Prudential Regulators Issue Joint Agreement On Classification And Appraisal Of Securities Held By Financial Institutions

FDIC Federal Reserve OCC Bank Compliance Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

On October 29, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board, and the OCC issued a joint agreement to update and revise the 2004 Uniform Agreement on the Classification of Assets and Appraisal of Securities Held by Banks and Thrifts. The updated agreement reiterates the importance of a robust investment analysis process and the agencies' longstanding asset classification definitions. It also replaces references to credit ratings with alternative standards of creditworthiness consistent with sections 939 and 939A of the Dodd-Frank Act, which directed the agencies to remove any reference to or requirement of reliance on credit ratings in the regulations and replace them with appropriate standards of creditworthiness. The agencies adopted those new standards in 2012 (see, e.g., the OCC’s final rule). The joint agreement provides examples to demonstrate the appropriate application of the new standards to the classification of securities.