A proposed rule change to adjust funds-availability amounts for inflation every five years, announced in November, is in Monday’s Federal Register with a comment period that ends Feb. 8.
Announced jointly by the Federal Reserve Board and Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as CFPB), the proposal would revise Regulation CC, which implements the Electronic Funds Availability (EFA) Act, to implement a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) for inflation adjustments every five years of the funds-availability amounts.
The proposal would apply in circumstances ranging from next-business-day withdrawal of certain check deposits to setting the threshold amount for determining whether an account has been repeatedly withdrawn, the agencies said. To allow time for institutions to prepare, the agencies propose a compliance date at least 12 months after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register.
The agencies anticipate publishing the first set of adjustments as a final rule in the first quarter of 2019, with an effective date of April 1, 2020. The second set of adjustments would be published in the first quarter of 2024, with an effective date of April 1, 2025. Each subsequent set of adjustments, under the proposed rule, would have an effective date of April 1 of every fifth year after 2025.
In addition to the inflation adjustment, the agencies propose to implement in Reg CC those EFA Act amendments made by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA, S. 2155), which include extending coverage of the EFA Act to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.
The notice also provides an additional opportunity for public comment on certain funds-availability amendments in subpart B of Reg CC that the Fed Board published in 2011 regarding funds availability schedule provisions and associated definitions.
Proposed rule and reopening of comment period for existing proposed rule
RR: Fed, BCFP propose new indexing of funds-availability amounts in Reg CC; more (Nov. 20, 2018)