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

　　The federal bank regulatory agencies today announced their first of a series of requests for 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Examination Council and federal bank regulatory agencies to review their regulations every 10 years to identify any outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements for their supervised institutions.

　　To facilitate this review, the agencies divided their regulations into 12 categories and are first soliciting comments on their regulations in three categories: Applications and Reporting, Powers and Activities, and International Operations. Comments on the relevant regulations will be accepted for 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

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comment on the regulations in the remaining categories, asking the public to identify regulations they believe are outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome.

　　The agencies also plan to hold 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.