March 27, 2006 News Archive

Agencies Issue Final Community Reinvestment Guidance
In a press release, the federal banking agencies announced final guidance implementing recent changes to their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The guidance clarifies, among other things, the availability of CRA consideration for bank activities that revitalize or stabilize designated disaster areas.

Amendments to Reg K to Include BSA Compliance Program Requirement
In SR 06-7, the Board announced a final rule amending Reg K, International Banking Operations. The final rule requires Edge and agreement corporations and U.S. branches, agencies and representative offices of foreign banks to establish and maintain procedures to ensure and monitor compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and related regulations. The rule is effective April 19, 2006.

The amendments do not impose new requirements; rather, they extend the BSA requirements for state member banks to Edge and agreement corporations and U.S. branches, agencies and representative offices of foreign banks.

Foreign banking organizations and the public will receive notification via Regulatory Update.

SR 06-5: Influenza Pandemic Preparedness
Federal banking regulators issued a joint advisory on March 15 on the potential threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak and its ramifications on the delivery of critical financial services. The advisory instructs banks to review the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza and consider plans for influenza and similar threats in their event response and contingency strategies. The strategy was released by the Bush Administration on Nov. 1, 2005, and identifies the roles for the federal government and private sector, including infrastructure organizations. The regulators noted that financial institutions with a global presence and those considered critical to the financial system may have greater preparation and response challenges than those of other financial institutions. However, the agencies said a pandemic event is a potential threat to any financial institution regardless of size and location.

SR 06-6: Imposition of Special Measures Against Commercial Bank of Syria
On March 15, the Board issued SR 06-6, which advises financial institutions of new obligations relating to Commercial Bank of Syria imposed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).