[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 6712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02402]


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FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

[No. 2015-N-01]


Notice of Annual Adjustment of the Cap on Average Total Assets 
That Defines Community Financial Institutions

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has adjusted the cap 
on average total assets that defines a ``Community Financial 
Institution'' to $1,123,000,000, based on the annual percentage 
increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as 
published by the Department of Labor (DOL). These changes took effect 
on January 1, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Tran, Division of Federal Home 
Loan Bank Regulation, (202) 649-3319, [email protected], or Eric M. 
Raudenbush, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 649-3084, 
[email protected], (not toll-free numbers), Federal Housing 
Finance Agency, Constitution Center, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20024.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background

    The Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) confers upon insured 
depository institutions that meet the statutory definition of a 
``Community Financial Institution'' (CFI) certain advantages over non-
CFI insured depository institutions in qualifying for Federal Home Loan 
Bank (Bank) membership, and in the purposes for which they may receive 
long-term advances and the collateral they may pledge to secure 
advances.\1\ Section 2(10)(A) of the Bank Act and Sec.  1263.1 of 
FHFA's regulations define a CFI as any Bank member the deposits of 
which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and that 
has average total assets below a statutory cap.\2\ The Bank Act was 
amended in 2008 to set the statutory cap at $1 billion and to require 
the Director of FHFA to adjust the cap annually to reflect the 
percentage increase in the CPI-U, as published by the DOL, for the 
prior year.\3\ For 2014, FHFA set the CFI asset cap at $1,108,000,000, 
which reflected a 1.2 percent increase over 2013, based upon the 
increase in the CPI-U between 2012 and 2013.\4\
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    \1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1424(a), 1430(a).
    \2\ See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10)(A); 12 CFR 1263.1.
    \3\ See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10); 12 CFR 1263.1 (defining the term CFI 
asset cap).
    \4\ See 79 FR 1862 (Jan. 10, 2014).
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II. The CFI Asset Cap for 2015

    As of January 1, 2015, FHFA has increased the CFI asset cap from 
$1,108,000,000 to $1,123,000,000, which reflects a 1.3 percent increase 
in the unadjusted CPI-U from November 2013 to November 2014. The new 
amount was obtained by rounding to the nearest million, as has been the 
practice for all prior adjustments. Consistent with the practice of 
other Federal agencies, FHFA bases the annual adjustment to the CFI 
asset cap on the percentage increase in the CPI-U from November of the 
year prior to the preceding calendar year to November of the preceding 
calendar year, because the November figures represent the most recent 
available data as of January 1st of the current calendar year.
    In calculating the CFI asset cap, FHFA uses CPI-U data that have 
not been seasonally adjusted (i.e., the data have not been adjusted to 
remove the estimated effect of price changes that normally occur at the 
same time and in about the same magnitude every year). The DOL 
encourages use of unadjusted CPI-U data in applying ``escalation'' 
provisions such as that governing the CFI asset cap, because the 
factors that are used to seasonally adjust the data are amended 
annually, and seasonally adjusted data that are published earlier are 
subject to revision for up to five years following their original 
release. Unadjusted data are not routinely subject to revision, and 
previously published unadjusted data are only corrected when 
significant calculation errors are discovered.

    Dated: January 27, 2015.
Melvin L. Watt,
Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2015-02402 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P