Gold Book Blog » Operations

What’s New: Federal Reserve Holiday Schedule

Admin User — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:15:08 +0000

The Federal Reserve holiday schedule has been updated through 2015.

Deposit Insurance Coverage for Noninterest-Bearing Transaction Accounts Free Nationwide Seminars for Bank Employees

Admin User — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:01:33 +0000

The FDIC will host two identical telephone seminars for bank officers and employees that will explain the insurance coverage rules and disclosure requirements regarding the new temporary unlimited insurance coverage for noninterest-bearing transaction accounts at all FDIC-insured depository institutions. Each seminar will consist of a 30-minute audio and slide presentation, followed by a one-hour question-and-answer period. The seminars, which are free to officers and employees of FDIC-insured banks and savings associations, will be conducted on December 14 and December 16, 2010.

For registration information, visit this FDIC link.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Overdraft Payment Programs and Consumer Protection Final Overdraft Payment Supervisory Guidance

Admin User — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:58:23 +0000

The FDIC expects financial institutions’ boards of directors and management to ensure that the institution mitigates the risks associated with offering automated overdraft payment programs and complies with all consumer protection laws and regulations, including providing clear and meaningful disclosures and other communications about overdraft payment programs, fees, and other features and options, and demonstrating compliance with new opt-in requirements for automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawals and one-time point-of-sale debit card transactions. In addition, the FDIC expects financial institutions to:

Promptly honor customers’ requests to decline coverage of overdrafts (i.e., opt-out) resulting from non-electronic transactions;
Give consumers the opportunity to affirmatively choose the overdraft payment product that overall best meets their needs;
Monitor accounts and take meaningful and effective action to limit use by customers as a form of short-term, high-cost credit, including, for example, giving customers who overdraw their accounts on more than six occasions where a fee is charged in a rolling twelve-month period a reasonable opportunity to choose a less costly alternative and decide whether to continue with fee-based overdraft coverage;
Institute appropriate daily limits on overdraft fees; and consider eliminating overdraft fees for transactions that overdraw an account by a de minimis amount; and
Not process transactions in a manner designed to maximize the cost to consumers.

For more on the topic, visit The Gold Book chapters: Bounce Protection and Overdraft Services Consent.

Join the forum discussion on this post

What’s New: FDIC Changes and Notice Requirements

Admin User — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:46:10 +0000

The Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) yesterday approved a final rule to implement section 343 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).

The final rule revises the FDIC’s deposit insurance regulations to include non-interest bearing transaction accounts as a new temporary deposit insurance account category. All funds held in such accounts are fully insured, without limit, and this coverage is separate from, and in addition to, the coverage provided to depositors for other accounts at an insured depository institution. This separate coverage will become effective on December 31, 2010, and will end on December 31, 2012.

Non-interest bearing accounts include only traditional, non-interest bearing demand deposit (or checking) accounts that allow for an unlimited number of transfers and withdrawals at any time, whether held by a business, individual or other type of depositor.

Insured institutions are required to notify customers of these changes by December 31. 2010.

For details, see Coverage of Non-Interest Bearing Transaction Accounts in the Federal Deposit Insurance section of The Gold Book.

Join the forum discussion on this post

The Department of Justice Has Adopted Revised ADA Standards

Admin User — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:48:04 +0000

Revised ADA regulations were issued on September 15, 2010 and take effect March 15, 2011. Compliance with the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design is permitted as of September 15, 2010, but not required until March 15, 2012. The Department of Justice has prepared fact sheets identifying the major changes in the rules (available at http://www.ada.gov/). Financial institutions seeking to replace/purchase ATM equipment should review the new guidelines and check with ATM vendors for hardware and software requirements.

See American Disabilities Act for more information.

Join the forum discussion on this post

New Power of Attorney Law Amendments

Admin User — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:31:14 +0000

The NYS Power of Attorney laws that became effective September 1, 2009 were amended with a new law effective September 12, 2010. The revisions to the power of attorney law are technical amendments and clarifications to certain sections of the law and the POA form to promote a better understanding of how the power of attorney (POA) rules work. Statutory short forms executed on or after September 12 must reflect the changes. Changes were also made to the Statutory Gifts Rider.

See Power of Attorney – New York Rules for additional information.

Join the forum discussion on this post

FDIC Board Adopts Final Rule Extending Tag Program

Admin User — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:47:04 +0000

The FDIC has adopted a final rule extending the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program for six months, from July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. Under the TAG program, customers of participating insured depository institutions are provided full coverage on qualifying transaction accounts.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said: “While I believe that the TAG program has proven to be critical to ensuring our financial system’s stability, it was established as a temporary program. Ultimately, it should be up to Congress to determine our insurance limits. Adoption of this final rule allows the opportunity for Congress to conclude its current deliberations relative to this program.”

The final rule, adopted after a public comment period, is almost identical to the interim rule adopted on April 13, 2010. The rule requires that interest rates on qualifying NOW accounts offered by banks participating in the program be reduced to 0.25 percent from 0.5 percent. It requires TAG assessment reporting based on average daily account balances but makes no changes to the assessment rates for participating institutions. The rule also provides for an additional extension of the program, without further rulemaking, for a period of time not to exceed December 31, 2011.

See the FDIC chapter of The Gold Book for further details on the TAG program and FDIC coverage in general.

Join the forum discussion on this post

What’s New: New Rules for Gift Cards

Admin User — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:39:52 +0000

New Federal Reserve rules provide important protections for the purchase and use of gift cards. The final rules under Regulation Z that implement the Credit CARD Act of 2009, restrict the fees and expiration dates applicable to gift cards and apply to gift cards sold on or after August 22, 2010.

Content on this topic has been added to The Gold Book.

Join the forum discussion on this post

What’s New: IOLA Fund Amends Interest Rate Options

Admin User — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:16:29 +0000

Last month the IOLA Fund amended 21 NYCRR Section 7000.9(b)(1) to revise one of the IOLA interest rate options. Institutions may pay the greater of 60% of the Federal Funds Rate or 1% on IOLA’s. This is a change to one of the interest rate options an institution may choose for paying interest on IOLA’s, which are NOW accounts. The 1% is a floor rate.

This rate change is effective April 7, 2010. Go to www.IOLA.org, go to recent news on the right and go to the bottom and click on trustees regulations. There you will be able to pull up the 13 page regulation and find section 7000.9(a) and (b). The rates you may offer on IOLAs can be either under (a) or (b), your choice.

See the IOLA section of The Gold Book for updated material.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Revised BSA/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual Available

Admin User — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:01:40 +0000

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today released the revised Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual. The revised manual reflects the ongoing commitment of the federal and state banking agencies to provide current and consistent guidance on risk-based policies, procedures, and processes for banking organizations to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and safeguard operations from money laundering and terrorist financing. The 2010 version further clarifies supervisory expectations since the August 24, 2007, update. The revisions again draw upon comment from the banking industry and examination staff.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and State Liaison Committee revised the manual in collaboration with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the administrator of the Bank Secrecy Act, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Revisions were made throughout the manual. The sections of the manual with more significant updates are again noted in the table of contents.

The manual is located on the FFIEC BSA/AML InfoBase at: http://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase/default.htm. Banks and credit unions should direct questions about the manual to their primary federal regulator.

Join the forum discussion on this post