In a Joint Report submitted to Congress, member agencies of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council ("FFIEC") reviewed rules affecting financial institutions and outlined interagency and agency actions to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens. The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act ("EGRPRA") requires federal banking agency members of the FFIEC to conduct such a review at least once every ten years.
The Report focused on the effect of regulations on smaller institutions. The participating agencies, which included the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), the FDIC and the National Credit Union Administration, described several joint initiatives, including actions taken to:
- simplify regulatory capital rules for community banks and savings associations;
- simplify certain regulatory reporting requirements with regard to condition and income (also known as "Call Reports"); and
- increase the number of institutions eligible for less frequent examination cycles.
The Report also described actions taken by each agency to update rules, eliminate unnecessary requirements, and streamline supervisory procedures. In drafting the Report, the agencies considered more than 230 written and 130 oral comments from "financial institutions, trade associations, and consumer and community groups, as well as numerous comments obtained at the outreach meetings."
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