U.S. banking regulators are curbing the regulatory burden on certain banks by adopting revised capital rules that aim to simplify some of the more complex requirements.
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board, along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, have jointly issued a final rule that aims to reduce the burden of complying with the capital rules for banks that don’t use the “advanced approach” under the capital adequacy rules.
The agencies say that the final rule is intended to “simplify and clarify” some of the existing rules’ more complex elements.
Among other things, the new rule simplifies the capital treatment for certain assets and investments. It also allows banks to redeem common stock without prior approval.
The revisions follow a report the regulators published in 2017, committing them to meaningfully reducing regulatory burdens, especially on smaller institutions.
The final rule takes effect April 1, 2020, for the capital rule revisions, and on Oct. 1, 2019 for changes to the pre-approval requirements for common stock redemptions.