FED Extends Information Collections Under BHC and Federal Reserve Acts

FED published, on October 18, 2019, a notice requesting public comment on the extension, without revision, of the filings related to GLB Act information collection. The comment period for this notice expired on December 17, 2019. FED did not receive any comments. The GLB Act amendments to the Bank Holding Company Act and the Federal Reserve Act allow a bank holding company that elects to become a financial holding company and a savings and loan holding company or foreign banking organization that elects to be treated as a financial holding company, to engage in a broad range of otherwise impermissible financial activities, including securities underwriting, insurance sales and underwriting, and merchant banking. The particular reporting and recordkeeping requirements being extended for three years via this Federal Register notice are:

• Declarations to Become a Financial Holding Company (FR 4010)
• Requests for Determinations and Interpretations Regarding Activities Financial in Nature (FR 4011)
• Notices of Failure to Meet Capital or Management Requirements (FR 4012)
• Notices by State Member Banks to Invest in Financial Subsidiaries (FR 4017)
• Regulatory Relief Requests Associated with Merchant Banking Activities (FR 4019)
• Recordkeeping Requirements Associated with Merchant Banking Activities (FR 4023)

Both the GLB Act and the implementing regulations of FED impose certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with operating as a financial holding company. The Bank Holding Company Act provides that a company is eligible for financial holding company status only if it and all of its subsidiary depository institutions are well-managed and well-capitalized. Regulations Y and LL of FED require a financial holding company that falls out of compliance with these requirements to notify FED of its non-compliance. Regulation Y provides that the FR 4012 notice must identify the non-compliant banking entity and the area of non-compliance. Regulation Y does not prescribe a format for such notices. A financial holding company must file an FR 4012 notice within 15 calendar days of becoming aware of failure to meet capital or management requirements. A request for an extension of the 45-day period in which the financial holding company must execute an agreement acceptable to FED must include an explanation of why an extension is necessary. 

Related Links 

• Federal Register Notice
• OMB Statement (PDF)

Keywords: Americas, US, Banking, FR 4012, Regulation Y, BHC Act, Information Collection, Regulation II, Capital Requirements, Financial Holding Companies, Federal Reserve Act, FED