• The FDIC has updated the FDIC official sign for advertising deposit insurance coverage as prescribed in Part 328 of the FDIC’s regulations.
• Insured depository institutions may order FDIC official signs from the FDIC, free of charge, at https://vcart.velocitypayment.com/fdic/.
• The FDIC encourages all insured depository institutions to acquire and post the new official sign without delay to increase depositor awareness of the permanent increase in deposit insurance coverage.
• All of the FDIC’s deposit insurance coverage materials posted on its website – including “EDIE,” its Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator – have been updated to reflect the permanent $250,000 coverage.

The Compliance Chapter of The Gold Book addresses FDIC Official Sign requirements.

The temporary increase from $100,000 to $250,000 was effective from October 3, 2008, through December 31, 2010. On May 20, 2009, the temporary increase was extended through December 31, 2013.

“With this permanent increase of deposit insurance coverage to $250,000, depositors with CDs above $100,000 but below $250,000 will no longer have to worry about losing coverage on those CDs maturing beyond 2013.

To help consumers, bankers and others understand how the new law affects deposit insurance coverage and to help consumers verify whether their deposit accounts are fully protected, the FDIC provides the following resources:

• Information on deposit insurance on the FDIC Web site: Updated brochures on deposit insurance coverage (including the basic guide, Deposit Insurance Summary, and the more comprehensive guide, Your Insured Deposits) and a new version of the “Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator” (EDIE), an interactive service that allows consumers to quickly and easily check whether their accounts are fully protected, are now available on the FDIC’s Web site (www.fdic.gov).
• A toll-free consumer assistance line: Help and information about deposit insurance and other matters of interest to bank customers are available at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342) Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. For the hearing-impaired, the number is 1-800-925-4618.

Visit the FDIC chapter of The Gold Book for details.

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Visit www.newmoney.gov

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.

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

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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.

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These amendments took effect on January 19, 2010, and carry a mandatory compliance date of July 1, 2010.

Last month, the OTS illustrated the affect of noncompliance by taking action against Woodforest Bank, a thrift institution based in Refugio, Texas. To avoid a lengthy dispute, Woodforest Bank agreed to repay more than $12 million to current and former customers “who were misled about the cost of overdraft protection and charged excessive overdraft-protection fees.” According to the OTS, Woodforest’s business relied “upon an unreasonably high level of aggregate fees.”  Woodforest will also pay the federal Office of Thrift Supervision $400,000, the toughest penalty ever imposed by the regulator regarding overdraft fees.

“We believe that our overdraft protection programs now set a new industry standard for customer friendliness and consumer focus,” James Dreibelbis, Woodforest’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. OTS spokesman William Ruberry said Woodforest was incorrectly marketing overdraft protection as free, when it was really charging $34 per overdraft, plus additional daily fees if a customer failed to pay off the original penalties. Woodforest was also offering loans to repay overdraft fees, and the bank was requiring automatic account deductions to repay the loan. Such a requirement is against federal rules. Under the order, Woodforest has to limit fees and the number of transactions for which it can charge fees, overhaul marketing materials and clearly disclose rules, stop claiming that overdraft protection is good for people who have had financial trouble and give customers a chance to stop additional daily charges on overdrawn accounts.

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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.

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“FinCEN is committed to working with financial institutions to increase their understanding of the value that E-Filing provides across a variety of forms,” said FinCEN Director James H. Freis, Jr. “We are continually enhancing the system to ensure that the filing process is efficient and user-friendly, and accomplishes our joint efforts to get important information relating to money laundering and terrorist financing to law enforcement in the quickest manner possible.”

BSA E-Filing is a free, Web-based system that is user-ID and password protected. Financial institutions subject to BSA reporting requirements use the system to electronically file a variety of BSA forms, either individually or in batches, through a FinCEN secure network. Currently, more than three out of four BSA filings are electronically submitted. When an institution submits a form through the E-Filing system, it is available to and searchable by law enforcement in two days, rather than up to 11 days if filed on paper.

For more information about the system or how to enroll, please call the BSA E-Filing Help Desk at 1-888-827-2778 and select option number 6.

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The Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) announced the launch of its redesigned financial literacy education website, www.MyMoney.gov. The new site has enhanced interactive features and utility to provide more resources to Americans seeking information that can inform their personal financial decisions.  President Obama recently proclaimed April to be National Financial Literacy Month, and this enhanced online offering is just one of the many steps the Administration is taking to expand financial education and access for the future.

“As America recovers from the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression, it’s critical that we strengthen every aspect of our financial system. That means not only strong reforms and consumer protections, but also improved financial literacy and access,” said Treasury Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin. “Financial education and access is a priority for this Administration, and we’re pleased to provide this critical resource to help Americans find free, reliable and unbiased information that can help inform their daily financial decisions and plan for the future.”

The new MyMoney.gov creates an online point of access to financial information from the 21 Federal agencies, departments and bureaus that comprise the FLEC.   Users will be able to find information about how to plan for a host of life events that have financial implications, such as birth or adoption of a child, home ownership, or retirement. They can also find information targeted to their personal or professional situation. For instance, the site includes resources for teachers, service members, women, parents, youth, employers, and more.  The site also provides money management tools including a financial savings calculator, worksheets for establishing a household budget and a college preparation checklist, among others.  The site is also available in Spanish. The effort to make the website as helpful and useful to Americans will be ongoing, with improvements expected to continue.

The web site was made possible by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, which was established under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The Commission was tasked to develop a national financial education web site along with a hotline (1-888-My Money) and a national strategy on financial education. It is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and made up of the heads of 20 additional federal agencies: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; the Office of Thrift Supervision; the Federal Reserve; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the National Credit Union Administration; the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs; the Federal Trade Commission; the General Services Administration; the Small Business Administration; the Social Security Administration; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Office of Personnel Management and its newest member, the White House Office of Public Engagement.  The Commission is coordinated by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Education.

For details, go to www.MyMoney.gov

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