For immediate release

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday approved amendments to Appendix A of Regulation CC that reflect the restructuring of the check processing operations of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and provided notice relating to two future changes to Appendix A.

Appendix A provides a routing symbol guide that helps depository institutions determine the maximum permissible hold periods for most deposited checks. To ensure that the information in Appendix A accurately describes the structure of check processing operations within the Federal Reserve System, the Board is amending the list of routing symbols in Appendix A associated with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to reflect the transfer of check processing operations from that Reserve Bank's New Orleans branch office to its head office. These amendments are effective March 31, 2006, to coincide with the effective date of the underlying reassignment of check processing functions. As a result of these changes, some checks deposited in the affected regions that currently are nonlocal checks will become local checks that are subject to shorter permissible hold periods.

The Board also is providing notice that the previously announced transfer of the check processing operations of the Nashville branch office of the Atlanta Reserve Bank to that Reserve Bank's head office will be delayed until 2007.

Finally, the attachment provides advance notice that the Reserve Banks have decided to stop processing checks at the East Rutherford office of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and that checks currently processed by that office instead will be processed at the head office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The Board intends to publish the related amendments to Appendix A at least 60 days prior to the effective date of the restructuring, which is still to be determined. However, to give affected banks ample time to make any necessary changes, the Board is providing detailed information about which routing symbols will be listed under the Philadelphia Reserve Bank's head office on the effective date of the restructuring.

The Board's notice is attached.

Attachment (45 KB PDF)

2005 Banking and consumer regulatory policy