Just for the record, I asked the CFPB it's opinion.
Here's what I wrote:
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Several years ago, the Board of Governors added clarifying language to its commentary on the "precise" definition of "business day" as it applies to the right of rescission and several other Regulation Z provisions, by noting that when "one of [the four—now five—specific-date] holidays (July 4, for example) falls on a Saturday, Federal offices and other entities might observe the holiday on the preceding Friday (July 3). In cases where the more precise rule applies, the observed holiday (in the example, July 3) is a business day."
Of course, those dates fall on Sunday as often as they fall on Saturday, but the comment says nothing about what happens when, for example, July 4 falls on a Sunday (as it does in 2021).
So my question is --
Is the comment deliberately worded so as to mean that the day of observance is a business day only when the specific-date holiday falls on Saturday, just as the comment reads, or should it be interpreted to mean that, when the designated holiday date falls on Sunday but the holiday is observed on Monday, Monday is to be treated as a business day?
OBSERVATION:
If the former (Sunday occurrences treated differently), the Bureau could clarify by adding a sentence stating, "However, when one of the specific-date holiday dates falls on Sunday and is observed on the following Monday, Monday is not a business day in cases where the more precise rule applies."
If the latter, the Fed Board missed a great opportunity to clarify the rule when it ignored the fact that the specific-date holidays fall on Sundays, too. And I think it would be a great idea for the Bureau to seize the chance to clarify the issue by adding a sentence that applies the same logic to Sunday occurrences observed on Monday by stating that if the designated date, for example, July 4, occurs on Sunday and federal offices and others might observe the holiday on the following Monday (July 5), when the more precise rule applies, the observed holiday (July 5) is a business day.
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Amazingly (but probably because the Fourth is almost upon us, a Bureau rep called me yesterday while I was looking for a parking place at Trader Joe's in Hyannis (and she waited patiently until I safely pulled in and stopped). She confirmed that Monday, 7/5/2021, is a business day for the purposes of the right to rescind and other Reg Z provisions listed in comment 2(a)(6)-2. She agreed that the Fed could have said as much when it modified that comment several years ago.
I thanked her for the prompt call-back, then suggested that the Bureau will need to update that comment (and the sentence in the regulation itself listing the holidays) to add Juneteenth, and that would be the perfect opportunity to add clarity to the comment (and "cancel" the need to debate the issue each time one of the holidays falls on Sunday) by adding a few words like "When one of the fixed-date holidays falls on a Sunday but is observed on the following Monday, that Monday is a business day in cases where the more precise rule applies." She thought that might be a good idea, and will add it to the list of things to do in connection with including Juneteenth in the regulation's holiday list.
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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
Fighting for Compliance since 1976
Bankers' Threads User #8