Duplicative language related to civil money penalty (CMP) amounts in rules of agency practice and procedure is removed, and statutory changes for CMP inflation adjustments are codified, in a final rule issued by the federal bank deposit insurance agency and slated for publication Wednesday in the Federal Register.
The final rule, approved Nov. 20 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Board, is scheduled to take effect Jan. 15, 2019, according to the final rule notice.
The rule changes conform with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and the practices of other federal regulators, FDIC said. They remove from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) descriptive regulatory language related to maximum CMP amounts that duplicates statutory language, codify the statutory formula for inflation adjustments to the maximum CMP amounts, and direct readers to a table – to be published annually in the Federal Register – containing the inflation-adjusted maximum CMP amounts.
The FDIC issued its proposed rule in August with an Oct. 2 public comment deadline; it received no comments. Besides the above, the final rule corrects errors and revises cross-references in the rules. It also provides a sample annual table showing the current maximum CMP amounts.
The notice says that under the rule changes, which affect 12 CFR Parts 308 and 327:
- The FDIC will calculate and publish a chart with inflation-adjusted CMP figures in the Federal Register on or before Jan. 15 of each calendar year, beginning with the Jan. 15, 2019, annual inflation adjustments.
- The FDIC will retain language in section 308.116(a), (c) and (d) concerning violations of the Change in Bank Control Act. Implemented in 1991, these regulations address requests for a hearing, mitigating factors, and the consequences of a respondent’s failure to answer. It is removing section 308.116(b) and directing readers to section 308.132(d) to determine current maximum CMP amounts.
- The FDIC is keeping language concerning the late filing of call reports at current section 308.132(d)(1) and (d)(3) but is merging this language into a new section 308.132(e). The new section 308.132(e) will direct readers to the Federal Register to determine the applicable inflation-adjusted penalty amounts.
- The FDIC is correcting four errors currently located at section 308.132(d)(1) and (d)(3) concerning the maximum amount that generally will be assessed for violations of 12 U.S.C. 1464(v) and 1817(a) regarding the late filing of call reports by certain small institutions. The current text overstates the four fractions of an institution’s total assets that are paired with correctly stated basis-point figures. The corrections will align the listed fractions of total assets with the listed basis-point calculations and will be reflected in the annual Federal Register CMP notice.
- The FDIC is revising cross-references found at 12 CFR 308.502(a)(6), 12 CFR 308.502(b)(4), 12 CFR 308.530, and 12 CFR 327.3(c) to reflect the revisions to 12 CFR 308.132(d).
Rules of Practice and Procedure (Final rule notice)