Reg CC inflation, EGRRCPA amendments finalized

The Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Monday they have jointly issued final amendments to Regulation CC that implement a statutory requirement to adjust for inflation every five years the amount of funds depository institutions must make available to their customers. The amendments apply in circumstances ranging from next business day withdrawal of certain check deposits to setting the threshold amount for determining whether an account has been repeatedly withdrawn. The first set of adjustments have been finalized, and will be effective July 1, 2020, to allow institutions adequate time for implementation:

• The $100 amount (changed in 2011 by the Dodd-Frank Act to $200) in § 229.10(c)(1)(vii) of deposits of non next-day checks to be available by the next business day will increase to $225
• The $400 amount in § 229.12(d) (Time period adjustment for withdrawal by cash or similar means) will increase to $450
• The $5,000 amounts in §§ 229.13(a) (New accounts), 229.13(b) (Large deposits) and 229.13(d) (Repeated overdrafts) will increase to $5,525
• The $1,000 and $500,000 amounts in § 229.21(a) (Civil liability) will increase to $1,100 and $552,500, respectively

The final rule also implements the EFA Act amendments made by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which include extending coverage of the EFA Act to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam; it also makes non-substantive changes to Regulation DD affecting cross references to Regulation CC. These changes will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Still uncertain is the fate of proposed amendments to "clean up" the regulation to eliminate references to nonlocal checks and other outdated wording related to the Fed's pre-2010 multiple check processing regions. As originally proposed several years ago, these amendments would revise consumer notices and disclosures and could make other substantive changes.

UPDATE: published at 84 FR 31687 in the Federal Register on 7/3/19. Effective 9/3/10, except for the inflation-related amendments, which are effective 7/1/20.

John Burnett will present a special BOL Learning Connect one-hour webinar briefing on the Reg CC amendments on August 5, 2019.