Record of Policy Actions

Policy actions of the Board of Governors are presented pursuant to section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act. That section provides that the Board shall keep a record of all questions of policy determined by the Board and shall include in its annual report to Congress a full account of such actions. This appendix provides a summary of policy actions in 2019, as implemented through (1) rules and regulations, (2) policy statements and other actions, and (3) interest rates for depository institutions. Policy actions were approved by all Board members in office, unless indicated otherwise. More information on the actions is available from the relevant Federal Register notices or other documents (see links in footnotes) or on request from the Board's Freedom of Information Office.

In addition, this appendix elaborates on regulatory developments under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA) and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act). It also provides information on the Board and the Government Performance and Results Act.

For information on the Federal Open Market Committee's policy actions relating to open market operations, see appendix B, "Minutes of Federal Open Market Committee Meetings."

Rules and Regulations

Regulation H (Membership of State Banking Institutions in the Federal Reserve System)

On February 7, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1498) to amend its regulation regarding loans in areas having special flood hazards to implement the private flood insurance provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (the act).¹ The final rule requires regulated lending institutions to accept policies that meet the definition of "private flood insurance" in the act. The final rule also permits regulated lending institutions to exercise discretion in accepting flood insurance policies issued by private insurers and mutual aid societies that do not meet the statutory definition of private flood insurance, subject to certain restrictions. The final rule was issued jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), National Credit Union Administration, and Farm Credit Administration (FCA). The final rule became effective July 1, 2019.

On June 11, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1618) to streamline Call Report requirements for small institutions.² All institutions, regardless of size, submit a quarterly Call Report that includes data used by regulators to monitor the condition, performance, and risk profiles of individual institutions and the industry as a whole. The final rule, issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC (together with the Board, "the agencies"), expands the number of institutions eligible for the agencies' most streamlined Call Report (the FFIEC 051 Call Report) to include certain insured depository institutions with less than $5 billion in total consolidated assets, in accordance with EGRRCPA. The final rule also establishes reduced reporting on the FFIEC 051 Call Report for the first and third calendar quarters. The final rule became effective July 22, 2019.

Regulations H (Membership of State Banking Institutions in the Federal Reserve System) and K (International Banking Operations)

On May 7, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1622) to repeal its regulations incorporating the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (the SAFE Act).³ The Dodd-Frank Act transferred rulemaking authority for the SAFE Act from the Board to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the bureau), which has issued a final rule that is substantially identical to the Board's regulations. Entities that were subject to the Board's regulations are now subject to the bureau's regulations. The Board's final rule became effective June 14, 2019.

Regulations L (Management Official Interlocks) and LL (Savings and Loan Holding Companies)

On September 25, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1641) that raised to $10 billion both asset thresholds under the major assets prohibition of the Board's rules prohibiting management interlocks (Interlocks Rules).⁴ The adjustment to the thresholds was made to account for changes in the U.S. banking market since the Interlocks Rules were implemented. The final rule was issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC. Prior to enactment of the final rule, a management official of a depository institution or holding company with total assets exceeding $2.5 billion was prohibited from simultaneously working at an unaffiliated depository organization with total assets exceeding $1.5 billion. The final rule became effective October 10, 2019.

Regulation Q (Capital Adequacy of Bank Holding Companies, Savings and Loan Holding Companies, and State Member Banks)

On July 8, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1576), issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC, to reduce regulatory capital requirements for banking organizations that do not use the "advanced approaches" capital framework—generally firms that have less than $250 billion in total consolidated assets and less than $10 billion in total foreign exposure.⁵ Under the final rule, qualifying banking organizations are subject to simplified regulatory capital requirements for mortgage-servicing assets, certain deferred tax assets, investments in the capital instruments of unconsolidated financial institutions, and minority interest. In addition, the final rule allows bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies to redeem common stock without prior approval unless otherwise required. The final rule is consistent with the March 2017 report that the Board, FDIC, and OCC submitted to Congress pursuant to the EGRRCPA, in which the three agencies committed to reduce regulatory burden, especially for community banking organizations. The final rule became effective April 1, 2020. Banking organizations had the option to adopt the rule earlier, on January 1, 2020 (see the following summary for October 7, 2019, Docket No. R-1576). Amendments on the pre-approval requirements for common stock, as well as other technical amendments, became effective October 1, 2019.

On October 7, 2019, the Board approved final rules, issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC, to (1) establish a simple measure of capital adequacy for community banks (the community bank leverage ratio, or CBLR), as required by EGRRCPA (Docket No. R-1638), and (2) provide insured depository institutions and depository institution holding companies not subject to the advanced approaches capital framework with the option to adopt at an earlier date simplifying changes to the Board's capital rule (Docket No. R-1576).⁶ (The Board had previously approved the simplifying changes on July 8, 2019. See the above summary.) The CBLR framework removes requirements for calculating and reporting risk-based capital ratios for qualifying community banks that opt into the framework. To qualify for the CBLR framework, a community bank must have less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets, limited amounts of off-balance-sheet exposures and trading assets and liabilities, and a leverage ratio greater than 9 percent. For purposes of the framework, a bank's leverage ratio is calculated as tier 1 capital divided by average total consolidated assets. The final rules became effective January 1, 2020.

On November 15, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1659), issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC (together with the Board, "the agencies"), to exclude from the supplementary leverage ratio certain funds of banking organizations deposited with central banks if the banking organization is predominantly engaged in custody, safekeeping, and asset-servicing activities.⁷ The final rule implements an EGRRCPA requirement that the agencies amend their respective capital rules to incorporate this exclusion. The supplementary leverage ratio is one of many tools the federal banking agencies use to determine minimum required capital levels for large, internationally active banking organizations. The final rule became effective April 1, 2020.

On November 15, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1621), issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC, to revise the definition of "high-volatility commercial real estate (HVCRE) exposure" in its capital rule to conform with the statutory definition of HVCRE acquisition, development, or construction (ADC) exposure introduced by the EGRRCPA.⁸ The final rule became effective April 1, 2020. Banking organizations have the option to maintain the earlier capital treatment of ADC loans originated between January 1, 2015, and April 1, 2020.

On November 18, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1629), issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC, to implement the standardized approach for measuring counterparty credit risk (SA-CCR), a new methodology for calculating the amount of regulatory capital a banking organization must hold to support potential losses associated with its derivative contracts.⁹ SA-CCR replaces the "current exposure methodology" (CEM) for advanced approaches banking organizations. Under the final rule, an advanced approaches banking organization (1) may use SA-CCR or the internal models methodology to calculate its advanced approaches total risk-weighted assets and (2) must use SA-CCR instead of the CEM to calculate its standardized total risk-weighted assets. A non-advanced approaches banking organization may voluntarily use SA-CCR to calculate its standardized total risk-weighted assets. The final rule also implements SA-CCR in other aspects of the capital rule. The final rule became effective April 1, 2020. Compliance is mandatory for advanced approaches banking organizations on January 1, 2022. (Note: On March 27, 2020, the Board announced that banking organizations will be permitted to early adopt SA-CCR for the reporting period ending March 31, 2020.)

Regulations Q (Capital Adequacy of Bank Holding Companies, Savings and Loan Holding Companies, and State Member Banks), Y (Bank Holding Companies and Change in Bank Control), LL (Savings and Loan Holding Companies), WW (Liquidity Risk Measurement Standards), and YY (Enhanced Prudential Standards)

On October 10, 2019, the Board approved two final rules to establish (1) a revised framework of prudential standards (Docket No. R-1658) and (2) a revised framework of capital and liquidity requirements (Docket No. R-1628).¹⁰ The final rule on capital and liquidity requirements was issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC. Both final rules are consistent with the EGRRCPA and build on ongoing work to tailor the risk sensitivity of the Board's regulatory framework. Under the final rules, U.S. banking organizations that have $100 billion or more in total consolidated assets and foreign banking organizations that have $100 billion or more in combined U.S. assets are sorted into four categories of increasingly stringent standards based on risk-based indicators. U.S. global systemically important bank holding companies remain subject to the most stringent capital, stress testing, liquidity, and other requirements (Category I), followed by firms that are very large or have significant international activity, measured as $700 billion or more in total assets or $75 billion or more in cross-jurisdictional activity (Category II). Category III standards apply to firms that have heightened risk profiles, measured as $250 billion or more in total assets or $100 billion or more in total assets and $75 billion or more in weighted short-term wholesale funding, nonbank assets, or off-balance-sheet exposure. Firms with at least $100 billion, but less than $250 billion, in total assets that do not meet other risk-based indicators are subject to Category IV standards. Under the final rules, domestic and foreign firms are subject to largely the same framework of standards. However, the measure of cross-jurisdictional activity for foreign banks excludes certain transactions with non-U.S. affiliates. In addition, the final rule issued solely by the Board applies certain prudential standards to certain large savings and loan holding companies and revises the Board's stress testing framework consistent with EGRRCPA. Both final rules became effective December 31, 2019. (Note: The Board also amended Regulation PP (Definitions Relating to Title I of the Dodd-Frank Act) to change the Board's implementation of certain definitions in the Dodd-Frank Act.)

Regulation Y (Bank Holding Companies and Change in Bank Control)

On March 5, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1653) to limit the scope of potential objections to a firm's capital plan on the basis of qualitative deficiencies in the firm's capital planning process, effective for the 2019 cycle of the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR).¹¹ For the largest, most complex firms, CCAR includes a quantitative evaluation of the firms' capital adequacy under stress and a qualitative evaluation of their ability to determine capital needs on a forward-looking basis. Under the final rule, the Board will no longer issue a qualitative objection to a firm if the firm had been subject to a potential qualitative objection for four consecutive years and did not receive a qualitative objection in the fourth year of that period. In addition, except for certain firms that received a qualitative objection in the immediate prior year, the Board will no longer issue a qualitative objection to any firm, effective January 1, 2021. The final rule became effective March 13, 2019, and the removal of the qualitative objection under the capital plan was applicable on March 6, 2019.

On September 20, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1639), issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC, to increase the threshold at or below which residential real estate transactions require an appraisal from $250,000 to $400,000.¹² The final rule defines "residential real estate transaction" as a real estate-related financial transaction secured by a single one- to four-family residential property. For transactions exempted from the appraisal requirement, the final rule requires institutions to obtain an evaluation providing an estimate of the market value of real estate collateral. In addition, the final rule incorporates the appraisal exemption for rural residential properties provided by the EGRRCPA and requires institutions to review appraisals for compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). The final rule became effective October 9, 2019, except for the requirements pertaining to evaluations of rural residential properties and the USPAP compliance review, which both became effective January 1, 2020.

Regulation CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks)

On June 20, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1637), issued jointly with the bureau, to implement a statutory requirement to adjust for inflation the amount of funds depository institutions must make available to their customers, consistent with the Expedited Funds Availability Act (the EFA Act), as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.¹³ The final rule applies in circumstances ranging from next-business-day withdrawal of certain check deposits to setting the threshold amount for determining whether an account has been repeatedly withdrawn. The Dodd-Frank Act requires that the dollar amounts in the EFA Act be adjusted for inflation every five years. The final rule also expands the geographic application of the EFA Act to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, as required by the EGRRCPA. The final rule became effective September 3, 2019, except for certain amendments that are effective July 1, 2020.

Regulation KK (Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities)

On March 11, 2019, the Board approved an interim final rule and request for comment (Docket No. R-1654) to amend its swap margin regulation to ensure that certain legacy swaps may be transferred from a United Kingdom (UK) entity to an affiliate in the European Union (EU) or the United States without triggering new margin requirements in the event of a non-negotiated UK withdrawal from the EU (a so-called hard Brexit).¹⁴ Because of the phased compliance schedule for the swap margin regulation, dealers covered by the regulation continue to hold grandfathered legacy swaps in their portfolios. The interim final rule was issued jointly with the FDIC, OCC, FCA, and Federal Housing Finance Agency. The interim final rule became effective March 19, 2019.

Regulation QQ (Resolution Plans)

On October 10, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1660), issued jointly with the FDIC, to tailor requirements for domestic and foreign banking organizations to submit resolution plans, also known as living wills, commensurate with a firm's size, complexity, and scope of operations, consistent with the Dodd-Frank Act, as amended by the EGRRCPA.¹⁵ Resolution plans describe a firm's strategy for orderly resolution under bankruptcy in the event of material financial distress or failure of the firm. The final rule generally retains current resolution plan requirements for the largest firms, while tailoring requirements for firms that are relatively smaller or less complex. For the largest, most complex firms, the final rule requires resolution plans to be submitted on a two-year cycle. For firms that are relatively smaller or less complex, resolution plans must be submitted on a three-year cycle. Domestic firms and the largest, most complex foreign firms are to alternate between submitting full resolution plans and targeted resolution plans. Foreign firms with relatively limited U.S. operations are to submit reduced resolution plans. The final rule became effective December 31, 2019.

Regulation VV (Proprietary Trading and Relationships with Covered Funds)

On July 8, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1643) to amend its regulation implementing section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act (commonly known as the Volcker rule) to exclude qualifying small depository institutions from the Volcker rule's restrictions on engaging in proprietary trading or owning, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with hedge funds or private equity funds, consistent with the EGRRCPA.¹⁶ Under the final rule, community banks that have $10 billion or less in total consolidated assets and total trading assets and liabilities of 5 percent or less of total consolidated assets are excluded from the Volcker rule. The final rule was issued jointly with the FDIC, OCC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The final rule became effective July 22, 2019.

On October 3, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1608) to amend its regulation implementing the Volcker rule.¹⁷ The final rule established three categories of banking entities based on the size of their trading assets and liabilities; these categories are used to tailor certain requirements of the regulation. Under the final rule, firms that do not have significant trading activities are subject to simplified and streamlined compliance requirements, while firms with significant trading activity are subject to more stringent requirements. The final rule was issued jointly with the FDIC, OCC, CFTC, and SEC and became effective January 1, 2020. Banking entities have until January 1, 2021, to comply with the final rule.

Regulation WW (Liquidity Risk Measurement Standards)

On May 23, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1616), issued jointly with the FDIC and OCC, to amend the liquidity coverage ratio rule.¹⁸ Under the final rule, "liquid and readily-marketable" "investment-grade" municipal obligations are treated as high-quality liquid assets, as required by the EGRRCPA. The final rule became effective July 5, 2019.

Regulation YY (Enhanced Prudential Standards)

On February 4, 2019, the Board approved a set of changes to increase the transparency of its stress testing program for the nation's largest and most complex banks: (1) a final notice (Docket No. OP-1651) of an enhanced disclosure of the models used in the Federal Reserve's supervisory stress tests; (2) a final Stress Testing Policy Statement (Docket No. R-1649) describing the Board's principles that guide the development, implementation, and validation of the supervisory stress test models (Regulation YY, Appendix B); and (3) final amendments (Docket No. R-1650) to the Board's Policy Statement on the Scenario Design Framework for Stress Testing (Regulation YY, Appendix A).¹⁹ These changes became effective April 1, 2019.

Procedures for Debt Collection

On April 8, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1657) to improve the effectiveness of its debt collection efforts, primarily by allowing it to refer debts for collection to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.²⁰ The regulations provide for the collection of debts owed to the United States arising from the Board's operations or its enforcement and other regulatory activities, under the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. The final rule became effective April 16, 2019.

Rule Regarding Equal Opportunity

On May 23, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1630) to revise and expand its equal employment opportunity regulation to adopt recent changes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made to its parallel regulation and to clarify other provisions of the regulation, including those related to a Board employee's right to bring a claim before the Merit System Protection Board and the Federal Labor Relations Board.²¹ The final rule became effective July 11, 2019.

Rules Regarding Delegation of Authority

On June 24, 2019, the Board approved a final rule (Docket No. R-1667) amending the Board's Rules Regarding Delegation of Authority to (1) delegate to the Federal Reserve Banks authority to approve merger or acquisition proposals that satisfy the Board's competition delegation criteria when the market deposits of commercially active thrifts and qualifying credit unions are included in the initial competitive analysis at 100 percent and 50 percent weights, respectively, and to act on certain other types of applications, notices, and requests; and (2) revise or rescind certain existing delegations of authority to conform to the new delegations.²² The final rule became effective July 3, 2019.

Policy Statements and Other Actions

Countercyclical Capital Buffer

On March 5, 2019, the Board approved affirmation of the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) for private-sector credit exposures located in the United States at the current level of 0 percent.²³ In making this determination, the Board followed the framework detailed in the Board's policy statement for setting the CCyB.

Policy on Payment System Risk

On March 21, 2019, the Board approved amendments to part II of its Policy on Payment System Risk (PSR Policy) (Docket No. OP-1589) concerning the provision of intraday credit by Federal Reserve Banks to U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations (FBOs).²⁴ Specifically, the amendments (1) remove references to the Strength of Support Assessment ranking and to FBOs' financial holding company status and (2) adopt alternative methods for determining an FBO's eligibility for a positive net debit cap, the size of its net debit cap, and its eligibility to request a streamlined procedure to obtain maximum daylight overdraft capacity. The amendments became effective April 1, 2020. (Note: On March 24, 2020, the Board announced that the effective date of the amendments was delayed to October 1, 2020.)

On December 19, 2019, the Board approved a notice (Docket No. OP-1692) implementing modifications to the Federal Reserve Banks' payment services to facilitate adoption of a later same-day automated clearinghouse (ACH) processing and settlement window.²⁵ The notice extends the daily operating hours of the National Settlement Service and the Fedwire Funds Service and makes corresponding changes to the PSR Policy related to a new posting time for transactions and an increased daylight overdraft fee. The modifications will be implemented on March 19, 2021.

Federal Reserve Actions to Support Interbank Settlement of Faster Payments

On August, 2, 2019, the Board approved a notice and request for comment (Docket No. OP-1670) on a new round-the-clock, real-time payment and settlement service to be developed by the Federal Reserve Banks.²⁶ The interbank settlement service, to be known as the FedNow ^SM Service, would support depository institutions' provision of end-to-end faster payment service and would provide infrastructure to promote ubiquitous, safe, and efficient faster payments in the United States. The Board also announced its intent to explore expanded hours for the Fedwire Funds Service and the National Settlement Service, up to 24x7x365, to support a wide range of payment activities.

Interest on Reserves

On May 1, 2019, the Board approved lowering the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances from 2.40 percent to 2.35 percent, effective May 2, 2019.²⁷ This action set the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances 15 basis points below the top of the target range for the federal funds rate and was intended to foster trading in the federal funds market at rates well within the FOMC's target range of 2-1/4 percent to 2-1/2 percent.

On July 31, 2019, the Board approved lowering the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances from 2.35 percent to 2.10 percent, effective August 1, 2019.²⁸ This action was taken to support the FOMC's decision on July 31 to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, to a range of 2 percent to 2-1/4 percent.

On September 18, 2019, the Board approved lowering the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances from 2.10 percent to 1.80 percent, effective September 19, 2019.²⁹ This action was taken to support the FOMC's decision on September 18 to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, to a range of 1-3/4 percent to 2 percent. Setting the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances 20 basis points below the top of the target range for the federal funds rate was intended to foster trading in the federal funds market at rates well within the FOMC's target range.

On October 30, 2019, the Board approved lowering the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances from 1.80 percent to 1.55 percent, effective October 31, 2019.³⁰ This action was taken to support the FOMC's decision on October 30 to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, to a range of 1-1/2 percent to 1-3/4 percent.

Discount Rates for Depository Institutions in 2019

Under the Federal Reserve Act, the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks must establish rates on discount window loans to depository institutions at least every 14 days, subject to review and determination by the Board of Governors. Periodically, the Board considers proposals by the 12 Reserve Banks to establish the primary credit rate and approves proposals to maintain the formulas for computing the secondary and seasonal credit rates.

Primary, Secondary, and Seasonal Credit

Primary credit, the Federal Reserve's main lending program for depository institutions, is extended at the primary credit rate. It is made available, with minimal administration, as a source of liquidity to depository institutions that, in the judgment of the lending Federal Reserve Bank, are in generally sound financial condition. During 2019, the Board approved three decreases in the primary credit rate, bringing the rate from 3 percent to 2-1/4 percent. The Board reached these determinations on the primary credit rate recommendations of the Reserve Bank boards of directors. The Board's actions were taken in conjunction with the FOMC's decisions to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 75 basis points, to 1-1/2 percent to 1-3/4 percent. Monetary policy developments are reviewed more fully in other parts of this report (see section 2, "Monetary Policy and Economic Developments").

Secondary credit is available in appropriate circumstances to depository institutions that do not qualify for primary credit. The secondary credit rate is set at a spread above the primary credit rate. Throughout 2019, the spread was set at 50 basis points. At year-end, the secondary credit rate was 2-3/4 percent.

Seasonal credit is available to smaller depository institutions to meet liquidity needs that arise from regular swings in their loans and deposits. The rate on seasonal credit is calculated every two weeks as an average of selected money market yields, typically resulting in a rate close to the target range for the federal funds rate. At year-end, the seasonal credit rate was 1.70 percent.³¹

Votes on Changes to Discount Rates for Depository Institutions

Details on the three actions by the Board to approve decreases in the primary credit rate are provided below.

July 31, 2019. Effective August 1, 2019, the Board approved actions taken by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Francisco to decrease the primary credit rate from 3 percent to 2-3/4 percent. On August 1, 2019, the Board approved identical actions subsequently taken by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Kansas City, effective immediately.

September 18, 2019. Effective September 19, 2019, the Board approved actions taken by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco to decrease the primary credit rate from 2-3/4 percent to 2-1/2 percent. On September 19, 2019, the Board approved identical actions subsequently taken by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Kansas City, effective immediately, and by the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, effective September 20, 2019.

October 30, 2019. Effective October 31, 2019, the Board approved actions taken by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and San Francisco to decrease the primary credit rate from 2-1/2 percent to 2-1/4 percent. On October 31, 2019, the Board approved identical actions subsequently taken by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Dallas, effective immediately.

Regulatory Developments

Continued Implementation of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act

On May 24, 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law.³² In addition to a number of standalone provisions, EGRRCPA amended the Dodd-Frank Act as well as other statutes administered by the Board. For example, EGRRCPA provides for additional tailoring of various provisions of federal banking law while maintaining the authority of the federal banking agencies to apply enhanced prudential standards to address financial stability and ensure the safety and soundness of depository institutions and their holding companies.

In 2019, the Board continued to make substantial progress in implementing EGRRCPA and has only one remaining required rulemaking, which is an amendment to the Board's assessment rule discussed below. The following is a summary of the regulatory initiatives undertaken in response to EGRRCPA that took effect in 2019, as well as initiatives that were proposed but were not yet effective in 2019. Interim final rules are effective immediately upon publication.

Effective EGRRCPA Initiatives

Regulatory Capital Treatment for High Volatility Commercial Real Estate Exposures (Regulation Q)

In November 2019, the Board, FDIC, and OCC issued a final rule that amended the regulatory capital rule to revise the definition of "high volatility commercial real estate exposure" (HVCRE) to conform to the statutory definition of "high volatility commercial real estate acquisition, development, or construction (HVCRE ADC) loan," in accordance with section 214 of EGRRCPA.³³ Section 214 amended the Federal Deposit Insurance Act by adding a new section 51 to provide a statutory definition of an HVCRE ADC loan. The statute stated that the agencies may only require a depository institution to assign a heightened risk weight to an HVCRE exposure, as defined under the capital rule, if such exposure is an HVCRE ADC loan under EGRRCPA.

In accordance with section 214 of EGRRCPA, the agencies revised the HVCRE exposure definition in section 2 of the agencies' capital rule to conform to the statutory definition of an HVCRE ADC loan. Loans that meet the revised definition of an HVCRE exposure will receive a 150 percent risk weight under the capital rule's standardized approach.

Although not required by EGRRCPA, the final rule also applies the revised definition of an HVCRE exposure to all Board-regulated institutions that are subject to the Board's capital rule, including bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations.

Regulatory Capital Rule: Revisions to the Supplementary Leverage Ratio to Exclude Certain Central Bank Deposits of Banking Organizations Predominantly Engaged in Custody, Safekeeping, and Asset Servicing Activities (Regulation Q)

In November 2019, the agencies issued a final rule changing a capital requirement for banking organizations predominantly engaged in custodial activities.³⁴ The final rule was unchanged from the proposal issued for public comment in April 2019.

EGRRCPA required the agencies to permit certain banking organizations—those predominantly engaged in custody, safekeeping, and asset servicing activities—to exclude qualifying deposits at certain central banks from their supplementary leverage ratio. The supplementary leverage ratio is one of many tools used by the federal bank regulatory agencies to determine minimum required capital levels and ensure financial stability in the event of stress in the banking system. The supplementary leverage ratio applies only to banking organizations subject to Category I, II, or III standards.

Regulatory Capital Rule: Capital Simplification for Qualifying Community Banking Organizations (Regulation Q)

In October 2019, the agencies issued a final rule that provides for a simple measure of capital adequacy for certain community banking organizations, consistent with section 201 of EGRRCPA.³⁵ Section 201 directed the agencies to develop a community bank leverage ratio of not less than 8 percent and not more than 10 percent for qualifying community banking organizations, which are depository institutions or depository institution holding companies with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion that the agencies have not determined are ineligible based on the banking organization's risk profile.

Under the final rule, depository institutions and depository institution holding companies that have less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets, meet qualifying criteria, and have a community bank leverage ratio (as defined in the final rule) of greater than 9 percent are eligible to opt in to a community bank leverage ratio framework. Such banking organizations that elect to use the community bank leverage ratio and maintain a community bank leverage ratio of greater than 9 percent are not subject to other risk-based and leverage capital requirements. In addition, these banking organizations are considered to be "well-capitalized" for purposes of section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and regulations implementing that section, as applicable, and the generally applicable capital requirements under the agencies' capital rule.

In response to public feedback, the final rule was modified from the November 2018 proposal to reduce compliance burden while maintaining safety and soundness for qualifying community banks. In particular, the community bank leverage ratio incorporates tier 1 capital as the numerator. In addition, a community bank that falls out of compliance with the framework will have a two-quarter grace period to come back into full compliance, provided its leverage ratio remains above 8 percent. A bank will be deemed well-capitalized during the grace period.

Prudential Standards for Large Bank Holding Companies and Savings and Loan Holding Companies (Regulations Y, LL, PP, and YY) and Changes to Applicability Thresholds for Regulatory Capital and Liquidity Requirements (Regulations Q and WW)

In October 2019, the Board issued a Board-only final rule that establishes risk-based categories for determining prudential standards for large domestic and foreign banking organizations, consistent with section 401 of EGRRCPA.³⁶ At the same time, and in connection with the Board-only final rule, the agencies also issued an interagency final rule that establishes risk-based categories for determining liquidity and capital standards for large domestic and foreign banking organizations, again consistent with section 401 of EGRRCPA.³⁷

Section 401 raised the minimum asset threshold from $50 billion to $250 billion for general application of enhanced prudential standards under section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act. In addition, section 401 authorized the Board to apply such standards to bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $100 billion or more but less than $250 billion, provided that the Board take into consideration certain statutory factors—capital structure, riskiness, complexity, financial activities (including financial activities of subsidiaries), size, and any other risk-related factors that the Board deems appropriate—when doing so. EGRRCPA also raised the threshold from $10 billion to $50 billion in total consolidated assets for application of risk committee and risk-management standards to publicly traded bank holding companies and required the Board to implement periodic supervisory stress testing for bank holding companies with $100 billion or more but less than $250 billion in total consolidated assets.

The Board-only final rule established four categories of prudential standards for large domestic and foreign banking organizations, including certain domestic savings and loan holding companies. Banking organizations are sorted into categories based on several factors, including asset size, cross-jurisdictional activity, reliance on short-term wholesale funding, nonbank assets, and off-balance-sheet exposure. The Board-only final rule tailors standards relating to capital stress testing; risk management; liquidity risk management, liquidity stress testing, and liquidity buffer requirements; and single-counterparty credit limits. The Board-only final rule also includes final changes to related reporting forms, as well as definitional changes in the Board's Regulation PP. The interagency final rule utilizes the categories introduced in the Board-only final rule and applies tailored capital and liquidity requirements for banking organizations subject to each category.

Resolution Plans Required (Regulation QQ)

In October 2019, the Board and FDIC issued a final rule that modifies their resolution plan requirements for large firms.³⁸ The rule retains resolution plan elements in place for the largest firms, while reducing requirements for smaller firms that pose less risk to the financial system. The final rule was substantially the same as the proposal from earlier in 2019. It uses a separate framework developed by the banking agencies for application of prudential requirements and establishes resolution planning requirements tailored to the level of risk a firm poses to the financial system. The final rule affects domestic and foreign firms with more than $100 billion in total consolidated assets.

For the most systemically important firms, the final rule adopts the current practice of requiring resolution plans to be submitted on a two-year cycle. The final rule tailors the rule's requirements for firms that do not pose the same systemic risk as the largest institutions, requiring resolution plans to be submitted on a three-year cycle. Both groups of firms will alternate between submitting full resolution plans and targeted resolution plans. Foreign firms with relatively limited U.S. operations will be required to submit reduced resolution plans.

A targeted resolution plan includes core elements related to capital, liquidity, and plans for recapitalization, as well as material changes to the firm and areas of interest identified by the Board and FDIC. Targeted resolution plans will not include certain areas if they are materially unchanged from one cycle to another, such as descriptions of management information systems and corporate governance systems. As a result, targeted resolution plans will give the Board and FDIC meaningful insight into the key vulnerabilities in a firm's resolution strategy.

Firms with less than $250 billion in total consolidated assets that do not meet certain risk criteria are no longer be subject to the rule. These firms have simpler structures, engage more exclusively in traditional banking activity, and present less risk.

Real Estate Appraisals (Regulation Y)

In September 2019, the agencies issued a final rule that raises the transaction value threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal from $250,000 to $400,000, as well as aligns the agencies' appraisal regulations with section 103 of EGRRCPA.³⁹ Section 103 provided an exemption to the appraisal requirement for certain transactions with values of less than $400,000 involving real property or an interest in real property that is located in a rural area.

The final rule eliminates the requirement under the agencies' appraisal regulations for regulated financial institutions to obtain an appraisal for real estate-related financial transactions with a transaction value of $400,000 or less, or that are exempted by the rural residential exemption in section 103 of EGRRCPA. Instead, the final rule requires evaluations for such transactions that are consistent with safe and sound banking practices.

Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships with, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds (Regulation VV)

In July 2019, the agencies, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), issued a final rule that amends Regulation VV (known as the Volcker rule) to align with amendments in sections 203 and 204 of EGRRCPA.⁴⁰ Section 203 amended section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act by narrowing the definition of banking entity, and section 204 revised the statutory provisions related to the naming of hedge funds and private equity funds.

The Volcker rule generally restricts banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading and from owning or sponsoring hedge funds or private equity funds. The final rule excludes community banks with $10 billion or less in total consolidated assets, and total trading assets and liabilities of 5 percent or less of total consolidated assets, from the restrictions of the Volcker rule. Additionally, the final rule will, under certain circumstances, permit a hedge fund or private equity fund to share the same name or a variation of the same name with an investment adviser that is not an insured depository institution, company that controls an insured depository institution, or bank holding company.

Reduced Reporting for Covered Depository Institutions (Regulation H)

In June 2019, the agencies issued a final rule to implement section 205 of EGRRCPA.⁴¹ Section 205 amended section 7(a) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and required the agencies to issue regulations that allow for a reduced reporting requirement by "covered depository institutions" for the first and third reports of condition in a year. "Covered depository institution" is defined in section 205 as an insured depository institution "that—(i) has less than $5,000,000,000 in total consolidated assets; and (ii) satisfies such other criteria as the [agencies] determine appropriate."

The final rule implements section 205 by (1) authorizing covered depository institutions to file the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (FFIEC) 051 Call Report—the most streamlined version of the Call Report—and (2) reducing the information required to be reported on the FFIEC 051 Call Report by covered depository institutions in the first and third calendar quarters. The final rule defines "covered depository institution" to include certain insured depository institutions that have less than $5 billion in total consolidated assets and satisfy certain other criteria. The OCC and the Board also established reduced reporting for certain uninsured institutions under their supervision that have less than $5 billion in total consolidated assets and meet the proposed criteria. In addition, the Board finalized a technical amendment to Regulation H to implement the requirement in section 9 of the Federal Reserve Act pursuant to which state member banks are required to file Call Reports.

Treatment of Certain Municipal Securities as High-Quality Liquid Assets (Regulation WW)

In May 2019, the agencies issued a final rule to implement section 403 of EGRRCPA.⁴² Section 403 amended section 18 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and required the agencies, for purposes of their liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) rules and any other regulation that incorporates a definition of the term "high-quality liquid asset" (HQLA) or another substantially similar term, to treat a municipal obligation as an HQLA if the obligation is "liquid and readily marketable" and "investment grade," as those terms were defined in EGRRCPA.

Previously, in August 2018, the agencies adopted an interim final rule to implement section 403 of EGRRCPA. The final rule made no changes to the interim final rule. Consistent with the interim final rule, the final rule amended each agency's LCR rule to include a definition of "municipal obligation" that is consistent with the definition in section 403. The final rule also amends the HQLA criteria by adding municipal obligations that are both liquid and readily marketable as well as investment grade to the list of assets eligible for treatment as level 2B liquid assets. In addition, the final rule conforms certain amendments the Board made to its LCR rule in 2016, relating to the treatment of certain U.S. municipal securities as HQLA, with section 403.

Proposed EGRRCPA Initiatives

Supervision and Regulation Assessments of Fees for Bank Holding Companies and Savings and Loan Holding Companies with Total Consolidated Assets of $100 Billion or More (Regulation TT)

In October 2019, the Board issued a proposed rule to amend the Board's assessment rule (Regulation TT), pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, to address amendments made by EGRRCPA.⁴³ The proposed amendments to Regulation TT would raise the minimum threshold for being considered an assessed company from $50 billion to $100 billion in total consolidated assets for bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies and adjust the amount charged to assessed companies with total consolidated assets between $100 billion and $250 billion to reflect changes in supervisory and regulatory responsibilities resulting from EGRRCPA. The comment period ended on January 9, 2020.

Other Dodd-Frank Implementation

Throughout 2019, in addition to implementing EGRRCPA, the Federal Reserve continued to implement the Dodd-Frank Act, which gives the Federal Reserve important responsibilities to issue rules and supervise financial companies to enhance financial stability and preserve the safety and soundness of the banking system.

The following is a summary of the key Dodd-Frank Act regulatory initiatives that were finalized and proposed during 2019 that were not related to EGRRCPA.

Final Dodd-Frank Act Rules

Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships with, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds (Regulation VV)

In October 2019, the agencies, CFTC, and SEC issued a final rule to simplify compliance requirements relating to the Volcker rule.⁴⁴ By statute, the Volcker rule generally prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading or investing in or sponsoring hedge funds or private equity funds.

Under the revised rule, firms that do not have significant trading activities will have simplified and streamlined compliance requirements, while firms with significant trading activity will have more stringent compliance requirements. Community banks generally are exempt from the Volcker rule by statute. The revisions continue to prohibit proprietary trading, while providing greater clarity and certainty for activities allowed under the law.

Capital Planning and Stress Testing Requirements (Regulations Y and YY)

In February 2019, the Board finalized a package that increases the transparency of its stress testing program through enhanced model disclosures regarding the Federal Reserve's supervisory stress testing,⁴⁵ a Stress Testing Policy Statement,⁴⁶ and amendments to the Board's Policy Statement on the Scenario Design Framework for Stress Testing⁴⁷ (together, the transparency proposals). The enhanced model disclosures, which began for the 2019 stress test cycle and will expand in subsequent years, will provide significantly more information about the stress testing models used in the Board's annual Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR), including ranges of loss rates, estimated using the Board's models, for actual loans held by CCAR firms; portfolios of hypothetical loans with loss rates estimated by the Board's models; and more detailed descriptions of the Board's models, such as certain equations and key variables that influence the results of the models.

The final stress testing policy statement elaborates on prior disclosures by describing the Board's approach to model development, implementation, and validation. The statement describes seven principles that have guided supervisory stress test modeling in the past and will continue to do so. Finally, the Board modified its framework for the design of the annual hypothetical economic scenarios. The modifications will provide more information on the hypothetical path of the unemployment rate and will introduce a quantitative guide for the hypothetical path of house prices, both of which are key variables for the scenarios.

In March 2019, the Board also announced that it will limit the use of the "qualitative objection" in its CCAR exercise, effective for the 2019 cycle.⁴⁸ The changes eliminate the qualitative objection for most firms because of the improvements in capital planning made by the largest firms.

For the largest and most complex firms, CCAR includes both a quantitative evaluation of a firm's capital adequacy under stress and a qualitative evaluation of its abilities to determine its capital needs on a forward-looking basis. As applicable, a firm must pass both the quantitative and qualitative evaluation or the Board may object and restrict the firm's capital distributions.

Firms that are newer to the CCAR exercise and as a result may have capital planning capabilities that are less established will remain subject to a possible objection on qualitative grounds. Specifically, a firm must participate in four CCAR exercises and successfully pass the qualitative evaluation in the fourth year to no longer be subject to a potential qualitative objection. If a firm does not pass in its fourth year, it will continue to be subject to a possible qualitative objection until it passes. For firms still subject to the qualitative objection, their fourth year will generally be the 2020 CCAR cycle.

While the qualitative objection will no longer apply to certain firms, all firms will continue to be subject to a rigorous evaluation of their capital planning processes as part of CCAR. Firms with weak practices may be subject to a deficient supervisory rating, and potentially an enforcement action, for failing to meet supervisory expectations.

Proposed Dodd-Frank Rules

Swap Margin Rule (Regulation KK)

In October 2019, the agencies, Farm Credit Administration, and Federal Housing Finance Agency requested comment on a proposed rule to change the swap margin rules to facilitate the implementation of prudent risk-management strategies at certain banks and swap entities.⁴⁹

Under the proposal, the swap margin rule would no longer require swap entities to hold initial margin for uncleared swaps with affiliates. However, interaffiliate transactions would still be subject to variation margin requirements. Swap entities regulated by the FDIC, the OCC, and the Board also would be subject to requirements under sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act.

Interaffiliate swaps typically are used for internal risk-management purposes, by transferring risk to a centralized risk-management function within the firm. The proposal would give firms additional flexibility to allocate collateral internally, supporting prudent risk-management strategies that support safety and soundness. The proposal would not change the capital standards for swap entities supervised by the five agencies.

Furthermore, to aid in the transition away from LIBOR, the agencies proposed to allow certain technical amendments to legacy swaps without altering their status under the swap margin rules. The comment period ended on December 9, 2019.

Capital Standards for Supervised Institutions Significantly Engaged in Insurance Activities (Regulations Q and YY)

In September 2019, the Board requested comment on a proposal to establish capital requirements for certain insurance companies supervised by the Board.⁵⁰ The Board supervises depository institution holding companies, including those significantly engaged in insurance activities, and the Board currently oversees eight firms. Their insurance activities include life, title, and property and casualty, and the firms range in size from less than $10 billion in total assets to more than $250 billion.

The proposal leverages existing state-based insurance standards, while also establishing minimum capital requirements that are specific to the business of insurance. The proposal takes into account comments received on a conceptual proposal from June 2016 that described the proposed framework, known as the Building Block Approach (BBA).⁵¹

Under the BBA, holding companies significantly engaged in insurance activities would be required to aggregate their state-based capital requirements into a consolidated requirement. The proposal would establish both minimum requirements and a buffer on top of the minimum.

The BBA accounts for risks that are specific to the business of insurance and is different from the calculations used for bank capital requirements. However, the minimum standard under the BBA would be comparable to one of the key measures of banks' health, the minimum total capital ratio, which is set at 8 percent for banks.

As part of the proposal, the Board is conducting a quantitative impact study of the BBA to better inform the framework. The Board also published a white paper that explains the methodology the Board proposes to use to adjust for the differences between different state-based insurance capital requirements and bank capital requirements. The comment period ended January 22, 2020.

Long-Term Debt and Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity Requirement (Regulation Y)

In April 2019, the agencies requested comment on a proposal to limit the interconnectedness of large banking organizations and reduce the impact from failure of the largest banking organizations.⁵² The proposal would complement other measures that the banking agencies have taken to limit interconnectedness among large banking organizations.

Global systemically important bank holding companies, or G-SIBs, are the largest and most complex banking organizations and are required to issue debt with certain features under the Board's "total loss-absorbing capacity," or TLAC, rule. That debt would be used to recapitalize the holding company during bankruptcy or resolution if it were to fail.

To discourage G-SIBs and other large banking organizations from purchasing large amounts of TLAC debt, the proposal would require such banking organizations to hold additional capital against substantial holdings of TLAC debt. This restriction would reduce interconnectedness between large banking organizations and, if a G-SIB were to fail, reduce the impact on the financial system from that failure.

The proposal would also require the holding companies of G-SIBs to report publicly their TLAC debt outstanding. The comment period ended on June 7, 2019.

The Board of Governors and the Government Performance and Results Act

Overview

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 requires federal agencies to prepare a strategic plan covering a multiyear period and requires each agency to submit an annual performance plan and an annual performance report. Although the Board is not covered by GPRA, the Board follows the spirit of the act by, like other federal agencies, preparing a public multiyear strategic plan, an annual performance plan, and an annual performance report. These reports are publicly available among the Board's publications.

Strategic Plan, Performance Plan, and Performance Report

On July 7, 2015, the Board approved the Strategic Plan 2016–19, which identifies and frames the strategic priorities of the Board. In addition to investing in ongoing operations, the Board identified and prioritized investments and dedicated sufficient resources to six pillars over the 2016–19 period, which will allow the Board to advance its mission and respond to continuing and evolving challenges.

The annual performance plan outlines the planned initiatives and activities that support the framework's long-term objectives and resources necessary to achieve those objectives. The annual performance report summarizes the Board's accomplishments that contributed toward achieving the strategic goals and objectives identified in the annual plan.

The strategic plan, performance plan, and performance report are available on the Federal Reserve Board's website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/gpra.htm.

Footnotes

1. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-02-20/html/2019-02650.htm. Return to text

2. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-06-21/html/2019-12985.htm. Return to text

3. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-05-15/html/2019-09948.htm. Return to text

4. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-10-10/html/2019-21840.htm. Return to text

5. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-22/html/2019-15131.htm. Return to text

6. See Federal Register notices at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-11-13/html/2019-23472.htm and https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-11-13/html/2019-23467.htm. Return to text

7. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-01-27/html/2019-28293.htm. Return to text

8. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-12-13/html/2019-26544.htm. Return to text

9. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-01-24/html/2019-27249.htm. Return to text

10. See Federal Register notices at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-11-01/html/2019-23662.htm and https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-11-01/html/2019-23800.htm. Return to text

11. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-03-13/html/2019-04515.htm. Return to text

12. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-10-08/html/2019-21376.htm. Return to text

13. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-03/html/2019-13668.htm. Return to text

14. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-03-19/html/2019-05012.htm. Return to text

15. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-11-01/html/2019-23967.htm. Return to text

16. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-22/html/2019-15019.htm. Return to text

17. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-11-14/html/2019-22695.htm. Return to text

18. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-06-05/html/2019-11715.htm. Return to text

19. See Federal Register notices at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-02-28/html/2019-03505.htm, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-02-28/html/2019-03503.htm, and https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-02-28/html/2019-03504.htm. Return to text

20. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-04-16/html/2019-07537.htm. Return to text

21. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-06-11/html/2019-11569.htm. Return to text

22. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-03/html/2019-13970.htm. Return to text

23. See press release at https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20190306c.htm. Return to text

24. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-04-01/html/2019-06063.htm. Return to text

25. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-12-30/html/2019-28002.htm. Return to text

26. See Federal Register notice at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-08-09/html/2019-17027.htm. Return to text

27. See press release at https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20190501a1.htm. Return to text

28. See press release at https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20190731a1.htm. Return to text

29. See press release at https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20190918a1.htm. Return to text

30. See press release https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20191030a1.htm. Return to text

31. For current and historical discount rates, see https://www.frbdiscountwindow.org/. Return to text

32. Pub. L. No. 115-174, 132 Stat. 1296 (2018). Return to text

33. Regulatory Capital Treatment for High Volatility Commercial Real Estate (HVCRE) Exposures, 84 Fed. Reg. 68,019 (December 13, 2019). Return to text

34. Regulatory Capital Rule: Revisions to the Supplementary Leverage Ratio to Exclude Certain Central Bank Deposits of Banking Organizations Predominantly Engaged in Custody, Safekeeping, and Asset Servicing Activities, 85 Fed. Reg. 4569 (January 27, 2020). Return to text

35. Regulatory Capital Rule: Capital Simplification for Qualifying Community Banking Organizations, 84 Fed. Reg. 3062 (February 8, 2019). Return to text

36. Prudential Standards for Large Bank Holding Companies, Savings and Loan Holding Companies, and Foreign Banking Organizations, 84 Fed. Reg. 59,032 (November 1, 2019). Return to text

37. Changes to Applicability Thresholds for Regulatory Capital and Liquidity Requirements, 84 Fed. Reg. 66,024 (November 1, 2019). Return to text

38. Resolution Plans Required, 84 Fed. Reg. 59,194 (November 1, 2019). Return to text

39. Real Estate Appraisals, 84 Fed. Reg. 53,579 (October 8, 2019). Return to text

40. Revisions to Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests In, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds, 84 Fed. Reg. 35,008 (July 22, 2019). Return to text

41. Reduced Reporting for Covered Depository Institutions, 84 Fed. Reg. 29,039 (June 21, 2019). Return to text

42. Liquidity Coverage Ratio Rule: Treatment of Certain Municipal Obligations as High-Quality Liquid Assets, 84 Fed. Reg. 25,975 (June 5, 2019). Return to text

43. Supervision and Regulation Assessments of Fees for Bank Holding Companies and Savings and Loan Holding Companies With Total Consolidated Assets of $100 Billion or More, 84 Fed. Reg. 63,820 (November 19, 2019). Return to text

44. Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests In, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds, 84 Fed. Reg. 61,974 (November 14, 2019). Return to text

45. Enhanced Disclosure of the Models Used in the Federal Reserve's Supervisory Stress Test, 84 Fed. Reg. 6784 (February 28, 2019). Return to text

46. Stress Testing Policy Statement, 84 Fed. Reg. 6664 (February 28, 2019). Return to text

47. Amendments to Policy Statement on the Scenario Design Framework for Stress Testing, 84 Fed. Reg. 6651 (February 28, 2019). Return to text

48. Amendments to the Capital Plan Rule, 84 Fed. Reg. 8953 (March 13, 2019). Return to text

49. Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities, 84 Fed. Reg. 59,970 (November 7, 2019). Return to text

50. Regulatory Capital Rules: Risk-Based Capital Requirements for Depository Institution Holding Companies Significantly Engaged in Insurance Activities, 84 Fed. Reg. 57,240 (October 24, 2019). Return to text

51. Capital Requirements for Supervised Institutions Significantly Engaged in Insurance Activities, 81 Fed. Reg. 38,631 (June 14, 2016). Return to text

52. Regulatory Capital Treatment for Investments in Certain Unsecured Debt Instruments of Global Systemically Important U.S. Bank Holding Companies, Certain Intermediate Holding Companies, and Global Systemically Important Foreign Banking Organizations, 84 Fed. Reg. 13,814 (April 8, 2019). Return to text

Last Update: August 16, 2022

Annual Report - 2019