This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed
issuance of rules and regulations. The
purpose of these notices is to give interested
persons an opportunity to participate in the
rule making prior to the adoption of the final
rules.
Proposed Rules Federal Register
52283
Vol. 75, No. 164
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency
12 CFR Part 3
[Docket ID: OCC–2010–0016]
RIN 1557–AD35
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
12 CFR Parts 208 and 225
[Regulations H and Y; Docket No. R–1391]
RIN 7100–AD53
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE
CORPORATION
12 CFR Part 325
RIN 3064–AD62
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Thrift Supervision
12 CFR Part 567
[Docket ID: OTS–2010–0027]
RIN 1550–AC43
Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking Regarding Alternatives to
the Use of Credit Ratings in the Risk-
Based Capital Guidelines of the
Federal Banking Agencies
AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency (OCC); Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System (Board);
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC); Office of Thrift Supervision
(OTS).
ACTION: Joint Advance Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking.
SUMMARY: The regulations of the Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency
(OCC), Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (FRB), Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC),
and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
(collectively, the agencies) include
various references to and requirements
based on the use of credit ratings issued
by nationally recognized statistical
rating organizations (NRSROs). Section
939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(the Act), enacted on July 21, 2010,
requires the agencies to review their
regulations that require the use of an
assessment of creditworthiness of a
security or money market instrument
and make reference to, or have
requirements regarding, credit ratings.
The agencies must then modify their
regulations to remove any reference to,
or requirements of reliance on, credit
ratings in such regulations and
substitute in their place other standards
of creditworthiness that the agencies
determine to be appropriate for such
regulations.
This advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPR) describes the areas
in the agencies’ risk-based capital
standards and Basel changes that could
affect those standards that make
reference to credit ratings and requests
comment on potential alternatives to the
use of credit ratings.
DATES: Comments on this ANPR must be
received by October 25, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
directed to:
OCC: Because paper mail in the
Washington, DC area and at the
Agencies is subject to delay,
commenters are encouraged to submit
comments by the Federal eRulemaking
Portal or e-mail, if possible. Please use
the title ‘‘Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking Regarding Alternatives to
the Use of Credit Ratings in the Risk-
Based Capital Guidelines of the Federal
Banking Agencies’’ to facilitate the
organization and distribution of the
comments. You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal—
‘‘regulations.gov’’: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov. Select ‘‘Document
Type’’ of ‘‘Proposed Rules,’’ and in
‘‘Enter Keyword or ID Box,’’ enter Docket
ID ‘‘OCC–2010–0016,’’ and click
‘‘Search.’’ On ‘‘View By Relevance’’ tab at
bottom of screen, in the ‘‘Agency’’
column, locate the [insert type of
rulemaking action] for OCC, in the
‘‘Action’’ column, click on ‘‘Submit a
Comment’’ or ‘‘Open Docket Folder’’ to
submit or view public comments and to
view supporting and related materials
for this rulemaking action.
• Click on the ‘‘Help’’ tab on the
Regulations.gov home page to get
information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for submitting or
viewing public comments, viewing
other supporting and related materials,
and viewing the docket after the close
of the comment period.
• E-mail:
regs.comments@occ.treas.gov.
• Mail: Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail
Stop 2–3, Washington, DC 20219.
• Fax: (202) 874–5274.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: 250 E
Street, SW., Mail Stop 2–3, Washington,
DC 20219.
Instructions: You must include ‘‘OCC’’
as the agency name and ‘‘Docket ID
OCC–2010–0016’’ in your comment. In
general, OCC will enter all comments
received into the docket and publish
them on the Regulations.gov Web site
without change, including any business
or personal information that you
provide such as name and address
information, e-mail addresses, or phone
numbers. Comments received, including
attachments and other supporting
materials, are part of the public record
and subject to public disclosure. Do not
enclose any information in your
comment or supporting materials that
you consider confidential or
inappropriate for public disclosure.
You may review comments and other
related materials that pertain to this
advance notice of proposed rulemaking
by any of the following methods:
• Viewing Comments Electronically:
Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Select
‘‘Document Type’’ of ‘‘Public
Submissions,’’ and in ‘‘Enter Keyword or
ID Box,’’ enter Docket ID ‘‘OCC–2010–
0016,’’ and click ‘‘Search.’’ Comments
will be listed under ‘‘View By
Relevance’’ tab at bottom of screen. If
comments from more than one agency
are listed, the ‘‘Agency’’ column will
indicate which comments were received
by the OCC.
• Viewing Comments Personally: You
may personally inspect and photocopy
comments at the OCC, 250 E Street,
SW., Washington, DC. For security
reasons, the OCC requires that visitors
make an appointment to inspect
comments. You may do so by calling
(202) 874–4700. Upon arrival, visitors
will be required to present valid
government-issued photo identification
and to submit to security screening in
VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:18 Aug 24, 2010 Jkt 220001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\25AUP1.SGM 25AUP1
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS
contains notices to the public of the proposed
issuance of rules and regulations. The
purpose of these notices is to give interested
persons an opportunity to participate in the
rule making prior to the adoption of the final
rules.
Proposed Rules Federal Register
52283
Vol. 75, No. 164
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency
12 CFR Part 3
[Docket ID: OCC–2010–0016]
RIN 1557–AD35
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
12 CFR Parts 208 and 225
[Regulations H and Y; Docket No. R–1391]
RIN 7100–AD53
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE
CORPORATION
12 CFR Part 325
RIN 3064–AD62
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Thrift Supervision
12 CFR Part 567
[Docket ID: OTS–2010–0027]
RIN 1550–AC43
Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking Regarding Alternatives to
the Use of Credit Ratings in the Risk-
Based Capital Guidelines of the
Federal Banking Agencies
AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency (OCC); Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System (Board);
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC); Office of Thrift Supervision
(OTS).
ACTION: Joint Advance Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking.
SUMMARY: The regulations of the Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency
(OCC), Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (FRB), Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC),
and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
(collectively, the agencies) include
various references to and requirements
based on the use of credit ratings issued
by nationally recognized statistical
rating organizations (NRSROs). Section
939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(the Act), enacted on July 21, 2010,
requires the agencies to review their
regulations that require the use of an
assessment of creditworthiness of a
security or money market instrument
and make reference to, or have
requirements regarding, credit ratings.
The agencies must then modify their
regulations to remove any reference to,
or requirements of reliance on, credit
ratings in such regulations and
substitute in their place other standards
of creditworthiness that the agencies
determine to be appropriate for such
regulations.
This advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPR) describes the areas
in the agencies’ risk-based capital
standards and Basel changes that could
affect those standards that make
reference to credit ratings and requests
comment on potential alternatives to the
use of credit ratings.
DATES: Comments on this ANPR must be
received by October 25, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
directed to:
OCC: Because paper mail in the
Washington, DC area and at the
Agencies is subject to delay,
commenters are encouraged to submit
comments by the Federal eRulemaking
Portal or e-mail, if possible. Please use
the title ‘‘Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking Regarding Alternatives to
the Use of Credit Ratings in the Risk-
Based Capital Guidelines of the Federal
Banking Agencies’’ to facilitate the
organization and distribution of the
comments. You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal—
‘‘regulations.gov’’: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov. Select ‘‘Document
Type’’ of ‘‘Proposed Rules,’’ and in
‘‘Enter Keyword or ID Box,’’ enter Docket
ID ‘‘OCC–2010–0016,’’ and click
‘‘Search.’’ On ‘‘View By Relevance’’ tab at
bottom of screen, in the ‘‘Agency’’
column, locate the [insert type of
rulemaking action] for OCC, in the
‘‘Action’’ column, click on ‘‘Submit a
Comment’’ or ‘‘Open Docket Folder’’ to
submit or view public comments and to
view supporting and related materials
for this rulemaking action.
• Click on the ‘‘Help’’ tab on the
Regulations.gov home page to get
information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for submitting or
viewing public comments, viewing
other supporting and related materials,
and viewing the docket after the close
of the comment period.
• E-mail:
regs.comments@occ.treas.gov.
• Mail: Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail
Stop 2–3, Washington, DC 20219.
• Fax: (202) 874–5274.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: 250 E
Street, SW., Mail Stop 2–3, Washington,
DC 20219.
Instructions: You must include ‘‘OCC’’
as the agency name and ‘‘Docket ID
OCC–2010–0016’’ in your comment. In
general, OCC will enter all comments
received into the docket and publish
them on the Regulations.gov Web site
without change, including any business
or personal information that you
provide such as name and address
information, e-mail addresses, or phone
numbers. Comments received, including
attachments and other supporting
materials, are part of the public record
and subject to public disclosure. Do not
enclose any information in your
comment or supporting materials that
you consider confidential or
inappropriate for public disclosure.
You may review comments and other
related materials that pertain to this
advance notice of proposed rulemaking
by any of the following methods:
• Viewing Comments Electronically:
Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Select
‘‘Document Type’’ of ‘‘Public
Submissions,’’ and in ‘‘Enter Keyword or
ID Box,’’ enter Docket ID ‘‘OCC–2010–
0016,’’ and click ‘‘Search.’’ Comments
will be listed under ‘‘View By
Relevance’’ tab at bottom of screen. If
comments from more than one agency
are listed, the ‘‘Agency’’ column will
indicate which comments were received
by the OCC.
• Viewing Comments Personally: You
may personally inspect and photocopy
comments at the OCC, 250 E Street,
SW., Washington, DC. For security
reasons, the OCC requires that visitors
make an appointment to inspect
comments. You may do so by calling
(202) 874–4700. Upon arrival, visitors
will be required to present valid
government-issued photo identification
and to submit to security screening in
VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:18 Aug 24, 2010 Jkt 220001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\25AUP1.SGM 25AUP1
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS
52284 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 25, 2010 / Proposed Rules
1 A nationally recognized statistical rating
organization (NRSRO) is an entity registered with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
as an NRSRO under section 15E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. See 15 U.S.C. 78o–7, as
implemented by 17 CFR 240.17g–1. On September
29, 2006, the President signed the Credit Rating
Agency Reform Act of 2006 (‘‘Reform Act’’) (Pub. L.
109–291) into law. The Reform Act requires a credit
rating agency that wants to represent itself as an
NRSRO to register with the SEC.
2 Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376, section
939A (July 21, 2010). Although the agencies have
conducted a broad review of their risk-based capital
regulations to identify all references to credit
ratings and consider alternatives, the agencies note
that section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Act limits the
required review of agency regulations to those
pertaining to a creditworthiness assessment of a
security or money market instrument.
3 Id.
order to inspect and photocopy
comments.
• Docket: You may also view or
request available background
documents and project summaries using
the methods described above.
Board: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. R–1391, by any
of the following methods:
• Agency Web site: http://
www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments at
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• E-mail:
regs.comments@federalreserve.gov.
Include docket number in the subject
line of the message.
• FAX: (202) 452–3819 or (202) 452–
3102.
• Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary,
Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, 20th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20551.
All public comments are available
from the Board’s Web site at http://
www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/
foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted,
unless modified for technical reasons.
Accordingly, your comments will not be
edited to remove any identifying or
contact information. Public comments
may also be viewed electronically or in
paper form in Room MP–500 of the
Board’s Martin Building (20th and C
Street, NW.) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
on weekdays.
FDIC: You may submit comments on
the ANPR, by any of the following
methods:
• Agency Web site: http://
www.FDIC.gov/regulations/laws/
federal/notices.html. Follow
instructions for submitting comments
on the Agency Web site.
• E-mail: Comments@FDIC.gov.
Include RIN # on the subject line of the
message.
• Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive
Secretary, Attention: Comments, Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429.
• Hand Delivery: Comments may be
hand delivered to the guard station at
the rear of the 550 17th Street Building
(located on F Street) on business days
between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Instructions: All comments received
will be posted generally without change
to http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/
federal/propose.html, including any
personal information provided.
OTS: You may submit comments,
identified by OTS–2010–0027, by any of
the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
‘‘Regulations.gov’’: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov and follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Regulation Comments, Chief
Counsel’s Office, Office of Thrift
Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20552, Attention: OTS–
2010–0027.
• Facsimile: (202) 906–6518.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard’s
Desk, East Lobby Entrance, 1700 G
Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
business days, Attention: Regulation
Comments, Chief Counsel’s Office,
Attention: OTS–2010–0027.
• Instructions: All submissions
received must include the agency name
and docket number for this rulemaking.
All comments received will be posted
without change, including any personal
information provided. Comments,
including attachments and other
supporting materials received are part of
the public record and subject to public
disclosure. Do not enclose any
information in your comment or
supporting materials that you consider
confidential or inappropriate for public
disclosure.
• Viewing Comments Electronically:
Go to http://www.regulations.gov and
follow the instructions for reading
comments.
• Viewing Comments On-Site: You
may inspect comments at the Public
Reading Room, 1700 G Street, NW., by
appointment. To make an appointment
for access, call (202) 906–5922, send an
e-mail to public.info@ots.treas.gov, or
send a facsimile transmission to (202)
906–6518. (Prior notice identifying the
materials you will be requesting will
assist us in serving you.) We schedule
appointments on business days between
10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In most cases,
appointments will be available the next
business day following the date we
receive a request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
OCC: Mark Ginsberg, Risk Expert,
Capital Policy Division, (202) 874–5070;
or Carl Kaminski, Senior Attorney,
Legislative and Regulatory Activities
Division, (202) 874–5090, Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E.
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.
Board: Thomas Boemio, Senior
Project Manager, (202) 452–2982;
William Treacy, Advisor, (202) 452–
3859, Christopher Powell, Financial
Analyst, (202) 912–4353, Division of
Banking Supervision and Regulation; or
Benjamin McDonough, Counsel, (202)
452–2036, or April Snyder, Counsel,
(202) 452–3099; Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System, 20th and C
Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551.
FDIC: Bobby Bean, Chief, (202) 898–
6705; Ryan Billingsley, Senior Policy
Analyst, (202) 898–3797, Policy Section,
Division of Supervision and Consumer
Protection; or Mark Handzlik, Counsel,
(202) 898–3990, or Michael B. Phillips,
Counsel, (202) 898–3581, Supervision
and Legislation Branch, Legal Division,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
550 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC
20429.
OTS: Sonja White, Director, Capital
Policy, (202) 906–7857, Teresa A. Scott,
Senior Policy Analyst, Capital Policy,
(202) 906–6478, or Marvin Shaw, Senior
Attorney, Regulations and Legislation
Division, (202) 906–6639, Office of
Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20552.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The agencies’ regulations and capital
standards include various references to
and regulatory requirements based on
the use of credit ratings issued by
NRSROs.1 Section 939A of the Act
requires each Federal agency to review
‘‘(1) any regulation issued by such
agency that requires the use of an
assessment of the creditworthiness of a
security or money market instrument;
and (2) any references to or
requirements in such regulations
regarding credit ratings.’’ 2 Each Federal
agency must then ‘‘modify any such
regulations identified by the review
* * * to remove any reference to or
requirement of reliance on credit ratings
and to substitute in such regulations
such standard of creditworthiness as
each respective agency shall determine
as appropriate for such regulations.’’ In
developing substitute standards of
creditworthiness, an agency ‘‘shall seek
to establish, to the extent feasible,
uniform standards of creditworthiness’’
for use by the agency, taking into
account the entities it regulates that
would be subject to such standards.3
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srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS
1 A nationally recognized statistical rating
organization (NRSRO) is an entity registered with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
as an NRSRO under section 15E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. See 15 U.S.C. 78o–7, as
implemented by 17 CFR 240.17g–1. On September
29, 2006, the President signed the Credit Rating
Agency Reform Act of 2006 (‘‘Reform Act’’) (Pub. L.
109–291) into law. The Reform Act requires a credit
rating agency that wants to represent itself as an
NRSRO to register with the SEC.
2 Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376, section
939A (July 21, 2010). Although the agencies have
conducted a broad review of their risk-based capital
regulations to identify all references to credit
ratings and consider alternatives, the agencies note
that section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Act limits the
required review of agency regulations to those
pertaining to a creditworthiness assessment of a
security or money market instrument.
3 Id.
order to inspect and photocopy
comments.
• Docket: You may also view or
request available background
documents and project summaries using
the methods described above.
Board: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. R–1391, by any
of the following methods:
• Agency Web site: http://
www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments at
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• E-mail:
regs.comments@federalreserve.gov.
Include docket number in the subject
line of the message.
• FAX: (202) 452–3819 or (202) 452–
3102.
• Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary,
Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, 20th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20551.
All public comments are available
from the Board’s Web site at http://
www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/
foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted,
unless modified for technical reasons.
Accordingly, your comments will not be
edited to remove any identifying or
contact information. Public comments
may also be viewed electronically or in
paper form in Room MP–500 of the
Board’s Martin Building (20th and C
Street, NW.) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
on weekdays.
FDIC: You may submit comments on
the ANPR, by any of the following
methods:
• Agency Web site: http://
www.FDIC.gov/regulations/laws/
federal/notices.html. Follow
instructions for submitting comments
on the Agency Web site.
• E-mail: Comments@FDIC.gov.
Include RIN # on the subject line of the
message.
• Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive
Secretary, Attention: Comments, Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429.
• Hand Delivery: Comments may be
hand delivered to the guard station at
the rear of the 550 17th Street Building
(located on F Street) on business days
between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Instructions: All comments received
will be posted generally without change
to http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/
federal/propose.html, including any
personal information provided.
OTS: You may submit comments,
identified by OTS–2010–0027, by any of
the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
‘‘Regulations.gov’’: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov and follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Regulation Comments, Chief
Counsel’s Office, Office of Thrift
Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20552, Attention: OTS–
2010–0027.
• Facsimile: (202) 906–6518.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard’s
Desk, East Lobby Entrance, 1700 G
Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
business days, Attention: Regulation
Comments, Chief Counsel’s Office,
Attention: OTS–2010–0027.
• Instructions: All submissions
received must include the agency name
and docket number for this rulemaking.
All comments received will be posted
without change, including any personal
information provided. Comments,
including attachments and other
supporting materials received are part of
the public record and subject to public
disclosure. Do not enclose any
information in your comment or
supporting materials that you consider
confidential or inappropriate for public
disclosure.
• Viewing Comments Electronically:
Go to http://www.regulations.gov and
follow the instructions for reading
comments.
• Viewing Comments On-Site: You
may inspect comments at the Public
Reading Room, 1700 G Street, NW., by
appointment. To make an appointment
for access, call (202) 906–5922, send an
e-mail to public.info@ots.treas.gov, or
send a facsimile transmission to (202)
906–6518. (Prior notice identifying the
materials you will be requesting will
assist us in serving you.) We schedule
appointments on business days between
10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In most cases,
appointments will be available the next
business day following the date we
receive a request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
OCC: Mark Ginsberg, Risk Expert,
Capital Policy Division, (202) 874–5070;
or Carl Kaminski, Senior Attorney,
Legislative and Regulatory Activities
Division, (202) 874–5090, Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E.
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219.
Board: Thomas Boemio, Senior
Project Manager, (202) 452–2982;
William Treacy, Advisor, (202) 452–
3859, Christopher Powell, Financial
Analyst, (202) 912–4353, Division of
Banking Supervision and Regulation; or
Benjamin McDonough, Counsel, (202)
452–2036, or April Snyder, Counsel,
(202) 452–3099; Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System, 20th and C
Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551.
FDIC: Bobby Bean, Chief, (202) 898–
6705; Ryan Billingsley, Senior Policy
Analyst, (202) 898–3797, Policy Section,
Division of Supervision and Consumer
Protection; or Mark Handzlik, Counsel,
(202) 898–3990, or Michael B. Phillips,
Counsel, (202) 898–3581, Supervision
and Legislation Branch, Legal Division,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
550 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC
20429.
OTS: Sonja White, Director, Capital
Policy, (202) 906–7857, Teresa A. Scott,
Senior Policy Analyst, Capital Policy,
(202) 906–6478, or Marvin Shaw, Senior
Attorney, Regulations and Legislation
Division, (202) 906–6639, Office of
Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20552.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The agencies’ regulations and capital
standards include various references to
and regulatory requirements based on
the use of credit ratings issued by
NRSROs.1 Section 939A of the Act
requires each Federal agency to review
‘‘(1) any regulation issued by such
agency that requires the use of an
assessment of the creditworthiness of a
security or money market instrument;
and (2) any references to or
requirements in such regulations
regarding credit ratings.’’ 2 Each Federal
agency must then ‘‘modify any such
regulations identified by the review
* * * to remove any reference to or
requirement of reliance on credit ratings
and to substitute in such regulations
such standard of creditworthiness as
each respective agency shall determine
as appropriate for such regulations.’’ In
developing substitute standards of
creditworthiness, an agency ‘‘shall seek
to establish, to the extent feasible,
uniform standards of creditworthiness’’
for use by the agency, taking into
account the entities it regulates that
would be subject to such standards.3
VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:18 Aug 24, 2010 Jkt 220001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\25AUP1.SGM 25AUP1
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS