On December 19, “[t]he Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted final rules to allow reporting companies to rely on the Regulation A exemption from registration for their securities offerings.” Release.
Posts by: Editorial Team
Rating Agency Developments
FHA Announces Streamlined Claim Payment Requirements in Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program
On October 22, the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA“) issued “revised requirements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (“HECM“) servicers when they assign FHA-insured reverse mortgages to the agency for claim payment.” Release.
Rating Agency Developments
On August 23, 2018, Fitch issued a report entitled: Availability-Based Projects Rating Criteria. Release.
OCC Seeks Comments on Modernizing Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
On August 28, 2018, the OCC announced it was seeking comments on ways to improve the regulations relating to the Community Reinvestment Act. Comments are allowed for 75 days after the request is published in the Federal Register and may affect “the development of more specific policy proposals or future rulemakings.” Press Release.
DSIO Issues Time-Limited, Conditional No-Action Relief for Excluding Certain Loan-Related Swaps from Counting toward the Swap Dealer Registration De Minimis Threshold
On August 28, 2018, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“DSIO“) announced “conditional, time-limited no-action relief to a banking entity for not counting certain loan-related swaps towards its swap dealer de minimis threshold (under paragraph (4) of the “swap dealer” definition in Regulation 1.3).” The specific conditions are provided in the letter and apply to specific swaps between “the date of the no-action relief through December 31, 2018.” Press Release.
Federal Reserve Board Issues Interim Final Rule Expanding the Applicability of the Board’s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement
On August 28, 2018, the Federal Reserve Board published “an interim final rule expanding the applicability of the Board’s small bank holding company policy statement[.]” The interim final rule affects the rules governing “the transfer of ownership of small community banks[.]” Once published in the Federal Register, the interim final rule will be in effect and comments will be allowed for 30 days. Press Release.
CFTC Unanimously Approves a Proposal to Amend the Clearing Requirement to Help End-Users
On August 23, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC“) unanimously proposed a rule that “exempt[s] from the clearing requirement swaps entered into by bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies with consolidated assets of $10 billion or less, and community development financial institutions that meet certain conditions.” This change is consistent with prior no-action letters. Comments are allowed for 60 days following the proposed rule’s publishing in the Federal Register. Press Release.
Treasury Issues Proposed Rule on Charitable Contributions and State and Local Tax Credits
On August 23, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury proposed a “rule on the federal income tax treatment of payments and property transfers under state and local tax credit programs [that] would prevent charitable contributions from being used to circumvent the new limitation on state and local tax deductions.” The proposed rule is not expected to affect the majority of taxpayers (because of the significant increase to the standard deduction under the new federal tax system). Press Release.
Agencies Issue Interim Final Rules Expanding Examination Cycles for Qualifying Small Banks and U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks
On August 23, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve Board“), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC“) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC“) “issued interim final rules to expand the number of insured depository institutions and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks eligible for an 18-month on-site examination cycle.” Once the interim final rules are published in the Federal Register, there will be 60 days available to provide comments. Federal Reserve Board Press Release. FDIC Press Release. OCC Press Release.