November 20, 2019
Federal Reserve Board announces annual indexing of reserve requirement exemption amount and of low reserve tranche for 2020
For release at 10:00 a.m. EST
The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced the annual indexing of the reserve requirement exemption amount and the low reserve tranche. These amounts are used in the calculation of reserve requirements for depository institutions. The Board also announced the annual indexing of nonexempt deposit cutoff and the reduced reporting limit.
All depository institutions must hold a percentage of certain types of deposits as reserves in the form of vault cash, as a deposit in a Federal Reserve Bank, or as a deposit in a pass-through account at a correspondent institution. Reserve requirements currently are assessed on the depository institution's net transaction accounts (mostly checking accounts). Depository institutions must also regularly submit reports of their deposits and other reservable liabilities.
For net transaction accounts in 2020, the first $16.9 million, up from $16.3 million in 2019, will be exempt from reserve requirements. A 3 percent reserve ratio will be assessed on net transaction accounts over $16.9 million up to and including $127.5 million, up from $124.2 million in 2019. A 10 percent reserve ratio will be assessed on net transaction accounts in excess of $127.5 million.
These annual adjustments, known as the reserve requirement exemption amount adjustment and the low reserve tranche adjustment, are based on growth in total reservable liabilities and net transaction accounts, respectively, at all depository institutions between June 30, 2018 and June 30, 2019.
The new low reserve tranche and reserve requirement exemption amount will apply to the 14-day reserve maintenance period that begins January 16, 2020. For depository institutions that report deposit data weekly, this maintenance period aligns with the 14-day computation period that begins Tuesday, December 17, 2019. For depository institutions that report deposit data quarterly, this maintenance period aligns with the seven-day computation period that begins Tuesday, December 17, 2019.
The Board also made the annual adjustments to the nonexempt deposit cutoff level and the reduced reporting limit. These amounts are used to determine the frequency with which depository institutions must submit deposit reports. The attached Federal Register notice contains a description of these adjustments and the boundaries for deposit reporting that will be effective in 2020.
For media inquiries, call 202-452-2955