The Board is amending its Rules Regarding Delegation of Authority to delegate to the Secretary of the Board the authority to review and determine an appeal of denial of access to Board records under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and the Board’s rules regarding such access. More... The amendments to the Rules Regarding Delegation of Authority are effective March 6, 2018 (Procedural and Organizational Rules, Rules Regarding Delegation of Authority, Docket R-1600), the same day they were published in the Federal Register.

The Board, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, “the agencies”) are seeking comment on proposed amendments to the minimum margin requirements for registered swap dealers, major swap participants, security-based swap dealers, and major security-based swap participants for which one of the agencies is the prudential regulator (swap margin rule). More... The agencies are proposing these amendments in light of the rules recently adopted by the Board, the FDIC, and the OCC that impose restrictions on certain non-cleared swaps and non-cleared security-based swaps and other financial contracts (covered QFCs) (the QFC rules). The QFC rules amend the definition of “qualifying master netting agreement” in the federal banking agencies’ regulatory capital and liquidity rules to ensure that a covered QFC is not prevented from being part of a qualifying master netting agreement solely because the covered QFC conforms to the new requirements in the QFC rules. The FCA also plans to propose amendments to its capital rules, including potential revisions to its regulatory definition of “qualifying master netting agreement,” which is expected to be identical to the definition used in the federal banking agencies’ regulatory capital and liquidity rules.

The agencies are proposing to amend the definition of “eligible master netting agreement” in the swap margin rule so that it remains harmonized with the amended definition of “qualifying master netting agreement” in the federal banking agencies’ regulatory capital and liquidity rules, and amendments to the capital rules that the FCA separately plans to propose. More... This proposed rule would also ensure that netting agreements of firms subject to the swap margin rule are not excluded from the definition of “eligible master netting agreement” based solely on their compliance with the QFC rules. The agencies are also proposing that any legacy non-cleared swap or non-cleared security-based swap (i.e., a non-cleared swap or non-cleared security-based swap entered into before the applicable compliance date) that is not subject to the margin requirements of the swap margin rule would not become subject to the provisions of the swap margin rule if the non-cleared swap or non-cleared security-based swap is amended solely to comply with the requirements of the QFC rules. Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must be received by April 23, 2018 (Docket R-1596).

The Board is publishing for comment proposed amendments to Regulation J. More... The proposed amendments are intended to clarify and simplify certain provisions of subpart A of Regulation J, remove obsolete provisions, and align the rights and obligations of sending banks, paying banks, and Federal Reserve Banks with the Board’s recent amendments to Regulation CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks) to reflect the virtually all-electronic check collection and return environment. The proposed rule would also amend subpart B of Regulation J to clarify that terms used in financial messaging standards, such as ISO 20022, do not confer legal status or responsibilities. Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must be received by May 14, 2018 (Docket R-1599).