District Circular Letters

The Federal Reserve Board on June 21, 2012 joined with four other financial regulatory agencies in issuing guidance concerning mortgage servicing practices that may pose risks to homeowners serving in the military.

On May 31, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it is seeking public comment on new data and information that it has received in a rulemaking to require lenders to assess consumers’ ability to repay mortgage loans before extending them credit.

The Federal Reserve Board on June 7, 2012 approved a final rule to implement changes to the market risk capital rule, which requires banking organizations with significant trading activities to adjust their capital requirements to better account for the market risks of those activities.

The Federal Reserve Board on June 7, 2012 invited comment on three proposed rules intended to help ensure banks maintain strong capital positions, enabling them to continue lending to creditworthy households and businesses even after unforeseen losses and during severe economic downturns.

Five federal supervisory agencies, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board), on June 4, 2012 released a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that clarifies how the agencies will coordinate their supervisory activities, consistent with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act).

On May 23, 2012, the CFPB issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comment, data, and information from the public about general purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid cards (GPR cards).

Jeremy C. Stein took the oath of office on May 30, 2012 as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The oath was administered by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in the Board Room.

The Federal Reserve Board on May 23, 2012 announced the availability of a new video that explains how borrowers who believe they were financially harmed during the mortgage foreclosure process in 2009 and 2010 can apply for a free, independent foreclosure file review.

On May 9, 2012, the CFPB announced that they are considering a number of new rules relating to mortgage points and fees and mortgage loan originators’ qualifications and compensation. As indicated in their press release, the CFPB expects to propose these rules over the summer and finalize them by January 2013.

On May 14, 2012, the Federal Reserve conducted an auction of $3 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility.