Transmittal Archive

The Board and other Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) members issued a joint statement to offer guidance on risk management, consumer protection principles, and accounting treatment that institutions may find relevant as they work with their borrowers who were granted initial loan accommodations due to the pandemic and now may need additional accommodations. More... For more information, see the Joint Statement on Additional Loan Accommodations Related to COVID-19 on the FFIEC’s website: https://www.ffiec.gov/press/PDF/Statement_for_Loans_Nearing_the_End_of_Relief_Period.pdf.

The FFIEC issued a statement on behalf of its members to highlight the risks that will result from the expected discontinuation of the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) and to encourage supervised institutions to continue their efforts to transition to alternative reference rates to mitigate associated risks. More... For more information, see the Joint Statement on Managing the LIBOR Transition on the FFIEC’s website: https://www.ffiec.gov/press/PDF/FFIEC%20Statement%20on%20Managing%20the%20LIBOR%20Transition.pdf.

On April 17, 2020, the Board issued an interim final rule to except certain loans made by June 30, 2020, that are guaranteed under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) from the requirements of the Federal Reserve Act and the corresponding provisions of the Board’s Regulation O. More... The Board is issuing this interim final rule to expand the exception to apply to PPP loans made through August 8, 2020. The interim final rule is effective July 16, 2020 (Regulation O, Docket R-1722), the same day it was 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) adopted an interim final rule amending the agencies’ swap margin rule that requires swap dealers, security-based swap dealers, major swap participants, and major security-based swap participants under the agencies’ respective jurisdictions to exchange margin with their counterparties for swaps that are not centrally cleared. More... Under the swap margin rule, as amended, initial margin requirements will take effect under a phased compliance schedule spanning from 2016 through 2020. In a separate rulemaking, the agencies have extended the phase-in period to 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agencies are extending by one year the phases 5 and 6 implementation deadlines for initial margin requirements from September 1, 2020, to September 1, 2021 (for phase 5) and from September 1, 2021, to September 1, 2022 (for phase 6). The agencies’ objective is to give covered swap entities additional time to meet their initial margin requirements under the rule so as not to hamper any efforts underway to address exigent circumstances caused by COVID-19. The interim final rule is effective September 1, 2020 (Regulation KK, Docket R-1721) and was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2020.

The Board, the FCA, the FDIC, the FHFA, and the OCC adopted a final rule amending the agencies’ swap margin rule that requires swap dealers and security-based swap dealers under the agencies’ respective jurisdictions to exchange margin with their counterparties for swaps that are not centrally cleared. More... The swap margin rule as adopted in 2015 takes effect under a phased compliance schedule spanning from 2016 through 2020, and the entities covered by the rule continue to hold swaps in their portfolios that were entered into before the effective dates of the rule. Such swaps are grandfathered from the swap margin rule’s requirements until they expire according to their terms. The final rule permits swaps entered into prior to an applicable compliance date to retain their legacy status in the event that they are amended to replace an interbank offered rate (IBOR) or other discontinued rate; modifies initial margin requirements for non-cleared swaps between affiliates; introduces an additional compliance date for initial margin requirements; clarifies the point in time at which trading documentation must be in place; permits legacy swaps to retain their legacy status in the event that they are amended due to technical amendments, notional reductions, or portfolio compression exercises; and makes technical changes to relocate the provision addressing amendments to legacy swaps that are made to comply with the qualified financial contract rules. The final rule is effective August 31, 2020 (Regulation KK, Docket R-1682) and was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2020.