 13.

STUDENT LOANS: Proposal by the Department of Education to lower the origination fee for government loans to students. Fees would fall to 3% of the loan principal, from 4%. Published June 16. Comments were due July 30.

INVESTMENTS: Proposal by the OCC to update and clarify its rules governing investment securities. Published June 14. Comments were due Aug. 13.

OP SUB: OCC application to permit National Bank of Commerce in Memphis to purchase, sell, underwrite, and deal corporate debt through an operating subsidiary, NBC Capital Markets Group Inc. To date, the agency has authorized only municipal revenue bond underwriting. Published June 11. Comments were due July 12.

PUBLIC WELFARE: Proposal by the OCC to simplify the prior notice and self-certification requirements covering national banks' public welfare investments. Among other changes, the plan would let national banks with less than $250 million of assets self-certify any public welfare investment. Published June 10. Comments were due Aug. 9.

Y2K BACKUP: The FDIC issued an interim final rule requiring banks unprepared for the year-2000 changeover to make digital copies of account data beginning Dec. 24. Affects banks with less than "satisfactory" Y2K compliance ratings as of July 31. Published June 9. Comments were due July 9.

CRA COMPLIANCE: The four federal bank and thrift agencies have recalculated the Community Reinvestment Act's reporting burden. New estimates range from less than 10 hours a year for banks under $250 million of assets that do not belong to a holding company up to 634 hours a year for holding companies with more than $1 billion of assets. The industry's total reporting burden is estimated at 1.25 million hours. The agencies were seeking comment on the accuracy of its new estimates. Published May 28. Comments were due July 27.

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