Federal Banking Regulators Issue Proposal to Simplify Capital Requirements to Provide Regulatory Relief to Community Banks

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Basel Federal Reserve FDIC OCC Mortgages Community Banks Bank Regulatory

On August 22, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC issued a proposed rule that capital requirements set to take effect in January 2018 would be suspended under a proposed rule for banking organizations not subject to the advanced approaches capital rules, such as community and midsized banks— generally those with less than $250 billion in total assets and fewer than $10 billion in foreign exposure. The federal banking regulators proposed the suspension as they develop a proposal that would simplify capital requirements to reduce regulatory burden. Banks subject to the advance approaches capital rules will still be required to comply with the capital rule requirements taking effect January 1, 2018. The proposal would pause the fully phased-in Basel III requirements regarding the treatment of mortgage servicing assets, certain deferred tax assets, investments in the capital instruments of unconsolidated financial institutions, and minority interests (see FDIC Financial Institution Letter FIL-34-2017). According to a press release issued by the FDIC, “the transitional treatment for those items is scheduled to be replaced with a different treatment on January 1, 2018.” FDIC Vice Chairman Thomas M. Hoenig issued a statement supporting the proposal but pushed for the need to provide additional relief for community banks such as predicating relief based on banking activities and tangible equity rather than asset size.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.