[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 27482-27483]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09860]


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DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

12 CFR Part 14

[Docket No. OCC-2022-0004]
RIN 1557-AF16


Customer Assistance Group Change of Mailing Address

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

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: The OCC is issuing this final rule; technical amendment to 
amend the consumer grievance process appendix in the Consumer 
Protection in Sales of Insurance regulations by removing an outdated 
mailing address for the OCC's Customer Assistance Group (CAG) and 
replacing it with the current mailing address.

DATES: The final rule is effective May 9, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marta Stewart-Bates, Counsel, or 
Graham Bannon, Attorney, Chief Counsel's Office, (202) 649-5490, Office 
of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 
20219. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, 
please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 5, 2021, the OCC published 
Bulletin 2021-35, ``Community Reinvestment Act, Fair Housing Act, and 
Equal Credit Opportunity Act: OCC Contact Information for Certain 
Notices and Posters,'' \1\ which announced the new physical mailing 
address of the OCC's CAG, ``P.O. Box 53570, Houston, TX 77052.'' The 
previous CAG mailing address was 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450, 
Houston, Texas 77010-3031. The OCC's regulation in appendix A to 12 CFR 
part 14 sets forth a consumer grievance process that contains the 
previous mailing address for the OCC's CAG. This final rule amends 
appendix A to 12 CFR part 14 to remove the outdated CAG mailing address 
and replace it with the current CAG mailing address.
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    \1\ https://occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2021/bulletin-2021-35.html.
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Administrative Law Matters

A. Administrative Procedure Act

    The OCC is issuing this final rule without prior notice and the 
opportunity for public comment and without the 30-day 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)(B).
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    The OCC believes that there is good cause to issue this final rule 
without notice and public procedure because the rule makes a technical 
change to update a physical mailing address for the OCC's CAG and does 
not alter any substantive standard. Therefore, there is good cause to 
dispense with the APA prior notice and public comment process because 
it is unnecessary since the change of CAG's address in 12 CFR part 14 
is a non-substantive, technical amendment to the OCC's rule.
    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\ The OCC 
finds good cause to publish this final rule with an immediate effective 
date because, as described above, this final rule merely reflects a 
change of address in existing regulations and does not alter any 
substantive standard.
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    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d).
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B. Use of Plain Language

    Section 722 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act \5\ requires Federal 
banking agencies to use plain language in all proposed and final rules 
published after January 1, 2000. The OCC has sought to present this 
final rule in a simple and straightforward manner.
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    \5\ Public Law 106-102, section 722, 113 Stat. 1338, 1471 
(1999).
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C. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis

    In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, 
and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information 
collection unless it displays a currently-valid Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC has reviewed this final rule 
and determined that it does not introduce a new collection of 
information pursuant to the PRA.

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) \6\ requires an agency to 
consider whether the rules it proposes will have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities.\7\ 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). 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 
because the rule makes a technical change to update a physical mailing 
address for the OCC's CAG and does not alter any substantive standard, 
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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    \6\ 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
    \7\ Under regulations issued by the Small Business 
Administration, as of February 2021, 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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E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    As a general matter, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(UMRA) \8\ requires the preparation of a budgetary impact statement 
before promulgating a

[[Page 27483]]

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.\9\ 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 
because the rule makes a technical change to update a physical mailing 
address for the OCC's CAG and does not alter any substantive standard, 
and, therefore, the OCC is not issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking. 
Accordingly, the OCC has not prepared an economic analysis of the rule 
under the UMRA.
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    \8\ 2 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
    \9\ See 2 U.S.C. 1532(a).
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F. Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994

    Pursuant to section 302(a) of the Riegle Community Development and 
Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994,\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, the OCC must consider, consistent with 
the principles of safety and soundness and the public interest: (1) Any 
administrative burdens that the final rule places on depository 
institutions, including small depository institutions and customers of 
depository institutions, and (2) the benefits of the final rule. This 
final rule does not impose additional reporting, disclosure, or other 
requirements on an insured depository institution. Therefore, section 
302(a) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement 
Act of 1994 does not apply to this final rule.
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    \10\ 12 U.S.C. 4802(a).
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G. The Congressional Review Act

    Before a rule can take effect, the Congressional Review Act (CRA), 
5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., provides that the OCC must submit to Congress and 
to the Comptroller General the rule along with a report indicating 
whether it is a ``major rule.'' In general, if a rule is a ``major 
rule,'' the CRA provides that unless Congress enacts a joint resolution 
of disapproval, the rule takes effect the later of: (1) 60 Days after 
Congress receives the required report or publication of the rule in the 
Federal Register, whichever is later; or (2) the date the rule would 
otherwise take effect.\11\ The CRA defines a ``major rule'' as any rule 
that the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget 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) a significant 
adverse effect on competition, employment, investment, productivity, 
innovation, or the ability of United States-based enterprises to 
compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and export 
markets.\12\
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    \11\ 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(3).
    \12\ 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
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    OIRA has determined that this final rule is not a major rule. As 
required by the CRA, the OCC will submit the final rule and other 
appropriate reports to Congress and the Government Accountability 
Office for review.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 14

    Banks, banking, Consumer protection, Insurance, National banks, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 12 CFR part 14 is amended 
as follows:

PART 14--CONSUMER PROTECTION IN SALES OF INSURANCE

0
1. The authority citation for part 14 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  12 U.S.C. 1 et seq., 24(Seventh), 92, 93a, 1462a, 
1463, 1464, 1818, 1831x, and 5412(b)(2)(B).

0
2. Appendix A to part 14 is revised to read as follows:

Appendix A to Part 14--Consumer Grievance Process

    Any consumer who believes that any bank, Federal savings 
association, or any other person selling, soliciting, advertising, 
or offering insurance products or annuities to the consumer at an 
office of the bank or Federal savings association, or on behalf of 
the bank or Federal savings association, has violated the 
requirements of this part should contact the Customer Assistance 
Group, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, (800) 613-6743, 
P.O. Box 53570, Houston, TX 77052, or www.helpwithmybank.gov.

Benjamin W. McDonough,
Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller 
of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2022-09860 Filed 5-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P