[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16453-16454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8142]


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FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL


Community Reinvestment Act

AGENCY: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.

ACTION: Withdrawal of prior interpretations.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) 
is withdrawing certain interpretations and guidance provided to 
financial institutions subject to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) 
that have been rendered obsolete by the 1995 revisions to the 
regulations implementing the CRA promulgated by the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (Board), 
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of 
Thrift Supervision (OTS) (collectively, the agencies).

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 5, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    OCC: Malloy Harris, National Bank Examiner, Community and Consumer 
Policy Division, (202) 874-4446; or Margaret Hesse, Senior Attorney, 
Community and Consumer Law Division, (202) 874-5750, Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.
    Board: Catherine M.J. Gates, Senior Review Examiner, Division of 
Consumer and Community Affairs, (202) 452-3946; or James H. Mann, 
Attorney, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, (202) 452-2412, 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551.
    FDIC: Louise N. Kotoshirodo, Review Examiner, Division of 
Compliance and Consumer Affairs, (202) 942-3599; or Robert W. Mooney, 
Senior Fair Lending Specialist, Division of Compliance and Consumer 
Affairs, (202) 942-3090, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 
17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429.
    OTS: Richard R. Riese, Project Manager, Compliance Policy, (202) 
906-6134; or Theresa A. Stark, Project Manager, Compliance Policy, 
(202) 906-7054, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20552.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 806 of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), 12 
U.S.C. 2905, requires the Federal financial supervisory agencies to 
publish regulations to carry out the purposes of the CRA. On October 
12, 1978, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (agencies) 
jointly published regulations to implement the CRA (43 FR 47151) (1978 
regulations).
    To assist financial institutions subject to the CRA in interpreting 
these regulations and to provide guidance on compliance with the CRA, 
the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued 
various interpretations and statements of policy, including the 
``Uniform Interagency Community Reinvestment Act Final Guidelines for 
Disclosure of Written Evaluations and Revised Assessment Rating 
System'' (1990 Rating Guidelines) on May 1, 1990 (55 FR 18163) and the 
``Community Reinvestment Act Policy Statement on Analyses of Geographic 
Distribution of Lending'' (1991 Lending Analyses Policy Statement) on 
December 6, 1991. The agencies also jointly issued a ``Statement of the 
Federal Financial Supervisory Agencies Regarding the Community 
Reinvestment Act'' (1989 Policy Statement), which was published in the 
Federal Register on April 5, 1989 (54 FR 13742).

[[Page 16454]]

    On May 4, 1995, the agencies revised their CRA regulations by 
issuing a joint final rule (60 FR 22156). See 12 CFR Parts 25, 228, 345 
and 563e, implementing 12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq. Subsequently, the 
agencies published related clarifying amendments on December 20, 1995 
(60 FR 66048) and May 10, 1996 (61 FR 21362). The revised regulations 
were phased in over a two year period ending July 1, 1997, at which 
time, the 1978 regulations fully expired and all provisions of the 
revised regulations became applicable to all financial institutions 
covered by the CRA.
    On October 21, 1996, the FFIEC published agency staff guidance 
under the new regulations in the form of ``Interagency Questions and 
Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment'' (Interagency Q&As) to 
consolidate staff guidance regarding the revised CRA regulations into a 
comprehensive document to serve as informal staff guidance for 
financial institutions, agency staff and the public (61 FR 54647). The 
FFIEC supplemented, amended, and republished the Interagency Q&As on 
October 7, 1997 (62 FR 52105). The Interagency Q&As to be their primary 
vehicle for disseminating guidance interpreting their CRA regulations.

CDRI Review

    Section 303 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory 
Improvement Act of 1994 (CDRI Act) requires each federal banking agency 
to streamline and modify its regulations and written policies to 
improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and eliminate unwarranted 
restraints on credit availability; remove inconsistencies and outmoded 
and duplicative requirements; and work jointly with the other federal 
banking agencies to make uniform all regulations implementing common 
statutory or supervisory policies (12 U.S.C. 4803(a)). During the 
review of their CRA regulations, the agencies identified 
interpretations and policy statements issued under the 1978 regulations 
that have been superseded or made obsolete. In particular, the agencies 
have determined that the 1989 Policy Statement, the Rating Guidelines, 
and the Lending Analysis Policy Statement are obsolete as they provide 
guidance that is inconsistent with the revised regulations and should 
be withdrawn.

Withdrawal of Guidance on 1978 Regulations

    Since the revised regulations have been fully implemented, the 
FFIEC finds that the guidelines and policy statements issued to 
interpret the 1978 regulations have become obsolete. Consequently, the 
FFIEC is withdrawing in its entirety the Rating Guidelines and the 
Lending Analysis Policy Statement. By a separate notice, the agencies 
are also withdrawing the 1989 Policy Statement. This notice appears 
elsewhere in today's Federal Register. To the extent that any agency 
individually adopted any of these guidelines and policy statements, it 
has taken action to rescind such guidelines or policy statements.

    Dated: March 30, 1999.
Keith J. Todd,
Executive Secretary, Federal Financial Institutions Examination 
Council.
[FR Doc. 99-8142 Filed 4-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE FRB: 6210-01-P 25%; OTS: 6720-01-P 25%; FDIC: 6714-01-P 
25%; OCC: 4810-33-P 25%.