[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31056-31057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12505]


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FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 612

RIN 3052-AC44


Standards of Conduct and Referral of Known or Suspected Criminal 
Violations; Standards of Conduct

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Farm Credit Administration (FCA, we, or our) reopens the 
comment period on a proposed rule that would amend its regulations 
governing standards of conduct of directors, employees, and agents of 
Farm Credit System (System) institutions, excluding the Federal 
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation and clarify and strengthen reporting 
requirements and prohibitions, require institutions to establish a Code 
of Ethics, and enhance the role of the Standards of Conduct Official. 
Reopening the comment period will afford interested parties a new 
opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted on or before 
June 20, 2014.

ADDRESSES: We offer a variety of methods for you to submit your 
comments. For accuracy and efficiency reasons, commenters are 
encouraged to submit comments by email or through the FCA's Web site. 
As facsimiles (fax) are difficult for us to process and achieve 
compliance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, we are no longer 
accepting comments submitted by fax. Regardless of the method you use, 
please do not submit your comment multiple times via different methods. 
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: Send us an email at [email protected].
     FCA Web site: http://www.fca.gov. Select ``Public 
Commenters, '' then ``Public Comments'' and follow the directions for 
``Submitting a Comment.''

[[Page 31057]]

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Barry F. Mardock, Deputy Director, Office of 
Regulatory Policy, Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, 
McLean, Virginia 22102-5090.
    You may review copies of comments we receive at our office in 
McLean, Virginia, or from our Web site at http://www.fca.gov. Once you 
are in the Web site, select ``Public Commenters,'' then ``Public 
Comments'' and follow the directions for ``Reading Submitted Public 
Comments.'' We will show your comments as submitted but, for technical 
reasons, we may omit items such as logos and special characters. 
Identifying information that you provide, such as phone numbers and 
addresses, will be publicly available. However, we will attempt to 
remove email addresses to help reduce Internet spam.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacqueline R. Melvin, Policy Analyst, 
Office of Regulatory Policy, Farm Credit Administration, McLean, VA 
22102-5090, (703) 883-4498, TDD (703) 883-4056, or Mary Alice Donner, 
Senior Counsel, Office of General Counsel, Farm Credit Administration, 
McLean, VA 22102-5090, (703) 883-4020, TDD (703) 883-4056.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 20, 2014, the FCA published a 
proposed rule in the Federal Register seeking public comment on 
proposed changes to clarify and strengthen the standards of conduct 
regulations in part 612, subpart A. See 79 FR 9649. The FCA received 
numerous letters in response to the proposed rule requesting we extend 
the comment period. In a letter dated May 8, 2014, the Farm Credit 
Council (Council), on behalf of System institution banks, associations, 
and service organizations, requested that we extend the comment period 
for another 60 days to allow more time for boards of directors to study 
the rule and discuss their responses. Several System associations 
submitted separate letters supporting the Council's request for the 
extension of the comment period. Given that we have already given 
interested parties 90 days to comment on our proposed rule, we believe 
an additional 30 days is sufficient for submitting comments to FCA. As 
a result, we are reopening the comment period and granting an 
additional 30 days until June 20, 2014, to allow all interested parties 
an opportunity to comment.

    Dated: May 22, 2014.
Dale L. Aultman,
Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board.
[FR Doc. 2014-12505 Filed 5-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6705-01-P