The Board is adopting as a final rule, without change, its March 24, 2020 interim final rule amending Regulation D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions) to lower reserve requirement ratios on transaction accounts maintained at depository institutions to 0 percent. More... The final rule is effective March 12, 2021 (Regulation D, Docket R-1702) and was published in the Federal Register on February 10, 2021.

On April 17 and July 15, 2020, the Board issued two interim final rules to except certain loans made through June 30 and August 8, 2020, respectively, that are guaranteed under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) from the requirements of section 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act and the Board’s Regulation O. More... The Board is issuing this interim final rule to further extend this relief to PPP loans, including PPP second draw loans, made through March 31, 2021. The interim final rule is effective February 17, 2021 (Regulation O, Docket R-1740), the same day it was published in the Federal Register.

On February 17, 2021, the Board revised Supervisory Guidance for Assessing Risk Management at Supervised Institutions with Total Consolidated Assets Less Than $100 Billion to apply to the supervision of Federal Reserve regulated institutions with total consolidated assets of less than $100 billion including state member banks, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies (including insurance and commercial savings and loan holding companies); as well as foreign banking organizations with consolidated U.S. assets of less than $100 billion. More... The guidance does not apply to intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations established pursuant to the Federal Reserve’s Regulation YY with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more. This applicability modification aligns with the Board’s tailoring rules (Guidance, Risk Management at 3-1579.243).

On February 26, 2021, the Board issued Supervisory Guidance on Board of Directors’ Effectiveness to highlight the critical role the board of directors of a large financial institution serves in maintaining the firm’s safety and soundness and compliance with laws and regulations, as well as the continued financial and operational resilience of its consolidated operations. More... This guidance adopts a principles-based approach to describe attributes of effective boards and provides illustrative examples of effective practices (Guidance, Safety and Soundness at 3-1579.294).

The Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are adopting a final rule that applies to advanced approaches banking organizations with the aim of reducing both interconnectedness within the financial system and systemic risks. More... The final rule requires deduction from a banking organization’s regulatory capital for certain investments in unsecured debt instruments issued by foreign or U.S. global systemically important banking organizations (G-SIBs) for the purposes of meeting minimum total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements and, where applicable, long-term debt requirements, or for investments in unsecured debt instruments issued by G-SIBs that are pari passu or subordinated to such debt instruments. In addition, the Board is adopting changes to its TLAC rules to clarify requirements and correct drafting errors. The final rule is effective April 1, 2021 (Regulation Q and Regulation YY, Docket R-1655) and was published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2021.

The Board is adopting a final rule to tailor the requirements in the Board’s capital plan rule based on risk. Specifically, as indicated in the Board’s October 2019 rulemaking that updated the prudential framework for large bank holding companies and U.S. intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations (tailoring framework), the final rule modifies the capital planning, regulatory reporting, and stress capital buffer requirements for firms subject to “Category IV” standards under that framework. More... To be consistent with recent changes to the Board’s stress testing rules, the final rule makes other changes to the Board’s stress testing rules, Stress Testing Policy Statement, and regulatory reporting requirements, such as the assumptions relating to business plan changes and capital actions and the publication of company-run stress test results for savings and loan holding companies. The final rule also applies the capital planning and stress capital buffer requirements to covered savings and loan holding companies subject to Category II, Category III, and Category IV standards under the tailoring framework. The final rule is effective April 5, 2021 (Regulation Q, Regulation Y, Regulation LL, and Regulation YY, Docket R-1724) and was published in the Federal Register on February 3, 2021.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule to amend Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, as mandated by section 108 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. More... The amendments exempt certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions from the requirement to establish escrow accounts for certain higher-priced mortgage loans. The final rule is effective February 17, 2021 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, Docket CFPB-2020-0023), the same day it was published in the Federal Register.

The Federal Open Market Committee amended its Rules of Organization to replace the terms “Chairman” and “Vice Chairman” with “Chair” and “Vice Chair,” respectively. More... The amendments are effective February 17, 2021 (Procedural and Organizational Rules, Federal Open Market Committee Rules of Organization) and were published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2021.

The Federal Open Market Committee amended its Rules of Procedure to replace the terms “Chairman” and “Vice Chairman” with “Chair” and “Vice Chair,” respectively. More... The amendments are effective February 26, 2021 (Procedural and Organizational Rules, Federal Open Market Committee Rules of Procedure), the same day they were published in the Federal Register.

The Board has amended part II of the Federal Reserve Policy on Payment System Risk to reflect modifications to the Federal Reserve Banks’ payment services to facilitate adoption of a later same-day automated clearinghouse (ACH) processing and settlement window. More... Specifically, the Reserve Banks will extend the daily operating hours of the National Settlement Service (NSS) and the Fedwire® Funds Service. To mitigate the risk that these modified hours will cause more frequent delays to the 9:00 p.m. eastern time (ET) reopening of the Fedwire Funds Service, the Reserve Banks will modify the practice of maintaining a 2-hour window between the closing and reopening of the Fedwire Funds Service to maintain only a 90-minute window, and will increase the $1 billion value threshold for extending the closing of the Fedwire Funds Service to $3 billion. The policy statement amendments are effective March 19, 2021 (Federal Reserve Policy Statement on Payment System Risk at 9-1000, Docket OP-1692) and were published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2019.

The Board adopted a final rule that amends Regulation EE (Netting Eligibility for Financial Institutions) to include additional entities in the definition of “financial institution” contained in section 402 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA) so that they are covered by FDICIA’s netting protections. More... The final rule also clarifies certain aspects of the existing activities-based test in Regulation EE. The final rule is effective March 29, 2021 (Regulation EE, Docket R-1661) and was published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2021.

The Board, the Farm Credit Administration, the FDIC, the National Credit Union Administration, and the OCC propose to supplement the Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Flood Insurance with new questions and answers (Q&As) regarding the acceptance of flood insurance policies issued by private insurers pursuant to the agencies’ private flood insurance final rule issued in February 2019. More... These Q&As will assist lenders in meeting their responsibilities under the final rule and increase public understanding of the agencies’ respective flood insurance regulations. Comments on this notice of proposed Q&As must be received by May 17, 2021 (Docket R-1742).