Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Supervision and Regulation

The Federal Reserve promotes a safe, sound, and efficient banking and financial system that supports the growth and stability of the U.S. economy. The Federal Reserve carries out its supervisory and regulatory responsibilities and supporting functions primarily by

• supervising the activities of financial institutions to ensure their safety and soundness;
• developing regulatory policy (rulemakings, supervision and regulation letters, policy statements, and guidance) and acting on applications filed by banking organizations; and
• monitoring trends in the banking sector by collecting and analyzing data.¹

Supervised and Regulated Institutions

For supervisory purposes, the Federal Reserve categorizes institutions it supervises and regulates into the groups described in table 1. For additional information on the Federal Reserve's supervisory and regulatory activities, see box 1.

Table 1. Summary of organizations supervised by the Federal Reserve

State Member Banks

At the end of 2019, a total of 1,540 banks (excluding non-depository trust companies and private banks) were members of the Federal Reserve System, of which 754 were state chartered. Federal Reserve System member banks operated 51,263 branches, and accounted for 33 percent of all commercial banks in the United States and 68 percent of all commercial banking offices. State-chartered commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve, commonly referred to as state member banks, represented approximately 16 percent of all insured U.S. commercial banks and held approximately 17 percent of all insured commercial bank assets in the United States.

Bank Holding Companies

At year-end 2019, a total of 4,124 U.S. bank holding companies (BHCs) were in operation, of which 3,725 were top-tier BHCs. These organizations controlled 3,827 insured commercial banks and held approximately 94 percent of all insured commercial bank assets in the United States.

BHCs that meet certain capital, managerial, and other requirements may elect to become financial holding companies (FHCs). FHCs can generally engage in a broader range of financial activities than other BHCs. As of year-end 2019, a total of 487 domestic BHCs and 44 foreign banking organizations had FHC status. Of the domestic FHCs, 21 had consolidated assets of $100 billion or more; 46 between $10 billion and $100 billion; 156 between $1 billion and $10 billion; and 264 less than $1 billion.

Savings and Loan Holding Companies

At year-end 2019, a total of 358 SLHCs were in operation, of which 187 were top-tier SLHCs. These SLHCs control 195 depository institutions. Approximately 92 percent of SLHCs engage primarily in depository activities. These firms hold approximately 19 percent ($346 billion) of the total combined assets of all SLHCs. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is the primary regulator for most of the subsidiary savings associations of the firms engaged primarily in depository activities. Fifteen SLHCs are engaged primarily in nonbanking activities, such as insurance underwriting (8 SLHCs), securities brokerage (3 SLHCs), and commercial activities (4 SLHCs). The 25 largest SLHCs accounted for more than $1.7 trillion of total combined assets.

Table 2. Savings and loan holding companies, 2015–19

Savings and loan holding companies significantly engaged in insurance activities. At year-end 2019, the Federal Reserve supervised eight insurance SLHCs (ISLHCs), with $1.1 trillion in estimated total combined assets, and $166 billion in insured depository assets. Four of these firms have total assets greater than $100 billion and for seven of the eight, insured depository assets represent less than half of total assets.

As the consolidated supervisor of ISLHCs, the Federal Reserve evaluates the organization's risk-management practices, the financial condition of the overall organization, and the impact of the nonbank activities on the depository institution. The Federal Reserve relies to the fullest extent possible on the work of the primary functional regulators, including the OCC and the state insurance regulators, as part of the overall supervisory assessment of ISLHCs.

During 2019, the Federal Reserve established the Insurance Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC), as required by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 (EGRRCPA), and held the IPAC inaugural meeting.

Financial Market Utilities

FMUs manage or operate multilateral systems for the purpose of transferring, clearing, or settling payments, securities, or other financial transactions among financial institutions or between financial institutions and the FMU. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Reserve supervises FMUs that are chartered as member banks or Edge Act corporations and coordinates with other federal banking supervisors to supervise FMUs considered bank service providers under the Bank Service Company Act (BSCA).

In July 2012, the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to designate eight FMUs as systemically important under title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).

As a result of these designations, the Board assumed an expanded set of responsibilities related to these designated FMUs that includes promoting uniform risk-management standards, playing an enhanced role in the supervision of designated FMUs, reducing systemic risk, and supporting the stability of the broader financial system. For certain designated FMUs, the Board established risk-management standards and expectations that are articulated in the Board's Regulation HH.

In addition to setting minimum risk-management standards, Regulation HH establishes requirements for the advance notice of proposed material changes to the rules, procedures, or operations of a designated FMU for which the Board is the supervisory agency under title VIII. Finally, Regulation HH also establishes minimum conditions and requirements for a Federal Reserve Bank to establish and maintain an account for, and provide services to, a designated FMU.² Where the Board is not the title VIII Supervisory Agency, the Federal Reserve works closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to promote robust FMU risk management and monitor systemic risks across the designated FMUs.

International Activities

Foreign operations of U.S. banking organizations. At the end of 2019, a total of 33 banks were operating 328 branches in foreign countries and overseas areas of the United States. Fifteen national banks were operating 266 of these branches, 13 state member banks were operating 49 of these branches, and 5 nonmember banks were operating the remaining 13.

Edge Act and agreement corporations. At year-end 2019, out of 35 banking organizations chartered as Edge Act or agreement corporations, 3 operated 6 Edge Act and agreement branches. These corporations are examined annually.

U.S. activities of foreign banks. As of year-end 2019, a total of 136 foreign banks from 47 countries operated 147 state-licensed branches and agencies, of which 6 were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and 53 OCC-licensed branches and agencies, of which 4 were insured by the FDIC. These foreign banks also owned eight Edge Act and agreement corporations. In addition, they held a controlling interest in 36 U.S. commercial banks. Altogether, the U.S. offices of these foreign banks controlled approximately 19.6 percent of U.S. commercial banking assets. These 136 foreign banks also operated 66 representative offices; an additional 36 foreign banks operated in the United States through a representative office.

The Federal Reserve conducted or participated with state and federal regulatory authorities in 616 examinations of foreign banks in 2019.

Supervisory Developments

Supervisory and Regulatory Initiatives

The Federal Reserve's supervision activities include examinations and inspections to ensure that financial institutions operate in a safe and sound manner and comply with laws and regulations. These include
an assessment of a financial institution's risk-management systems, financial conditions, and compliance. For the largest financial institutions, the Federal Reserve maintains a continuous supervisory presence with dedicated teams of examiners. Smaller firms are examined periodically. In 2019, the Federal Reserve conducted 327 examinations of state member banks, 2,794 inspections of bank holding companies, and 154 inspections at savings and loan holding companies. Tables 2 and 3 provide information on examinations and inspections conducted by the Federal Reserve during the past five years.

Table 3. State member banks and bank holding companies, 2015–19

Specialized Examinations

The Federal Reserve conducts specialized examinations of supervised financial institutions in the areas of capital planning and stress testing; information technology; fiduciary activities; transfer agent activities; government and municipal securities dealing and brokering, and cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. The Federal Reserve also conducts specialized examinations of certain nonbank entities that extend credit subject to the Board's margin regulations.

Capital Planning and Stress Testing

Since the 2007–09 financial crisis, the Board has led a series of initiatives to strengthen the capital planning practices and positions of the largest banking organizations. The Federal Reserve's annual Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) assesses the capital adequacy of large banking organizations. CCAR includes the supervisory and company-run stress tests that are conducted as a part of the Federal Reserve's Dodd-Frank Act stress tests and a qualitative assessment of firms' capital plans.

In 2019, CCAR evaluated the capital planning processes and capital positions of 18 of the largest banking firms, including the capital actions, such as dividend payments and share repurchases, those firms planned to make over the subsequent year. The supervisory stress test results showed that the nation's largest and most complex banks had capital levels that would allow them to stay well above their minimum requirements after being tested against a severe hypothetical recession. In addition, a majority of firms are now meeting the Federal Reserve's capital planning expectations.

More details on the 2019 supervisory stress test results are available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2019-dfast-results-20190621.pdf.

More details on the 2019 CCAR results are available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2019-ccar-assessment-framework-results-20190627.pdf.

Information Technology Activities

During 2019, the Federal Reserve conducted examinations of information technology activities (inclusive of cyber) at financial institutions. Additionally, under the authority of the BSCA, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC (the federal banking agencies) examine and assign Uniform Rating System for Information Technology rating to technology service providers that provide services for specific regulated financial institutions.

In 2019, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the Federal Reserve is a member, issued guidance for the examination of financial institutions and their service providers.³

The Federal Reserve participated in the FFIEC's IT Subcommittee of the Task Force on Supervision, the primary interagency group responsible for coordination across member agencies on information technology policy. The Federal Reserve contributed to the development and publication of the Business Continuity Management component of the IT Examination Handbook to help examiners determine whether management of banks, other regulated entities, and their service providers have prepared their operations to avoid disruptions and to recover services.

Fiduciary Activities

In 2019, Federal Reserve examiners conducted 119 fiduciary examinations of state member banks and non-depository trust companies.

Transfer Agents

During 2019, the Federal Reserve conducted transfer agent examinations at five state member banks and three BHCs that were registered as transfer agents.

Government and Municipal Securities Dealers and Brokers

The Federal Reserve is responsible for examining state member banks and foreign banks for compliance with the Government Securities Act of 1986 and with Treasury regulations governing dealing and
brokering in government securities. There are 22 banking organizations that have government
securities dealers or brokers for which the Federal Reserve is the appropriate regulatory authority. During 2019, the Federal Reserve conducted six examinations of government securities activities at these organizations.

The Federal Reserve is also responsible for ensuring that state member banks and BHCs that act as municipal securities dealers comply with the Securities Act Amendments of 1975. Municipal securities dealers are examined, pursuant to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's rule G-16, at least once every two calendar years. During 2019, the Federal Reserve examined three entities that dealt in municipal securities.

Securities Credit Lenders

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Board is responsible for regulating credit in certain transactions involving the purchasing or carrying of securities. As part of its general examination program, the Federal Reserve examines the banks under its jurisdiction for compliance with the Board's Regulation U. In addition, the Federal Reserve maintains a registry of persons other than banks, brokers, and dealers who extend credit subject to Regulation U. The Federal Reserve may conduct specialized examinations of these lenders if they are not already subject to supervision by the Farm Credit Administration or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure

The Federal Reserve collaborated with other financial regulators, the U.S. Treasury, private industry, and international partners to promote effective safeguards against cyber threats to the financial services sector and to bolster the sector's cyber resiliency. Throughout the year, Federal Reserve examiners conducted targeted cybersecurity assessments of the largest and most systemically important financial institutions, FMUs, and service providers. The Federal Reserve worked closely with the OCC and FDIC to implement improved examination procedures for the cybersecurity assessments of service providers. Federal Reserve examiners also continued to conduct tailored cybersecurity assessments at community and regional banking organizations.

In August 2019, the Federal Reserve and the other FFIEC members issued a statement emphasizing the benefits of using a standardized approach to assess and improve cybersecurity preparedness at financial institutions.

The Federal Reserve actively participated in other interagency groups, such as the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC), to share information and collaborate on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure issues affecting the financial sector. In coordination with FBIIC members, the Federal Reserve collaborated with government and industry stakeholders to plan and execute sectorwide and regional tabletop exercises focused on identifying areas where sector resiliency, information sharing, and public-private collaboration can be enhanced with respect to potential cybersecurity incidents.

In addition, the Federal Reserve was actively involved in international policy coordination to address cyber-related risks and efforts to bolster cyber resiliency. The Federal Reserve participated in the development of the Cyber Incident Response and Recovery Survey of Industry Practices issued by the Financial Stability Board. As part of the G-7 Cyber Expert Group, the Federal Reserve participated in an exercise to test G-7 members' preparedness to address the impact of a cross-border cyber incident.

Oversight Activities

The Board's Division of Supervision and Regulation conducts oversight of safety and soundness supervision, specifically Reserve Bank supervision programs and the Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee program.

For more information on the Federal Reserve's oversight activities, see box 2.

Enforcement Actions

The Federal Reserve has enforcement authority over the financial institutions it supervises and their affiliated parties. Enforcement actions may be taken to address unsafe and unsound practices or violations of any law or regulation. Formal enforcement actions include cease and desist orders, written agreements, prompt corrective action directives, removal and prohibition orders, and civil money penalties.

In 2019, the Federal Reserve completed 67 formal enforcement actions. Civil money penalties totaling $324,075,700 were assessed. As directed by statute, all civil money penalties are remitted to either the Treasury or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Reserve Banks completed 79 informal enforcement actions. Informal enforcement actions include memoranda of understanding, commitment letters, and board of directors' resolutions.

Enforcement orders and prompt corrective action directives, which are issued by the Board, and written agreements, which are executed by the Reserve Banks, are made public and are posted on the Board's website (https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/enforcementactions/search.aspx).

Other Laws and Regulation Enforcement Activity/Actions

The Federal Reserve's enforcement responsibilities also extend to the disclosure of financial information by state member banks and the use of credit to purchase and carry securities.

Financial Disclosures by State Member Banks

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Federal Reserve's Regulation H, certain state member banks are required to make financial disclosures to the Federal Reserve using the same reporting forms that are normally used by publicly held entities to submit information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).⁴

In 2019, only two state member banks were required to submit data to the Federal Reserve. The information submitted by these two small state member banks is available to the public upon request and is primarily used for disclosure to the bank's shareholders and public investors.

Securities Credit

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Board is responsible for regulating credit in certain transactions involving the purchasing or carrying of securities. The Board's Regulation T limits the amount of credit that may be provided by securities brokers and dealers when the credit is used to purchase debt and equity securities. The Board's Regulation U limits the amount of credit that may be provided by lenders other than brokers and dealers when the credit is used to purchase or carry publicly held equity securities if the loan is secured by those or other publicly held equity securities. The Board's Regulation X applies these credit limitations, or margin requirements, to certain borrowers and to certain credit extensions, such as credit obtained from foreign lenders by U.S. citizens.

Several regulatory agencies enforce the Board's securities credit regulations. The SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange examine brokers and dealers for compliance with Regulation T. With respect to compliance with Regulation U, the federal banking agencies examine banks under their respective jurisdictions; the Farm Credit Administration and the NCUA examine lenders under their respective jurisdictions; and the Federal Reserve examines other Regulation U lenders.

Assessments for Supervision and Regulation

On May 24, 2018, EGRRCPA amended provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act as well as other statutes administered by the Board. One amendment made by EGRRCPA raises the minimum asset threshold for assessing BHCs and SLHCs for the cost of supervision.

Starting with 2018 assessments, BHCs and SLHCs with total consolidated assets between $50 billion and $100 billion are no longer subject to assessments. As a collecting entity, the Board does not recognize the supervision and regulation assessments as revenue nor does the Board use the collections to fund Board expenses; the funds are transferred to the U.S. Treasury. The Board collected and transferred $585,880,463 in 2019 for the 2018 supervision and regulation assessment.

Training and Technical Assistance

The Federal Reserve provides training and technical assistance to foreign supervisors and minority-owned depository institutions, and engages in industry outreach in connection with supervisory objectives.

Current Expected Credit Losses Implementation

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued an accounting standard in 2016 that overhauls the accounting for credit losses with a new impairment model based on the CECL methodology. CECL's implementation will affect a broad range of supervisory activities, including regulatory reports, examinations, and examiner training.

During 2019, Board staff developed and provided industry outreach materials and examiner training materials, and updated examiner work programs for CECL. Separately, in October 2019, the Board along with the OCC, FDIC, and NCUA issued for public comment a proposed interagency policy statement on allowances for credit losses.

International Training and Technical Assistance

In 2019, the Federal Reserve continued to provide training and technical assistance on supervisory matters to foreign central banks and supervisory authorities. Technical assistance involves visits by Federal Reserve staff members to foreign authorities as well as consultations with foreign supervisors who visit the Board of Governors or the Reserve Banks. In 2019, the Federal Reserve offered a number of training programs for the benefit of foreign supervisory authorities, which were held in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions.

Federal Reserve staff took part in technical assistance and training assignments led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Financial Stability Institute. The Federal Reserve also contributed to regional capacity development efforts through partnerships with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Financial Regulators Training Initiative, South East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre, Caribbean Group of Banking Supervisors, and the Association of Bank Supervisors of the Americas.

Efforts to Support Minority-Owned Depository Institutions

The Federal Reserve System implements its responsibilities under section 367 of the Dodd-Frank Act primarily through its Partnership for Progress (PFP) program. Established in 2008, this program promotes the viability of minority depository institutions (MDIs) by facilitating activities designed to strengthen their business strategies, maximize their resources, and increase their awareness and understanding of supervisory expectations.

In addition, the Federal Reserve continues to maintain the PFP website, which supports MDIs by providing them with technical information and links to useful resources (https://www.fedpartnership.gov). Representatives from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts, along with staff from the Divisions of Supervision & Regulation and Consumer & Community Affairs at the Board of Governors, continue to offer technical assistance tailored to MDIs by providing targeted supervisory guidance, identifying additional resources, and fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between MDIs and community organizations. As of year-end 2019, the Federal Reserve's MDI portfolio consisted of 15 state member banks.

Throughout 2019, the System supported MDIs and conducted a number of programs, initiatives, and conferences specific to MDIs, including the following:

• In June, the PFP co-hosted an Interagency MDI and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) conference, "Focus on the Future: Prospering in a Changing Industry." Representatives from the PFP, the FDIC, and OCC addressed a wide range of issues regarding the challenges MDIs and CDFIs face in ensuring their long-term success and viability.
• In September, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, in partnership with the Board and several other Reserve Banks, hosted the fourth annual forum designed to provide minority bankers with industry knowledge and development to enhance their careers and grow their professional networks. The forum featured insights from leaders across the System and the financial services industry on topics including cybersecurity, leadership development, and cultural intelligence. Forum sessions included discussions on banking trends, effective leadership, and the economic outlook for banks nationwide. PFP led two sessions to discuss the Federal Reserve's support for MDIs. All MDI banks were encouraged to attend and several sent representatives to the conference.
• In October, Board and Reserve Bank staff represented PFP at the annual National Bankers Association (NBA) conference in Washington, D.C. The annual conference attracts dozens of MDI leaders, and this year the PFP presented on permissibility of fund investments by banks and hosted an exhibition table. The NBA is a trade organization for minority- and women-owned financial institutions that serves as an advocate for the nation's MDIs on legislative and regulatory matters concerning and affecting its members and the communities they serve. The NBA also offers a number of services, including lobbying services, vendor financing, cash management services, and corporate trust accounts, among others.
• During 2019, the PFP coordinators at each of the Reserve Banks maintained regular contact with supervised MDIs and provided technical assistance. A team led by the district coordinator from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provided technical expertise on the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to an MDI that requested technical assistance after they learned about the outreach options available through the Federal Reserve's PFP program.
• In 2019, the Board commissioned two external researchers to do original research on MDIs. Two papers were finished and delivered in June, one that focused on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for Native American banks,⁵ and the other that looked at the governance structures of MDIs in Los Angeles.⁶
• In November, the Federal Reserve partnered with the FDIC to host an MDI roundtable in Chicago, which brought together regional MDIs and large banks. The purpose was to connect the two types of institutions to discuss potential mutually beneficial partnerships that would help the MDIs and provide CRA credit to the larger banks. Ten large regional banks and 11 MDIs attended the event.

International Coordination on Supervisory Policies

As a member of several international financial standard-setting bodies, the Federal Reserve actively participates in efforts to advance sound supervisory policies for internationally active financial organizations and to enhance the strength and stability of the international financial system.

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

During 2019, the Federal Reserve contributed to supervisory policy recommendations, reports, and papers issued for consultative purposes or finalized by the BCBS that are designed to improve the supervision of banking organizations' practices and to address specific issues that emerged during the 2007–09 financial crisis.⁷

Some examples of final BCBS documents issued in 2019 include

• Minimum capital requirements for market risk (issued in January, revised in February, and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d457.pdf).
• Revisions to leverage ratio disclosure requirements (issued in June and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d468.pdf).
• Leverage ratio treatment of client cleared derivatives (issued in June and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d467.pdf).
• Margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives (issued in July and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d475.pdf).
• Revisions to market risk disclosure requirements (issued in November and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d484.pdf).

Some examples of consultative BCBS documents issued in 2019 include

• Consolidated Basel Framework(issued in April and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d462.pdf).
• Credit Valuation Adjustment risk – targeted revisions (issued in November and available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d488.pdf).
• Introduction of guidelines on interaction and cooperation between prudential and AML/CFT supervision (issued in November 2019 at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d483.htm).

A comprehensive list of BCBS publications is available at https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publications.htm.

Financial Stability Board

In 2019, the Federal Reserve continued its participation in a variety of activities of the FSB, an international group that helps coordinate the work of national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies, and develops and promotes the implementation of financial sector policies in the interest of financial stability.

Some examples of FSB publications issued in 2019 include

• FinTech and market structure in financial services: Market developments and potential financial stability implications(issued in February and available at https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P140219.pdf).
• Cyber Incident Response and Recovery: Progress Report to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (issued in May and available at https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P280519-1.pdf).
• Crypto-assets: Work underway, regulatory approaches and potential gaps (issued in May and available at https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P310519.pdf).
• FSB Report on Market Fragmentation (issued in June and available at https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P040619-2.pdf).
• Evaluation of the effects of financial regulatory reforms on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing (issued in November and available at https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P291119-1.pdf).
• Vulnerabilities associated with leveraged loans and collateralized loan obligations (issued in December and available at https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P191219.pdf).

A comprehensive list of FSB publications is available at https://www.fsb.org/publications.

Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures

In 2019, the Federal Reserve continued its active participation in the activities of the CPMI, a forum in which central banks promote the safety and efficiency of payment, clearing and settlement activities, and related arrangements.

In conducting its work on financial market infrastructure and market-related reforms, the CPMI often coordinated with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Over the course of 2019, CPMI-IOSCO continued to monitor implementation of the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI), including by conducting an assessment of consistency with the PFMI of the legal, regulatory, and oversight frameworks in the United States for payment systems, central securities depositories, and securities settlement systems.

Additionally, CPMI-IOSCO published a discussion paper on central counterparty default management auctions, a compilation of authorities' experience with cooperation, and a report on governance arrangements for critical over-the-counter derivatives data elements. The CPMI also issued a report on wholesale digital tokens, released a toolkit to aid in the operationalization of its 2018 strategy on addressing the risk of wholesale payments fraud related to endpoint security, and, jointly with the G-7 and IMF, prepared a report on global stablecoins. Additional information is available at https://www.bis.org/.

International Association of Insurance Supervisors

The Federal Reserve continued its participation in 2019 in the development of international supervisory standards. The Federal Reserve participates actively in standard-setting at the IAIS in consultation and collaboration with state insurance regulators, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and the Federal Insurance Office. The Federal Reserve's participation focuses on those aspects most relevant to financial stability and consolidated supervision.

In 2019, the IAIS finalized a comprehensive review and update of its Insurance Core Principles (ICPs), adopted the Common Framework for the Supervision of Internationally Active Insurance Groups (ComFrame),⁸ and adopted the Holistic Framework for the assessment and mitigation of systemic risk in the insurance sector. The IAIS also agreed to a five-year monitoring period for its Insurance Capital Standard,⁹ beginning in 2020. In addition, the IAIS issued several final and consultative reports in 2019.

Papers and reports:

• Explanatory Note on ComFrame (issued in November and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/supervisory-material/insurance-core-principles-and-comframe).
• IAIS ICPs and ComFrame (adopted in November 2019 and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/supervisory-material/insurance-core-principles-and-comframe).
• Explanatory Note on Holistic Framework for systemic risk (issued in November and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/supervisory-material/financial-stability).
• Application Paper on Recovery Planning (issued in November and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/supervisory-material/application-papers/file/87519/application-paper-on-recovery-planning).
• Application Paper on Proactive Supervision of Corporate Governance (issued in February and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/supervisory-material/application-papers/file/80572/application-paper-on-proactive-supervision-of-corporate-governance).

Consultative papers:

• Draft Issues Paper on the Implementation of TCFD Recommendation(issued in December and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/consultations/closed-consultations/2019/draft-issues-paper-on-the-implementation-of-the-tcfd-recommendations).
• Draft Application Paper on Liquidity Risk Management(issued in November and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/consultations/closed-consultations/2019/draft-application-paper-on-liquidity-risk-management).
• Draft Issues Paper on Use of BDA in Insurance(issued in September and available at https://www.iaisweb.org/page/consultations/closed-consultations/2019/draft-issues-paper-on-use-of-bda-in-insurance).

Shared National Credit Program

The SNC Program is an interagency review and assessment of risk in the largest and most complex credits shared by multiple regulated financial institutions. The SNC Program is governed by an interagency agreement among the Board, the FDIC, and the OCC. SNC reviews are completed in the first and third quarters of the calendar year. Large agent banks receive two reviews each year while most other agent banks receive a single review each year.

For information on the 2019 Shared National Credit review, visit the Board's website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20200131a.htm.

Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money-Laundering Compliance

The Federal Reserve is responsible for examining institutions for compliance with the BSA and applicable AML laws and regulations and conducts such examinations in accordance with the FFIEC's Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money-Laundering Examination Manual.

The Federal Reserve is currently participating in an ongoing interagency effort to update this manual. Many of the revisions are designed to emphasize and enhance the risk-focused approach to BSA/AML supervision and to continue to provide transparency into the BSA/AML examination process.

International Coordination on Sanctions, Anti-Money-Laundering, and Counter-Terrorism Financing

The Federal Reserve participates in a number of international coordination initiatives related to sanctions, money laundering, and terrorism financing. The Federal Reserve has a long-standing role in the U.S. delegation to the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its working groups, contributing a banking supervisory perspective to the formulation of international standards. The Federal Reserve participated in the FATF Supervisors' Forum on improving the effectiveness of supervision in November 2019.

The Federal Reserve also continues to participate in committees and subcommittees through the Bank for International Settlements. Specifically, the Federal Reserve actively participates in the AML Experts Group under the BCBS that focuses on AML and countering financing of terrorism (CFT) issues and assisted in developing the consultative document issued in November 2019 on the cooperation between prudential and AML/CFT supervision. In addition, the Federal Reserve participated in meetings during the year to discuss BSA/AML issues with foreign delegations from Mexico and the United Kingdom. These dialogues are designed to promote information sharing and understanding of BSA/AML issues between U.S. and country-specific financial sectors.

Incentive Compensation

The Federal Reserve believes that supervision of incentive compensation programs at financial institutions can play an important role in helping safeguard financial institutions against practices that threaten safety and soundness, provide for excessive compensation, or could lead to material financial loss.

The Federal Reserve along with the other federal banking agencies adopted interagency guidance oriented to the risk-taking incentives created by incentive compensation arrangements in June 2010. The guidance is based on the principles that incentive compensation arrangements at a banking organization should provide employees incentives that appropriately balance risk and reward; be compatible with effective controls and risk management; and be supported by strong corporate governance.

Role of Supervisory Guidance

In September 2018, the Federal Reserve—along with other federal financial agencies—issued a statement confirming the proper role of supervisory guidance.¹⁰ The statement explained that unlike a law or regulation, supervisory guidance does not have the force and effect of law. Accordingly, the statement also clarified that examiners will not cite a financial institution for a "violation" of supervisory guidance as they would for a violation of a law or regulation.

To ensure that supervisory guidance is properly applied, the Federal Reserve has taken several steps since issuance of the statement, including conducting several internal training sessions, providing internal examination materials, more closely reviewing draft supervisory communications to institutions, and coordinating with other federal banking agencies. The Federal Reserve remains committed to ensuring the proper role of guidance in the supervisory process.

Regulatory Reports

The Federal Reserve, along with the other member FFIEC agencies, requires banking organizations to periodically submit reports that provide information about their financial condition and structure.

Federal Reserve Regulatory Reports

The Federal Reserve requires that U.S. holding companies periodically submit reports that provide information about their financial condition and structure.¹¹ This information is essential to formulating and conducting financial institution regulation and supervision. It is also used to respond to information requests by Congress and the public about holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries. Foreign banking organizations also are required to periodically submit reports to the Federal Reserve. For more information on the various reporting forms, see https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/default.aspx.

Effective during 2019, the following regulatory reporting forms had substantive revisions:

• FR Y-9C—(1) reduced reporting burden for holding companies with total assets less than $5 billion by adding new reporting thresholds, revising existing reporting thresholds, reducing reporting frequencies and combining certain data items; (2) revised instructions pertaining to the risk-weighting of high volatility commercial real estate exposures and the treatment of reciprocal deposits as required under EGRRCPA; and (3) implemented reporting methodology and capital transition for CECL.

Other regulatory reporting forms implementing CECL include the following:

• FR 2314 and FR 2314S
• FR 2320
• FR 2886b
• FR Y-7N and FR Y-7NS
• FR Y-8
• FR Y-9LP
• FR Y-9SP
• FR Y-11 and FR Y-11S

• FR Y-14—implemented changes to address the revised accounting standards for the adoption of the CECL methodology. Also, to align the FR Y-14 with other regulatory reports, incorporated revised rules and non-CECL accounting principles as well as made other revisions and clarifications.
• FR Y-15—added a separate line item for equity securities with readily determinable fair values not held for trading; added line items for foreign derivative claims, total cross-jurisdictional claims, foreign derivative liabilities, other foreign liabilities, and total cross-jurisdictional liabilities; and added a requirement that respondents keep a record of the data submitted.
• FR 2052a—implemented certain revisions in response to the enactment of EGRRCPA and corresponding changes to the treatment of certain municipal obligations that are liquid and readily marketable as high-quality liquid assets under the Liquidity Coverage Ratio rule.
• FR 2510—created a new form collecting more granular data regarding common or correlated exposures and funding dependencies than is currently collected by existing reports by providing more information about U.S. global systemically important banks' consolidated exposures and funding positions to different countries according to instrument, counterparty sector, currency and remaining maturity.

FFIEC Regulatory Reports

The Federal Reserve, along with the other member FFIEC agencies, requires financial institutions to submit various uniform regulatory reports.¹² This information is essential to formulating and conducting supervision and regulation and for the ongoing assessment of the overall soundness of the nation's financial system. During 2019, the following FFIEC reporting forms had substantive revisions:

• FFIEC 031, 041, 051 and 101—implemented reporting methodology and capital transition for CECL.

Other FFIEC reporting forms implementing CECL include the following:

• FFIEC 002 and FFIEC 002S
• FFIEC 030 and FFIEC 030S
• FFIEC 051—implemented reduced reporting requirements for institutions with less than $5 billion in total consolidated assets and meeting certain other conditions by increasing the reporting threshold from $1 billion to $5 billion for filing the shorter FFIEC 051 report relative to the FFIEC 041 report, and reduced frequency of reporting from quarterly to semiannual for approximately one-third of existing FFIEC 051 items as required under EGRRCPA.

Staff Development Programs

The Federal Reserve's staff development program supports the ongoing development of nearly 3,300 professional supervisory staff, ensuring that they have the requisite skills necessary to meet their evolving supervisory responsibilities. The Federal Reserve also provides course offerings to staff at state banking agencies. Training activities in 2019 are summarized in table 4.

Table 4. Training for supervision and regulation, 2019

Examiner Commissioning Program

An overview of the Federal Reserve System's Examiner Commissioning Program is provided in SR letter 17-6, "Overview of the Federal Reserve's Supervisory Education Programs."

The Federal Reserve has three examiner commissioning programs: (1) community bank, (2) consumer compliance, and (3) large financial institutions. Individuals in these programs progress through a combination of in-person and virtual instruction, aligned with on-the-job training over a period of about three years. Commissioning of an examiner is contingent upon approval from the Supervision and Regulation function at the Board of Governors as well as an individual passing a professionally validated proficiency examination.

In 2019, 63 examiners were commissioned (40 in safety and soundness and 23 in consumer compliance). The large financial institutions program was fully implemented in 2019.

Continuing Professional Development

In addition to the examiner commissioning programs, the Federal Reserve System offers a number of continuing professional development programs, and partners with the FFIEC and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to provide specialized supervisory training to commissioned examiners.

In 2019, continuing professional development training was developed for several supervision initiatives, including CECL, financial technology, and large and regional financial institution training for consumer compliance staff.

Regulatory Developments

The Federal Reserve carries out its regulatory responsibilities by developing regulatory policy (rulemakings, supervision and regulation letters, policy statements, and guidance) and reviewing and acting on a variety of applications filed by banking organizations.

Rulemakings and Guidance

The Federal Reserve issues new regulations or revises existing regulations in response to laws enacted by Congress or because of evolving conditions in the financial marketplace. Over 2019, the Federal Reserve made significant progress to implement provisions of the EGRRCPA. The Federal Reserve, working with the other federal banking agencies, has implemented all of the major provisions of EGRRCPA. The Federal Reserve issued the following rules and statements in 2019 (see table 5).

Banking Applications

The Federal Reserve reviews applications submitted by bank holding companies, state member banks, savings and loan holding companies, foreign banking organizations, and other entities for approval to undertake various transactions and to engage in new activities. In 2019, the Federal Reserve acted on 1,099 applications filed under the six relevant statutes.

The Federal Reserve published the Semiannual Report on Banking Applications Activity, which provides aggregate information on proposals filed by banking organizations and reviewed by the Federal Reserve. The current report as well as historical reports are available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/semiannual-report-on-banking-applications-activity.htm.

Public Notice of Federal Reserve Decisions and Filings Received

The Board's website provides information on orders and announcements (https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases.htm) as well as a guide for U.S. and foreign banking organizations that wish to submit applications (https://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/afi/afi.htm).

Table 5. Federal Reserve or interagency rulemakings/statements (proposed and final), 2019

Footnotes