Federal bank regulatory agencies seek comment on interagency effort to reduce regulatory burden

The federal bank regulatory agencies today announced their second notice requesting comment to reduce regulatory burden. The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 requires the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and federal bank regulatory agencies to review their regulations every 10 years to identify outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements for their supervised institutions.

To facilitate this review, the agencies divided their regulations into 12 categories and are now soliciting comments on their regulations in three categories: Consumer Protection; Directors, Officers, and Employees; and Money Laundering. The public has 90 days from publication in the Federal Register to comment on the relevant regulations.

Over the next two years, the agencies will request comment on regulations in the remaining categories, asking the public to identify the regulations they believe are outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome.

The agencies will hold a series of outreach meetings where interested parties may comment on applicable regulatory requirements directly to the agencies. Information about the outreach meetings will be publicized as details are finalized.