Supplemental Lending Limits Program: Technical Correction

Published date01 October 2020
Citation85 FR 61809
Record Number2020-18937
SectionRules and Regulations
CourtThe Comptroller Of The Currency Office
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 191 (Thursday, October 1, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 191 (Thursday, October 1, 2020)]
                [Rules and Regulations]
                [Pages 61809-61811]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-18937]
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                DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
                Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
                12 CFR Part 32
                [Docket ID OCC-2018-0041]
                RIN 1557-AE21
                Supplemental Lending Limits Program: Technical Correction
                AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.
                ACTION: Correcting amendment.
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                SUMMARY: On July 14, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the
                Currency (OCC) published in the Federal Register a final rule that,
                among other revisions, made technical changes to the OCC's supplemental
                lending limits rule. This correcting amendment makes a correction to
                those regulations by reinstating two paragraphs to the lending limits
                rules that were inadvertently deleted.
                DATES: This rule is effective on October 1, 2020.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marta E. Stewart-Bates, Senior
                Attorney, Chief Counsel's Office, (202) 649-5490, for persons who are
                deaf or hearing impaired, TTY, (202) 649-5597, Office of the
                Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20219.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                I. Background and Description of Correcting Amendment
                 On July 14, 2020, the OCC published in the Federal Register a final
                rule \1\ that made technical changes to the OCC's supplemental lending
                limits rules, among other revisions. Specifically, the terms ``small
                business loans'' and ``small farm loans or extensions of credit'' were
                replaced with the terms ``loans to small businesses'' and ``loans or
                extensions of credit to small farms,'' respectively, to conform with
                the Call Report instructions. These technical changes were made to the
                supplemental lending limits rules in Sec. Sec. 32.7(a)(1), 32.7(a)(2),
                and 32.7(d). However, Sec. Sec. 32.7(a)(4) and (a)(5) were
                inadvertently deleted by the final rule. This correcting amendment
                reinstates Sec. Sec. 32.7(a)(4) and (a)(5).
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                 \1\ 85 FR 42630.
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                II. Administrative Law Matters
                A. Administrative Procedure Act
                 The OCC is issuing this correcting amendment without prior notice
                and the opportunity for public comment and the delayed effective date
                ordinarily prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).\2\
                Pursuant to section 553(b)(B) of the APA, general notice and the
                opportunity for public comment are not required with respect to a
                rulemaking when an ``agency for good cause finds (and incorporates the
                finding and a brief statement of reasons therefor in the rules issued)
                that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable,
                unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' \3\
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                 \2\ 5 U.S.C. 553.
                 \3\ 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A).
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                 The OCC finds that public notice and comment are unnecessary
                because this correcting amendment makes a technical change to correct
                an erroneous removal of two paragraphs in the
                [[Page 61810]]
                supplemental lending limits rule. Therefore, there is good cause to
                dispense with the APA prior notice and public comment process.
                 The APA also requires a 30-day delayed effective date, except for:
                (1) Substantive rules which grant or recognize an exemption or relieve
                a restriction; (2) interpretative rules and statements of policy; or
                (3) as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause.\4\ As described
                above, there is good cause to issue this correcting amendment without a
                delayed effective date. Therefore, this correcting amendment is exempt
                from the APA's delayed effective date requirement.\5\
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                 \4\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d).
                 \5\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).
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                B. Congressional Review Act
                 For purposes of the Congressional Review Act, the Office of
                Management and Budget (OMB) makes a determination as to whether a final
                rule constitutes a ``major rule.'' \6\ If a rule is deemed a ``major
                rule'' by the OMB, the Congressional Review Act generally provides that
                the rule may not take effect until at least 60 days following its
                publication.\7\
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                 \6\ 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.
                 \7\ 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(3).
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                 The Congressional Review Act defines a ``major rule'' as any rule
                that the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory
                Affairs of the OMB finds has resulted in or is likely to result in: (1)
                An annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; (2) a major
                increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries,
                Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or
                (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment,
                productivity, innovation, or on the ability of United States-based
                enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and
                export markets.\8\
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                 \8\ 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
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                 The delayed effective date required by the Congressional Review Act
                does not apply to ``any rule which an agency for good cause finds (and
                incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefor in
                the rule issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are
                impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' \9\
                For the same reasons set forth above, the OCC finds that it has good
                cause to adopt this correcting amendment without the delayed effective
                date generally prescribed under the Congressional Review Act. As
                required by the Congressional Review Act, the OCC will submit the
                correcting amendment and other appropriate reports to Congress and the
                Government Accountability Office for review.
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                 \9\ 5 U.S.C. 808(2).
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                C. Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994
                 Pursuant to section 302(a) of the Riegle Community Development and
                Regulatory Improvement Act (RCDRIA),\10\ in determining the effective
                date and administrative compliance requirements for new regulations
                that impose additional reporting, disclosure, or other requirements on
                insured depository institutions (IDIs), each Federal banking agency
                must consider, consistent with the principle of safety and soundness
                and the public interest, any administrative burdens that such
                regulations would place on depository institutions, including small
                depository institutions, and customers of depository institutions, as
                well as the benefits of such regulations. In addition, section 302(b)
                of RCDRIA requires new regulations and amendments to regulations that
                impose additional reporting, disclosures, or other new requirements on
                IDIs generally to take effect on the first day of a calendar quarter
                that begins on or after the date on which the regulations are published
                in final form, with certain exceptions, including for good cause.\11\
                For the reasons described above, the OCC finds good cause exists under
                section 302 of RCDRIA to publish this correcting amendment with an
                immediate effective date. As such, the correcting amendment will be
                effective immediately.
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                 \10\ 12 U.S.C. 4802(a).
                 \11\ 12 U.S.C. 4802.
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                D. Regulatory Flexibility Act
                 The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) \12\ requires an agency to
                consider whether the rules it proposes will have a significant economic
                impact on a substantial number of small entities.\13\ The RFA applies
                only to rules for which an agency publishes a general notice of
                proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b). As discussed
                previously, consistent with section 553(b)(B) of the APA, the OCC has
                determined for good cause that general notice and opportunity for
                public comment is unnecessary, and, therefore, the OCC is not issuing a
                notice of proposed rulemaking. Accordingly, the OCC has concluded that
                the RFA's requirements relating to initial and final regulatory
                flexibility analysis do not apply.
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                 \12\ 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
                 \13\ Under regulations issued by the Small Business
                Administration, a small entity includes a depository institution,
                bank holding company, or savings and loan holding company with total
                assets of $600 million or less and trust companies with total assets
                of $41.5 million or less. See 13 CFR 121.201.
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                E. Unfunded Mandates
                 As a general matter, the Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995 (UMRA) \14\
                requires the preparation of a budgetary impact statement before
                promulgating a rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in
                the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the
                aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one
                year. However, the UMRA does not apply to final rules for which a
                general notice of proposed rulemaking was not published.\15\ Therefore,
                because the OCC has found good cause to dispense with notice and
                comment for this correcting amendment, the OCC has not prepared an
                economic analysis of the rule under the UMRA.
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                 \14\ 2 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
                 \15\ See 2 U.S.C. 1532(a).
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                List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 32
                 National banks, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
                 For the reasons set out in the preamble, the OCC corrects 12 CFR
                part 32 by making the following correcting amendment:
                PART 32--LENDING LIMITS
                0
                1. The authority citation for part 32 continues to read as follows:
                 Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1 et seq., 12 U.S.C. 84, 93a, 1462a, 1463,
                1464(u), 5412(b)(2)(B), and 15 U.S.C. 1639h.
                0
                2. Section 32.7 is amended by adding paragraphs (a)(4) and (5) to read
                as follows:
                Sec. 32.7 Residential real estate loans, loans to small businesses,
                and loans or extensions of credit to small farms (``Supplemental
                Lending Limits Program'').
                 (a) * * *
                 (4) The total outstanding amount of a national bank's or savings
                association's loans and extensions of credit to one borrower made under
                Sec. 32.3(a) and (b), together with loans and extensions of credit to
                the borrower made pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1), (2), and (3) of this
                section, shall not exceed 25 percent of the bank's or savings
                association's capital and surplus.
                 (5) The total outstanding amount of a national bank's or savings
                association's loans and extensions of credit to all of its borrowers
                made pursuant to the supplemental lending limits provided in paragraphs
                (a)(1), (2), and (3) of this section may not exceed 100 percent of
                [[Page 61811]]
                the bank's or saving association's capital and surplus.
                * * * * *
                Jonathan V. Gould,
                Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel.
                [FR Doc. 2020-18937 Filed 9-30-20; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 4810-33-P
                

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