For immediate release

The Federal Reserve Board today published proposed revisions to Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Comment is requested by November 10, 1999. The proposed revisions would: remove the general prohibition against creditors noting characteristics such as race, sex and national origin of applicants for nonmortgage credit. require creditors to retain certain records for preapproved credit solicitations. expand from 12 to 25 months the record retention period for most business credit applications. The Board also is proposing revisions to the official staff commentary on Regulation B. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act makes it unlawful for creditors to discriminate against an applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, sex, age and other specified bases. Although the Board is proposing amendments only to certain sections, the entire text of the regulation and official staff commentary are being republished to assist the public in reviewing the changes. The Board's notice is attached.

Summary and proposed rule (712 KB PDF)

1999 Banking and consumer regulatory policy