Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 133 / Monday, July 13, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 37665

shares held by a member bank and

purchased before March 28, 1942, or as

to the purchase and cancellation dates

and prices of shares cancelled, as the

case may be.

By order of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, July 6, 1998.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 98–18275 Filed 7–10–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 216

[Regulation P; Docket No. R–0965]

Security Procedures

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Board is rescinding

Regulation P, which is no longer

necessary since its provisions have been

incorporated into Regulation H

(Membership of State Banking

Institutions in the Federal Reserve

System), as issued by the Board

elsewhere in today’s Federal Register.

Regulation P requires each bank to

adopt appropriate security procedures.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean

Anderson, Staff Attorney, Legal Division

(202/452–3707). For the hearing

impaired only, Telecommunications

Device for the Deaf (TDD), Diane Jenkins

(202/452–3544).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

303(a) of the Riegle Community

Development and Regulatory

Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C.

4803(a)) requires the Board, as well as

the other federal banking agencies, to

review its regulations and written

policies in order to streamline and

modify these regulations and policies to

improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary

costs, and eliminate unwarranted

constraints on credit availability. The

Board reviewed its Regulation P with

this purpose in mind and has adopted

its proposal to rescind Regulation P in

order to meet the goals of section 303(a).

Regulation P implements the

requirements of the Bank Protection Act

of 1968 (BPA). The BPA requires the

federal financial institution supervisory

agencies to establish minimum

standards for bank security devices and

procedures to discourage bank crime

and to assist in the identification of

persons who commit such crimes. 12

U.S.C. 1882. To implement this statute

a uniform regulation (Regulation P) was

adopted in 1969 by each of the

supervisory agencies—Comptroller of

the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank

Board (now known as the Office of

Thrift Supervision), and the Board. As

originally proposed, Regulation P

included a list of security devices that

banks were required to adopt. On March

1, 1991, (55 FR 13069) (1991

Amendments), the supervisory agencies

amended their rules to incorporate

amendments made to the BPA by the

Financial Institutions Reform Recovery

and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA)

and to address the fact that many of the

required security devices had been

rendered obsolete by virtue of

technological advances.

Discussion

The Board’s action to rescind

Regulation P and incorporate its

provisions into Regulation H (12 CFR

part 208—Membership of State Banking

Institutions in the Federal Reserve

System) as published elsewhere in

today’s Federal Register, would not

substantively change the requirements

of Regulation P. The Board’s action to

incorporate Regulation P into

Regulation H is designed to simplify

compliance for State member banks by

consolidating regulatory requirements

applying to State member banks into

one regulation.

The Board published its proposal to

rescind Regulation P for comment in the

Federal Register on March 31, 1997 (61

FR 15299). The Board received 4

comments on the proposal from the

following types of institutions:

Trade associations—2

Federal Reserve Banks—2

Three of the 4 comments received

generally supported, or did not object

to, rescinding Regulation P. However,

one commenter opposed incorporating

Regulation P into Regulation H on the

basis that Regulation H relates solely to

state member banks and Regulation P

addresses security procedures for both

state member banks and Federal Reserve

Banks. Despite this concern the Board is

rescinding Regulation P and

incorporating it into Regulation H as

proposed because it believes that the

Federal Reserve Banks are well aware of

the requirements of Regulation P.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

Pursuant to section 605(b) of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 95–

354, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System certifies that adoption of this

proposal will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities that would be

subject to the regulation.

This amendment will remove a

regulation and an interpretation that the

Board believes are no longer necessary.

The amendment does not impose more

burdensome requirements on bank

holding companies than are currently

applicable.

Paperwork Reduction Act

In accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506;

5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1), the Board

reviewed the rule under the authority

delegated to the Board by the Office of

Management and Budget. No collections

of information pursuant to the

Paperwork Reduction Act are contained

in the final rule.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 216

Federal Reserve System, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Security measures.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble and under the authority of 12

U.S.C. 1882, the Board is amending 12

CFR chapter II, as set forth below:

PART 216—[REMOVED]

1. Part 216 is removed.

By order of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, July 6, 1998.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 98–18276 Filed 7–10–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P