Banking agencies open mandated long-term review of regulations; plan public outreach meetings

A review of regulations covering the categories of applications and reporting, powers and activities, and international operations was announced Tuesday by the three federal banking agencies, with comments to be collected for 90 days.

The agencies also plan to hold public meetings on their regulations, they said.

The review is mandated by the 1996 Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (EGRPRA), which requires the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), the coordinating group for all federal financial institution regulators, and the federal bank regulatory agencies to review their regulations every 10 years to identify any outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements for their supervised institutions.

According to the agencies, they divided their regulations into 12 categories for review, with the first three announced Tuesday. The agencies said they will seek comment over the next two years on the regulations in the remaining categories and will ask the public to identify regulations they believe are outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome.

The agencies said they also plan to hold public outreach meetings where interested parties may comment on applicable regulatory requirements directly to the agencies. Information about the meetings will be publicized as details are finalized, the agencies said.

Federal bank regulatory agencies seek comment on interagency effort to reduce regulatory burden