Federal financial institution regulators have taken at least 35 individual public actions since late May to put into effect the new regulatory relief legislation, according to a compilation of the actions by Regulatory Report.
According to the compilation, the Federal Reserve has taken the most actions, completing at least 10. That total is followed by: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), with at least nine; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), with at at least eight; the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), with at least five; and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as the CFPB), with at least three. (See the table below for a listing of actions by regulators over the last four months, as reported by Regulatory Report).
Among other things, the regulatory relief law – the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA, S. 2155) – exempted more banks from proprietary trading restrictions, waived certain mortgage lending rules and eased some banks’ stress-test and capital requirements. It was enacted into law May 24 upon signature by President Donald Trump.
The actions by the regulatory agencies (from date of enactment to this week) include proposed and final rules, joint statements, guidance, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and others. The actions were largely designed by the agencies to put the law into effect by proposing (and finalizing) rules, or for explaining how the agencies will address the new law.
The count of actions taken includes joint statements issued by agencies (such as those issued by the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC). Each joint statement or other joint action issued is counted as an individual action by an agency.
Most of the actions taken by the regulators (more than half) have occurred over the last six weeks, starting around Aug. 22 (about 90 days since the bill’s enactment).
The first action taken in implementing the new law by a regulator was June 1, when NCUA changed its rules to effectively exclude all loans made on any 1-to-4-unit family dwelling from a federally insured credit union’s member business loan (MBL) cap. The rule change implemented a provision in EGRRCPA.
For the most part, the other regulators were largely quiet for more than a month after EGRRCPA’s enactment about how (or when) they intended to put the new law into action – that is, until July 6, when the three banking agencies issued a joint statement. The statement described interim positions that the regulatory agencies would take on changes made through the new law before incorporating the changes into their regulations.
Output from the agencies about the new law – including guidance and proposals – picked up significantly beginning Aug. 22, when the banking agencies issued an interim final rule on treating some municipal securities as “high-quality liquid assets.”
Top regulators from the Federal Reserve, NCUA, OCC and FDIC are scheduled to testify next week (Oct. 2) before the Senate Banking Committee about their agencies’ implementation of EGRRCPA to date.
Scheduled witnesses are: Joseph M. Otting, Comptroller; Randal K. Quarles, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision; Jelena McWilliams, FDIC Chairman; and J. Mark McWatters, NCUA Chairman. The hearing is slated to begin at 10 a.m. ET.
Agency actions on EGRRCPA, June-Sept. 2018
Proposed and final rules, guidance, information collections and other actions taken by federal financial institution regulatory agencies since enactment of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA, S. 2155), enacted May 24, 2018, as reported by Regulatory Report (regreport.info).