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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 241 / Monday, December 20, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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Division, 202 8987424, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Description of the Joint Final Rule The Agencies CRA regulations establish CRA performance standards for small and intermediate small banks.
The CRA regulations define small and intermediate small banks by reference to asset-size criteria expressed in dollar amounts, and they further require the Agencies to publish annual adjustments to these dollar figures based on the yearto-year change in the average of the CPI
W, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million. 12 CFR
228.12u2 and 345.12u2. This adjustment formula was first adopted for CRA purposes by the Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency OCC, and the FDIC on August 2, 2005, effective September 1, 2005. 70 FR 44256 Aug. 2, 2005. At that time, the Agencies noted that the CPIW is also used in connection with other federal laws, such as the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. See 12 U.S.C.
2808; 12 CFR 1003.2. On March 22, 2007, and effective July 1, 2007, the former Office of Thrift Supervision OTS, the agency then responsible for regulating savings associations, adopted an annual adjustment formula consistent with that of the other federal banking agencies in its CRA rule previously set forth at 12 CFR part 563e.
72 FR 13429 Mar. 22, 2007.
Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Dodd-Frank Act,1 effective July 21, 2011, CRA rulemaking authority for federal and state savings associations was transferred from the OTS to the OCC, and the OCC subsequently republished, at 12 CFR part 195, the CRA regulations applicable to those institutions.2 In addition, the DoddFrank Act transferred responsibility for supervision of savings and loan holding companies and their non-depository subsidiaries from the OTS to the Board, and the Board subsequently amended its CRA regulation to reflect this transfer of supervisory authority.3
The OCC has determined that it will adjust the asset-size criteria for institutions that are subject to OCCissued CRA regulations, including national banks and federal and state 1 Public
Law 111203, 124 Stat. 1376 2010.
OCC interim final rule, 76 FR 48950 Aug.
9, 2011.
3 See Board interim final rule, 76 FR 56508 Sept.
13, 2011.
2 See
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savings associations, by a means separate from this rulemaking process.
The threshold for small banks was revised most recently in December 2020
and became effective January 1, 2021. 85
FR 83747 Dec. 23, 2020. The current CRA regulations provide that banks that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.322 billion are small banks.
Small banks with assets of at least $330
million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.322 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years are intermediate small banks. 12 CFR
228.12u1 and 345.12u1. This joint final rule revises these thresholds.
During the 12-month period ending November 2021, the CPIW increased by 4.73 percent. As a result, the Agencies are revising 12 CFR
228.12u1 and 345.12u1 to make this annual adjustment. Beginning January 1, 2022, banks that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.384 billion are small banks. Small banks with assets of at least $346
million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.384 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years are intermediate small banks. The Agencies also publish current and historical assetsize thresholds on the website of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council at http
www.ffiec.gov/cra/.
Administrative Procedure Act and Effective Date Under 5 U.S.C. 553bB of the Administrative Procedure Act APA, an agency may, for good cause, find and incorporate the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefore in the rules issued that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.
The amendments to the regulations to adjust the asset-size thresholds for small and intermediate small banks result from the application of a formula established by a provision in the respective CRA regulations that the Agencies previously published for comment. See 70 FR 12148 Mar. 11, 2005, 70 FR 44256 Aug. 2, 2005, 71
FR 67826 Nov. 24, 2006, and 72 FR
13429 Mar. 22, 2007. As a result, 228.12u1 and 345.12u1 of the Agencies respective CRA regulations are amended by adjusting the asset-size thresholds as provided for in 228.12u2 and 345.12u2.
Accordingly, the Agencies rules provide no discretion as to the
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computation or timing of the revisions to the asset-size criteria. For this reason, the Agencies have determined that publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking and providing opportunity for public comment are unnecessary.
The effective date of this joint final rule is January 1, 2022. Under 5 U.S.C.
553d3 of the APA, the required publication or service of a substantive rule shall be made not less than 30 days before its effective date, except, among other things, as provided by the agency for good cause found and published with the rule. Because this rule adjusts asset-size thresholds consistent with the procedural requirements of the CRA
rules, the Agencies conclude that it is not substantive within the meaning of the APAs delayed effective date provision. Moreover, the Agencies find that there is good cause for dispensing with the delayed effective date requirement, even if it applied, because their current rules already provide notice that the small and intermediate small asset-size thresholds will be adjusted as of December 31 based on 12month data as of the end of November each year.
Regulatory Flexibility Act The Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA
does not apply to a rulemaking when a general notice of proposed rulemaking is not required. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
As noted previously, the Agencies have determined that it is unnecessary to publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking for this joint final rule.
Accordingly, the RFAs requirements relating to an initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis do not apply.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
44 U.S.C. 35013521 states that no agency may conduct or sponsor, nor is the respondent required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget OMB control number. The Agencies have determined that this final rule does not create any new, or revise any existing, collections of information pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Consequently, no information collection request will be submitted to the OMB
for review.
Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994
Section 302 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 RCDRIA 12
U.S.C. 4802 requires that each Federal banking agency, in determining the effective date and administrative
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