Bank Regulatory News
July 1998

July 31, 1998 - OCC Encourages National Banks to Work with Customers Affected By Droughts in Texas, Oklahoma and Florida
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has outlined measures to assist areas affected by the droughts in Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. The OCC regulates national banks.

July 29, 1998 - FDIC MAKES PUBLIC JUNE 1998 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS;
NO ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today released a list of orders of
administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in June.

July 28, 1998 - Acting Comptroller Urges Concerted Response on Privacy Issues From Congress, Regulatory Agencies and the Financial Services Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Acting Comptroller of the Currency Julie L. Williams told a House panel today that the convergence of two great trends -- financial services consolidation and the
information revolution -- present new challenges to meet the public's legitimate privacy concerns that require a concerted response from Congress, the regulatory agencies and the nation's
financial institutions.

July 27, 1998 - The Federal Reserve Board today made final an interim rule amending Regulation DD, Truth in Savings, regarding the disclosure of the annual percentage yield (APY). The rule
permits institutions to disclose an APY equal to the contract interest rate for certain time accounts; the rule applies only to time accounts with maturities greater than one year that do not compound but that require interest distributions at least annually.

July 25, 1998 - FDIC APPROVES ASSUMPTION OF INSURED DEPOSITS OF BESTBANK, BOULDER, COLORADO
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has approved the assumption of the insured
deposits of BestBank, Boulder, Colorado, by The Pueblo Bank and Trust Company, Pueblo,
Colorado. The former office of BestBank will reopen on Monday, July 27, 1998, as a branch of
Pueblo Bank and Trust.

July 24, 1998 - OCC Expresses Concerns About Changing  Derivatives Activity Regulatory Structure
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told a House banking panel today that it does "not see a need for significant changes to the regulation of derivatives markets."

July 24, 1998 - OCC Encourages National Banks to Work with Customers Affected By Drought in Texas
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has outlined measures to assist areas affected by the drought in Texas.

July 23, 1998 - NATIONWIDE YEAR 2000 SEMINARS
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in conjunction with other federal banking regulators
and various state and local banking associations, is presenting one-day seminars focusing on
Year 2000 date change issues. The seminars, presented for bankers, cover a variety of Year
2000 topics, with special emphasis on testing for Year 2000 readiness and undertaking
contingency planning in keeping with Y2K guidance provided by the FDIC and the Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).

July 22, 1998 - OCC's New Large Bank Supervision Handbook Will Guide Exams of Institutions Resulting From Mega-Mergers
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new version of the OCC's Large Bank Supervision handbook issued today will help examiners develop more detailed and meaningful risk profiles of the
nation's biggest national banks.

July 17, 1996 - OCC RELEASES CRA EVALUATIONS FOR 112 NATIONAL BANKS
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today released a list of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations that became public during the period of June 15 through July 14.

July 20, 1998 - OCC ANNOUNCES TWO NEW ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
WASHINGTON, DC --The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today announced two enforcement actions taken against a former banker and a national bank. The two actions released today include one formal agreement and one removal.

July 17, 1998 - Texas Banking Commissioner Catherine A. Ghiglieri and Tim Arnoult, President of NationsBank Southwest today confirmed the ongoing commitment NationsBank has to Texas following the merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica.

July 16, 1998 - ELECTRONIC FINANCIAL SERVICES AND CONSUMER COMPLIANCE - Interagency Guidance on Electronic Financial Services and Consumer
Compliance
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has issued the attached
Guidance on Electronic Financial Services and Consumer Compliance. The guidance provides
federally insured depository institutions with information on federal consumer protection laws and
regulations, and their application to electronic financial service operations. It also seeks to
promote compliance with the relevant consumer protection laws and regulations.

July 16, 1998 - Acting Comptroller Williams Supports Allowing Payment of Interest on Business Checking Accounts
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Julie L. Williams today voiced strong support for legislation that would repeal prohibitions that prevent depository institutions from offering interest-bearing NOW accounts to businesses and from paying interest on demand deposits.  These government controls on the price banks pay for business deposits "are outdated in the modern financial
services environment and should be removed," she said.

July 16, 1998 - NONDEPOSIT INVESTMENT PRODUCTS - Nondeposit Investment Products and Recordkeeping Requirements Questions and Answers
The FDIC’s Division of Supervision has prepared and distributed the attached “Nondeposit
Investment Products (NDIP) and Recordkeeping Requirements Questions and Answers”
memorandum to provide supplementary guidance to our examiners on the examination of retail
sales of nondeposit investment products.

July 16, 1998 - OCC Advises Industry to Explore Creative Approaches  to Meeting Minority Small Businesses' Banking Needs - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today issued Advisory Letter 98-9 -- Access to Financing for Minority Small Businesses -- to the national banking industry, identifying some of the approaches national banks have used to successfully meet the financial needs of the minority small business community.

July 13, 1998 - Acting Comptroller of the Currency Warns of Continued Slide in Bank Lending Practices - Acting Comptroller of the Currency Julie L. Williams said today an agency survey shows that bank lending practices have continued to deteriorate and announced a new series of
initiatives aimed at halting the slide in credit standards.

July 9, 1998 - UNIFORM RETAIL CREDIT CLASSIFICATION POLICY - FFIEC Seeks Comment on "Uniform Retail Credit Classification Policy"
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is seeking comment on the
attached “Uniform Retail Credit Classification Policy,” a guide for banks and bank regulators in
classifying a consumer loan that is not being repaid under its original loan terms. The proposal
updates the classification policy for open-end and closed-end credit issued in 1980.

July 8, 1998 - Year 2000 Phase II Workprogram
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Task Force on
Supervision today issued an updated work program for conducting Year 2000 examinations in all
Federally supervised banks, savings associations and credit unions, as well as service providers and certain software vendors supporting these financial institutions (Attachment: Year 2000 Phase II Workprogram). The work program is designed for use during a second round of examinations
beginning later this summer. The examination procedures are risk focused and will help the examiner to determine if the institution has addressed the Year 2000 problems inherent in many computer software, hardware, and environmental systems.

July 8, 1998 -  FDIC STRATEGIC PLAN - FDIC Seeks Comment on Draft 1998-2003 Strategic Plan
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is seeking your comments on its draft
strategic plan covering the six-year period 1998 through 2003. We believe the institutions we
insure are interested in our goals and the strategies that we will use to accomplish them.

July 8, 1998 - UNIFORM RATING SYSTEM FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - FFIEC Seeks Comment on Proposed Uniform Rating System for Information Technology
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (FFIEC) Task Force on Supervision
has proposed the attached revisions to the Uniform Interagency Rating System for Data
Processing Operations, including changing the name to Uniform Rating System for Information
Technology (URSIT). The FFIEC is seeking comments on the proposal, which are due by
August 10, 1998.

July 8, 1998 - YEAR 2000 ASSESSMENT RATING - Confidentiality of Year 2000 Assessment Rating
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), in partnership with state banking
regulators, recently completed initial on-site Year 2000 assessments of all state non-member
banks. A number of insured financial institutions have asked whether they may disclose to the
public the rating assigned to their institution. FDIC regulations strictly prohibit such a disclosure.

July 7, 1998 - FDIC ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 1998 FINANCIAL RESULTS
The Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) reported $267 million in net income for the first quarter of
1998, according to an FDIC management report on the Corporation's unaudited financial
statements. The Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) had net income of $116 million for
the quarter.

July 7, 1998 - FDIC PROPOSES TO SIMPLIFY THE INSURANCE RULES FOR JOINT
ACCOUNTS AND PAYABLE-ON-DEATH ACCOUNTS
The FDIC Board of Directors today proposed to simplify the agency's deposit insurance rules
governing the coverage of two common types of accounts -- joint accounts and
"payable-on-death" accounts (also known as POD accounts or revocable trust accounts). The
FDIC is considering the changes because the current rules are frequently misunderstood by both
consumers and bankers. That confusion can create losses for depositors if their insured institution
fails and they mistakenly believed their funds were within the $100,000 insurance limits.

July 7, 1998 - FDIC APPROVES SPEEDIER APPLICATION PROCEDURES FOR
WELL-MANAGED, WELL-CAPITALIZED INSTITUTIONS
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors voted today to expedite
the processing of applications filed by well-managed, well-capitalized institutions. The Board
also voted to simplify and streamline its application rules.

July 7, 1998 - The Federal Reserve Board today announced adoption of a final rule that revises
Regulation H. This rule removes outdated material, updates and reorganizes the remaining
material, and incorporates provisions designed to reduce burden on state member banks.
The Board also is rescinding Regulation P, which is no longer necessary since its provisions
have been incorporated into Regulation H. Regulation P requires each bank to adopt
appropriate security procedures.

July 6, 1998 - FFIEC Issues Customer Brochure on Year 2000
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued
a customer brochure on the Year 2000 date change. The brochure, entitled The Year 2000 Date
Change, answers eight commonly asked questions concerning the effect of the Year 2000 date
change. The questions cover the effect of the Year 2000 date change on federal deposit insurance
coverage, steps financial institutions and the regulatory agencies are taking to minimize the effect of
the Year 2000 date change, and steps customers should take to prepare for the Year 2000.

July 2, 1998 - UPCOMING YEAR 2000 ASSESSMENTS AND REVISED WORKPROGRAM - Ongoing Year 2000 Readiness Supervisory Review Initiatives
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), in partnership with state banking
authorities, completed its first round of on-site Year 2000 assessments on May 29, 1998. The
first phase of the supervisory process focused primarily on the Year 2000 project management
awareness and assessment phases. Most financial institutions, service providers and software
vendors are now in the process of completing the renovation phase and initiating validation.
Testing is considered the most critical phase of the Year 2000 project and, because of its
importance, the FDIC will complete a second round of Year 2000 on-site reviews.

July 1, 1998 - YEAR 2000 DOCUMENTS - Electronic Subscription List for Year 2000-Related Documents
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has announced a new electronic
subscription list for Year 2000-related documents.  By subscribing to "FDIC-Y2K," you will automatically receive via the Internet Y2K-related documents as soon as they are issued. These documents include FDIC financial institution letters (FILs), press releases, and speeches and Congressional testimony.  To subscribe to "FDIC-Y2K," send an Internet e-mail message to:
LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM. On the first line, type SUBSCRIBE FDIC-Y2K
followed by your name. Once you send your message, you will soon receive a message from the
server confirming your subscription.

FRB Dallas Listing of Bank and Bank Holding Company Application Bulletins

Federal Reserve Board Public Information Actions, Orders, and Other Documents, all FRB districts

FRB Operating Circulars, maintained by the FRB of Chicago

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