Bank Agencies' Reg Relief Process Enters 2nd Phase

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Friday announced the second stage of a mandated review of banking rules meant to identify opportunities for relief.

The agencies will accept comments from financial institutions and other parties on ideas to lighten the regulatory load in three categories: banking operations, capital and the Community Investment Act. Comments will be due May 14.

The review process is required by the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act. Under that law, every 10 years the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve Board and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency try to identify "outdated, unnecessary or unduly burdensome" rule and look for ways to mitigate the regulatory burden.

The current EGRPRA process — the second since the law was enacted — is expected to last well into 2016. The agencies collected an initial round of comments in September, and plan to publish two more requests for input over the next year. Although each of the four stages asks for comment on a specific set of categories of financial institutions policy — totaling 12 categories overall during the review — commenters can weigh in on any of the categories during any phase.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Law and regulation Community banking
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER