2019-21966. Removal of Transferred OTS Regulations Regarding Reporting Requirements, Regulatory Reports and Audits of State Savings Associations

AGENCY:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION:

Notice of proposed rulemaking; supplemental notice.

SUMMARY:

On October 2, 2019, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking with request for comments on a proposal that would rescind and remove from the Code of Federal Regulations 12 CFR part 390, subpart R, entitled Regulatory Reporting Standards (part 390, subpart R). The FDIC is supplementing that notice of proposed rulemaking with an updated regulatory flexibility analysis to reflect a few typographical changes.

DATES:

Comments on the updated regulatory flexibility analysis must be received on or before November 8, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• FDIC Website: https://www.fdic.gov/​regulations/​laws/​federal/​. Follow instructions for submitting comments on the agency website.
• Email: [e-mail]. Include RIN 3064-AF13 on the subject line of the message.
• Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary, Attention: Comments, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.
• Hand Delivery to FDIC: Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of the 550 17th Street Building (located on F Street) on business days between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Please include your name, affiliation, address, email address, and telephone number(s) in your comment. All statements received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record and are subject to public disclosure. You should submit only information that you wish to make publicly available.

Public Inspection: All comments received will be posted generally without change to https://www.fdic.gov/​regulations/​laws/​federal/​,, including any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ryan T. Singer, Chief, Regulatory Analysis Section, Division of Insurance and Research, [phone], [e-mail]; Jennifer M. Jones, Counsel, Legal Division, [phone], [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On October 2, 2019, the FDIC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking with request for comments on a proposal that would rescind and remove from the Code of Federal Regulations 12 CFR part 390, subpart R, entitled Regulatory Reporting Standards (part 390, subpart R). (See 84 FR 52387 (October 2, 2019).) The FDIC is supplementing that notice of proposed rulemaking with an updated regulatory flexibility analysis to reflect a few typographical changes.

Updated Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), requires that, in connection with a notice of proposed rulemaking, an agency prepare and make available for public comment an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the impact of the proposed rule on small entities.^[1] However, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required if the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and publishes its certification and a short explanatory statement in the Federal Register together with the rule. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has defined “small entities” to include banking organizations with total assets of less than or equal to $600 million.^[2] Generally, the FDIC considers a significant effect to be a quantified effect in excess of 5 percent of total annual salaries and benefits per institution, or 2.5 percent of total non-interest expenses. The FDIC believes that effects in excess of these thresholds typically represent significant effects for FDIC-supervised institutions. For the reasons provided below, the FDIC certifies that the proposed rule, if adopted in final form, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small banking organizations. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required.

As of March 31, 2019,^[3] the FDIC supervised 3,465 insured financial institutions, of which 2,705 are considered small banking organizations for the purposes of RFA. The proposed rule primarily affects regulations that govern State savings associations. There are 36 State savings associations considered to be small banking organizations for the purposes of the RFA.^[4]

As explained previously, the proposed rule would remove sections 390.320, 390.321 and 390.332 of part 390, subpart R because these sections are redundant or otherwise unnecessary in light of applicable statutes and other FDIC regulations. As a result, rescinding the regulations would not have any substantive effects on small FDIC-supervised institutions.

Based on the information above, the FDIC certifies that the proposed rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The FDIC invites comments on all aspects of the supporting information provided in this RFA section. In particular, would this rule have any significant effects on small entities that the FDIC has not identified?

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Dated at Washington, DC, on October 3, 2019.

Annmarie H. Boyd,

Assistant Executive Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.

2.  The SBA defines a small banking organization as having $600 million or less in assets, where an organization's “assets are determined by averaging the assets reported on its four quarterly financial statements for the preceding year.” See 13 CFR 121.201 (as amended, by 84 FR 34261, effective August 19, 2019). In its determination, “SBA counts the receipts, employees, or other measure of size of the concern whose size is at issue and all of its domestic and foreign affiliates.” See 13 CFR 121.103. Following these regulations, the FDIC uses a covered entity's affiliated and acquired assets, averaged over the preceding four quarters, to determine whether the covered entity is “small” for the purposes of the RFA.

3.  March 31, 2019, is the most recent period for which the FDIC's “small entity” designations for depository institutions are available.

4.  Based on data from the March 31, 2019, Call Report and FFIEC 002 Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Bank.