Agencies list rulemaking plans for months ahead; no overdraft fee action from consumer bureau

Spring rulemaking updates for federal financial regulators were announced this week, featuring a variety of proposed and final rules up for action over the next several months, including modernizing rules implementing the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

But one particular action is missing from the consolidated list published by the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) office of information and regulatory affairs (OIRA): a proposal on overdraft fees.

In early December, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) vowed to act on overdraft fees with the aim of restoring “meaningful competition.” However, in “key actions” for 2022 released two weeks later, the agency made no mention of overdraft fees. The actions listed this week repeat that omission.

Meanwhile, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which issued a notice of proposed rulemaking last year on overdraft programs, anticipates final action on a rule by March of next year, according to the agenda. The agency also plans to act on a final rule outlining procedures for credit union acquisitions of banks, perhaps as early as this summer.

NCUA, the bureau and other financial regulators this week listed several final rules they hope to promulgate (or put into effect) in the coming weeks or months. Among them:

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):

  • Small Business Lending Data Collection Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act
  • Adverse Information in Cases of Human Trafficking Under the Debt Bondage Repair Act

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC):

  • Community Reinvestment Act (also issuing: Federal Reserve, OCC)
  • Uniform Rules of Practice and Procedure
  • Removal of OTS Regulations Regarding Definitions for Regulations Affecting All State Savings Associations
  • Exemptions to Suspicious Activity Report Requirements
  • Tax Allocation Agreements
  • False Advertising, Misrepresentation of Insured Status, and Misuse of the FDIC’s Name or Logo (effective July 5)
  • Brokered Deposits; Correction

Federal Reserve:

  • Regulation BB – Community Reinvestment Act
  • Regulation LL – Savings and Loan Holding Companies; and Regulation MM – Mutual Holding Companies

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)

  • Combination Transactions With Non-Credit Unions; Credit Union Asset Acquisitions (bank purchases by credit unions)
  • Loans in Areas Having Special Flood Hazards; Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Flood Insurance
  • Capital Adequacy: Risk-Based Net Worth Requirement (Paycheck Protection Program)
  • Central Liquidity Facility
  • Temporary Regulatory Relief in Response to COVID-19 Prompt Corrective Action
  • Overdraft Policy
  • Bank Secrecy Act
  • Loans in Areas Having Special Flood Hazards; Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Private Flood Insurance
  • Asset Thresholds
  • Asset Threshold for Determining the Appropriate Supervisory Office
  • Succession Planning

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

  • Tax allocation agreements

Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions