FDIC and OCC mitigate Covid-19 assessment effects

Federal Issues Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Covid-19 SBA OCC FDIC Small Business Lending Assessments

On June 22, the FDIC and the OCC released separate rules aimed at mitigating the assessment effects of participation in Covid-19 programs. Specifically, the FDIC issued a final rule to limit the deposit insurance effects of participation in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (PPPLF), and Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF). Among other things, the final rule (i) removes the effect of PPP lending and borrowings under the PPPLF in calculating risk measures for an insured depository institution’s assessment rate; (ii) provides an offset to the total assessment amount for the increase in assessment base due to participation in the PPP and MMLF; and (iii) removes the effect of PPP and MMLF participation when classifying institutions as small, large, or highly complex for assessment purposes. The final rule is applicable as of April 1.

Under the OCC’s interim final rule (see also Bulletin 2020-63), the assessments due on September 30 for covered banks will be based on the December 31, 2019 Call Report for each institution, rather than the June 30 Call Report, in order to lower the assessments for supervised banks. However, if an institution’s June 30 Call Report is lower than the December 31, 2019 report, the OCC will use the lower of the two options. The interim final rule expires after the September 30 assessment collection.