CAPITAL ACCORDS: Disputes with Germany over accounting issues are preventing the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision from finalizing proposed revisions to the risk-based capital accords. An earlier draft would have required higher reserves for loans to hedge funds and used public debt ratings to determine how much capital a bank must hold on loans to sovereign governments. Release of the proposal is not expected before June.
WEB SITE DISCLOSURES: The OCC will issue guidelines this month on how bank Web sites should disclose their privacy policies.
EFT ACCOUNTS: The Treasury is expected as early as this month to issue a final rule on low-cost bank accounts for recipients of electronically delivered federal benefits. The rule will set standards for such accounts.
BUSINESS LOANS: The NCUA is expected to issue a final rule as early as May that would limit credit union business loans. An interim final rule, published and effective Sept. 29, capped business lending at the lesser of 1.75 times net worth or 12.25% of total assets. Business loans of less than $50,000 were excluded from the cap.
CAPITAL: The NCUA in early May is expected to propose a prompt corrective action system for credit unions. To be considered well capitalized, a credit union would need a net worth of 7% of assets. The comment period for an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking closed Jan. 27.
CRA GUIDELINES: The Exam Council is expected this month to issue revised guidelines, written in question-and-answer format, explaining how the Community Reinvestment Act will be applied to Internet banks and thrifts.
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY: The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is expected to propose a rule this summer requiring securities brokers and dealers to report suspicious transactions by customers. Fincen expects to approve a final rule this month that would require other nonbanks-such as check cashers and currency exchanges-to report suspicious customer activity.
FAILED BANKS: The FDIC in June is expected to issue a proposed rule that would prohibit people who helped cause the failure of a bank or thrift from buying that institution's assets.
LOAN POOLING: The SBA expects to propose a rule by summer that would let small banks pool and sell the nonguaranteed portions of their 7(a) loans.
