Capital briefs: Banks Facing 3-Day Settlement on Trades

The Federal Reserve Board has proposed requiring banks to settle debt- and asset-backed security transactions within three days - in two days less than now allowed.

Securities dealers have had to settle sales within three days since June.

The proposal, published in the Dec. 26 Federal Register, also spelled out record-keeping requirements for banks that buy securities for customers.

For example, a bank must produce an order ticket, mail a confirmation to the customer, and retain the person's name and address in the files.

The changes, the first to Regulation H since 1979, codify the informal compliance advice the Fed has given banks since 1988.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are expected to propose similar revisions shortly.

Gil Schwartz, a partner at the Washington law firm of Schwartz & Ballen, said bankers shouldn't worry. "This is all pretty pro forma stuff," he said. "These are technical amendments to the regulations. It doesn't represent anything really significant."

The public has until Feb. 28 to comment.

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