[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 112 (Wednesday, June 10, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35373-35374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12570]



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 Rules and Regulations
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 112 / Wednesday, June 10, 2020 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 35373]]



DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

12 CFR Part 7

[Docket No. OCC-2020-0020]
RIN 1557-AE94


Director, Shareholder, and Member Meetings: Technical Correction

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury (OCC).

ACTION: Correcting amendment.

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SUMMARY: On May 28, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 
(OCC) published in the Federal Register an interim final rule to revise 
its regulations on activities and operations of national banks and 
corporate activities of Federal savings associations to provide that 
these institutions may permit telephonic and electronic participation 
at all board of directors, shareholder, and as applicable, member, 
meetings. This correcting amendment makes a correction to those interim 
regulations.

DATES: The effective date is June 10, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi M. Thomas, Special Counsel, 
Chief Counsel's Office, (202) 649-5490, for persons who are deaf or 
hearing impaired, TTY, (202) 649-5597, Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Description of Correcting Amendment

    On May 28, 2020, the OCC published in the Federal Register an 
interim final rule to revise its regulations on activities and 
operations of national banks and corporate activities of Federal 
savings associations to provide that these institutions may permit 
telephonic and electronic participation at all board of directors, 
shareholder, and as applicable, member, meetings. This correcting 
amendment makes a correction to those interim regulations. The interim 
final rule removed and reserved 12 CFR 7.1001.\1\ This correcting 
amendment reinserts this section and removes and reserves 12 CFR 
7.2001, as was intended by the OCC and described in the preamble to the 
interim final rule.
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    \1\ 85 FR 31943.
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II. Administrative Law Matters

A. Administrative Procedure Act

    The OCC is issuing this correcting amendment without prior notice 
and the opportunity for public comment and the delayed effective date 
ordinarily prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).\2\ 
Pursuant to section 553(b)(B) of the APA, general notice and the 
opportunity for public comment are not required with respect to a 
rulemaking when an ``agency for good cause finds (and incorporates the 
finding and a brief statement of reasons therefor in the rules issued) 
that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, 
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' \3\
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    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 553.
    \3\ 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A).
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    The OCC finds that public notice and comment are unnecessary 
because this correcting amendment makes a technical change to correct 
an erroneous removal in the interim final rule. Therefore, the OCC 
believes it has good cause to dispense with the APA prior notice and 
public comment process.
    The APA also requires a 30-day delayed effective date, except for: 
(1) Substantive rules which grant or recognize an exemption or relieve 
a restriction; (2) interpretative rules and statements of policy; or 
(3) as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause.\4\ As described 
above, the OCC believes it has good cause to issue this correcting 
amendment without a delayed effective date. Therefore, this correcting 
amendment is exempt from the APA's delayed effective date 
requirement.\5\
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    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d).
    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).
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B. Congressional Review Act

    For purposes of the Congressional Review Act, the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) makes a determination as to whether a final 
rule constitutes a ``major rule.'' \6\ If a rule is deemed a ``major 
rule'' by the OMB, the Congressional Review Act generally provides that 
the rule may not take effect until at least 60 days following its 
publication.\7\
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    \6\ 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.
    \7\ 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(3).
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    The Congressional Review Act defines a ``major rule'' as any rule 
that the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs of the OMB finds has resulted in or is likely to result in: (1) 
An annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; (2) a major 
increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, 
Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or 
(3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, 
productivity, innovation, or on the ability of United States-based 
enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and 
export markets.\8\
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    \8\ 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
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    The delayed effective date required by the Congressional Review Act 
does not apply to any rule for which an agency for good cause finds 
(and incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefor 
in the rule issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.\9\ For 
the same reasons set forth above, the OCC finds that it has good cause 
to adopt this correcting amendment without the delayed effective date 
generally prescribed under the Congressional Review Act.
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    \9\ 5 U.S.C. 808.
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    As required by the Congressional Review Act, the OCC will submit 
the IFR and other appropriate reports to Congress and the Government 
Accountability Office for review.

C. Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994

    Pursuant to section 302(a) of the Riegle Community Development and 
Regulatory Improvement Act (RCDRIA),\10\ in determining the effective 
date and administrative compliance requirements for new regulations 
that impose additional reporting, disclosure, or other requirements on 
insured depository institutions (IDIs), each Federal banking agency 
must consider,

[[Page 35374]]

consistent with the principle of safety and soundness and the public 
interest, any administrative burdens that such regulations would place 
on depository institutions, including small depository institutions, 
and customers of depository institutions, as well as the benefits of 
such regulations. In addition, section 302(b) of RCDRIA requires new 
regulations and amendments to regulations that impose additional 
reporting, disclosures, or other new requirements on IDIs generally to 
take effect on the first day of a calendar quarter that begins on or 
after the date on which the regulations are published in final form, 
with certain exceptions, including for good cause.\11\ For the reasons 
described above, the OCC finds good cause exists under section 302 of 
RCDRIA to publish this correcting amendment with an immediate effective 
date. As such, the IFR will be effective immediately.
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    \10\ 12 U.S.C. 4802(a).
    \11\ 12 U.S.C. 4802.
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D. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) \12\ requires an agency to 
consider whether the rules it proposes will have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities.\13\ The RFA applies 
only to rules for which an agency publishes a general notice of 
proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b). As discussed 
previously, consistent with section 553(b)(B) of the APA, the OCC has 
determined for good cause that general notice and opportunity for 
public comment is unnecessary, and therefore the OCC is not issuing a 
notice of proposed rulemaking. Accordingly, the OCC has concluded that 
the RFA's requirements relating to initial and final regulatory 
flexibility analysis do not apply.
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    \12\ 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
    \13\ Under regulations issued by the Small Business 
Administration, a small entity includes a depository institution, 
bank holding company, or savings and loan holding company with total 
assets of $600 million or less and trust companies with total assets 
of $41.5 million or less. See 13 CFR 121.201.
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F. Unfunded Mandates

    As a general matter, the Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995 (UMRA) \14\ 
requires the preparation of a budgetary impact statement before 
promulgating a rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in 
the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the 
aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one 
year. However, the UMRA does not apply to final rules for which a 
general notice of proposed rulemaking was not published.\15\ Therefore, 
because the OCC has found good cause to dispense with notice and 
comment for this correcting amendment, the OCC has not prepared an 
economic analysis of the rule under the UMRA.
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    \14\ 2 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
    \15\ See 2 U.S.C. 1532(a).
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List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 7

    Computer technology, Credit, Derivatives, Federal savings 
associations, Insurance, Investments, Metals, National banks, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Securities, Security bonds.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the OCC corrects 12 CFR 
part 7 by making the following correcting amendment:

PART 7--ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 7 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1 et seq., 25b, 29, 71, 71a, 92, 92a, 93, 
93a, 95(b)(1), 371, 371d, 481, 484, 1463, 1464, 1465, 1818, 1828(m), 
3102(b), and 5412(b)(2)(B).


0
2. Add Sec.  7.1001 to read as follows:


Sec.  7.1001  National bank acting as general insurance agent

    Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 92, a national bank may act as an agent for 
any fire, life, or other insurance company in any place the population 
of which does not exceed 5,000 inhabitants. This section is applicable 
to any office of a national bank when the office is located in a 
community having a population of less than 5,000, even though the 
principal office of such bank is located in a community whose 
population exceeds 5,000.


Sec.  7.2001  [Reserved]

0
3. Remove and reserve Sec.  7.2001.

Jonathan V. Gould,
Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-12570 Filed 6-9-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-33-P