55704 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 188 / Friday, September 26, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

process has concluded and the initial 

denial or withdrawal has been upheld 

unless a school whose certification is 

withdrawn or whose recertification is 

denied is suspected of criminal activity 

or poses a potential national security 

threat. The school will no longer be able 

to access SEVIS, and SEVP will 

automatically terminate any remaining 

Active SEVIS records for that school on 

the SEVIS access termination date. 

(3) Legal obligations and 

ramifications for a school and its DSOs 

when a school is having SEVP 

certification denied or withdrawn. 

Schools are obligated to their students 

to provide the programs of study to 

which they have committed themselves 

in the students’ application for 

enrollment and acceptance process. 

Schools are obligated to the U.S. 

government to comply with the 

recordkeeping, retention, reporting and 

other requirements contained in 8 CFR 

214.3. With any new petition for SEVP 

certification, SEVP will consider the 

extent to which a school has fulfilled 

these obligations to students and the 

U.S. government during any previous 

period of SEVP certification. 

■ 6. Section 214.13 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (a) and (b)(1), to 

read as follows: 

§ 214.13 SEVIS fee for certain F, J, and M 

nonimmigrants. 

(a) Applicability. The following aliens 

are required to submit a payment in the 

amount indicated for their status to the 

Student and Exchange Visitor Program 

(SEVP) in advance of obtaining 

nonimmigrant status as an F or M 

student or J exchange visitor, in 

addition to any other applicable fees, 

except as otherwise provided for in this 

section: 

(1) An alien who applies for F–1 or 

F–3 status in order to enroll in a 

program of study at an SEVP-certified 

institution of higher education, as 

defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, as amended, or 

in a program of study at any other 

SEVP-certified academic or languagetraining institution including private 

elementary and secondary schools and 

public secondary schools, the amount of 

$200; 

(2) An alien who applies for J–1 status 

in order to commence participation in 

an exchange visitor program designated 

by the Department of State (DoS), the 

amount of $180, with a reduced fee for 

certain exchange visitor categories as 

provided in paragraphs (b)(1) and (c) of 

this section; and 

(3) An alien who applies for M–1 or 

M–3 status in order to enroll in a 

program of study at an SEVP-certified 

vocational educational institution, 

including a flight school, in the amount 

of $200. 

(b) Aliens not subject to a fee. No 

SEVIS fee is required with respect to: 

(1) A J–1 exchange visitor who is 

coming to the United States as a 

participant in an exchange visitor 

program sponsored by the Federal 

government, identified by a program 

identifier designation prefix of G–1, 

G–2, G–3, or G–7; 

* * * * * 

Michael Chertoff, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–22786 Filed 9–25–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

12 CFR Part 3 

[Docket ID OCC–2008–0015] 

RIN 1557–AD15 

Risk-Based Capital Guidelines—Money 

Market Mutual Funds 

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency, Treasury. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for public comment. 

SUMMARY: To reduce liquidity and other 

strains being experienced by money 

market mutual funds, the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System adopted on September 19, 2008, 

a special lending facility that enables 

depository institutions and bank 

holding companies to borrow from the 

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on a 

nonrecourse basis if they use the 

proceeds of the loan to purchase certain 

types of asset-backed commercial paper 

(ABCP) from money market mutual 

funds. This lending facility is referenced 

to as the ABCP Lending Facility. To 

facilitate the ability of national banks to 

participate in the program, the Office of 

the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) 

has adopted, on an interim final basis, 

an exemption from its risk-based capital 

guidelines for ABCP held by a national 

bank as a result of its participation in 

this program. 

DATES: This interim final rule is 

effective on September 19, 2008. 

However, comments must be received 

on or before October 31, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Because paper mail in the 

Washington, DC area and at the OCC is 

subject to delay, commenters are 

encouraged to submit comments by email, if possible. Please use the title 

‘‘Risk-Based Capital Guidelines—Money 

Market Mutual Funds’’ to facilitate the 

organization and distribution of the 

comments. You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal— 

‘‘Regulations.gov’’: Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, under the ‘‘More 

Search Options’’ tab click next to the 

‘‘Advanced Docket Search’’ option 

where indicated, select ‘‘Comptroller of 

the Currency’’ from the agency dropdown menu, then click ‘‘Submit.’’ In the 

‘‘Docket ID’’ column, select ‘‘OCC– 

2008–0015’’ to submit or view public 

comments and to view supporting and 

related materials for this interim final 

rule. The ‘‘How to Use This Site’’ link 

on the Regulations.gov home page 

provides information on using 

Regulations.gov, including instructions 

for submitting or viewing public 

comments, viewing other supporting 

and related materials, and viewing the 

docket after the close of the comment 

period. 

• E-mail: 

regs.comments@occ.treas.gov. 

• Mail: Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail 

Stop 1–5, Washington, DC 20219. 

• Fax: (202) 874–4448. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: 250 E 

Street, SW., Attn: Public Information 

Room, Mail Stop 1–5, Washington, DC 

20219. 

Instructions: You must include 

‘‘OCC’’ as the agency name and ‘‘Docket 

ID OCC–2008–0015’’ in your comment. 

In general, OCC will enter all comments 

received into the docket and publish 

them on the Regulations.gov Web site 

without change, including any business 

or personal information that you 

provide such as name and address 

information, e-mail addresses, or phone 

numbers. Comments received, including 

attachments and other supporting 

materials, are part of the public record 

and subject to public disclosure. Do not 

enclose any information in your 

comment or supporting materials that 

you consider confidential or 

inappropriate for public disclosure. 

You may review comments and other 

related materials that pertain to this 

interim final rule by any of the 

following methods: 

• Viewing Comments Electronically: 

Go to http://www.regulations.gov, under 

the ‘‘More Search Options’’ tab click 

next to the ‘‘Advanced Docket Search’’ 

option where indicated, select 

‘‘Comptroller of the Currency’’ from the 

agency drop-down menu, then click 

‘‘Submit.’’ In the ‘‘Docket ID’’ column, 

select ‘‘OCC–2008–0015’’ to view public 

comments for this rulemaking action. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 188 / Friday, September 26, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 55705 

1See 12 CFR Part 3. 

2 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

3 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

4 Id. 

5 5 U.S.C. 601(2). 

6 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

• Viewing Comments Personally: You 

may personally inspect and photocopy 

comments at the OCC’s Public 

Information Room, 250 E Street, SW., 

Washington, DC. For security reasons, 

the OCC requires that visitors make an 

appointment to inspect comments. You 

may do so by calling (202) 874–5043. 

Upon arrival, visitors will be required to 

present valid government-issued photo 

identification and submit to security 

screening in order to inspect and 

photocopy comments. 

• Docket: You may also view or 

request available background 

documents and project summaries using 

the methods described above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Margot Schwadron, Senior Risk Expert, 

(202) 874–6022, Capital Policy Division; 

Ron Shimabukuro, Senior Counsel; or 

Hugh Carney, Attorney, Legislative and 

Regulatory Activities Division, (202) 

874–5090; Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20219. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction; Description of Interim 

Final Rule 

In light of the ongoing dislocations in 

the financial markets, and the impact of 

such dislocations on the functioning of 

the markets for ABCP and on the 

operations of money market mutual 

funds, the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System adopted the 

ABCP Lending Facility on September 

19, 2008. Under the ABCP Lending 

Facility, depository institutions and 

bank holding companies (banking 

organizations) are able to borrow from 

the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on 

a nonrecourse basis on condition that 

the banking organizations use the 

proceeds of the Federal Reserve credit to 

purchase, at amortized cost, certain 

highly rated U.S. dollar-denominated 

ABCP from money market mutual 

funds. The ABCP purchased must be 

used to secure the borrowing from the 

Reserve Bank. The purpose of the ABCP 

Lending Facility is to assist money 

market mutual funds to obtain liquidity 

by enabling them to sell some of their 

high-credit-quality secured assets at 

amortized cost. The ABCP Lending 

Facility will expire on January 30, 2009. 

National banks that participate in the 

ABCP Lending Facility must acquire 

and hold ABCP on their balance sheet. 

These ABCP holdings attract regulatory 

capital requirements under the OCC’s 

regulatory capital guidelines and rules.1

To facilitate the ABCP Lending Facility, 

and for the reasons discussed below, the 

OCC has adopted, on an interim final 

basis, an exemption from its risk-based 

capital guidelines for ABCP purchased 

by a national bank as a result of its 

participation in the facility. Specifically, 

the interim final rule amends the OCC’s 

risk-based capital guidelines to permit 

national banks to assign a zero percent 

risk weight to ABCP purchased by the 

national bank as a result of its 

participation in the facility. 

The OCC has determined that the 

current risk-based capital requirements 

for ABCP acquired by a national bank 

pursuant to the ABCP Lending Facility 

do not reflect the substantial protections 

provided to the bank by the Federal 

Reserve in connection with the facility. 

Because of the non-recourse nature of 

the Federal Reserve’s credit extension to 

the banking organization, the bank is 

not exposed to the credit or market risk 

of the ABCP purchased by the bank and 

pledged to the Federal Reserve. 

Therefore, the OCC believes that it 

would be appropriate—and consistent 

with the economic substance of the 

transactions—not to impose risk-based 

capital requirements on a national bank 

that serves as an intermediary in the 

ABCP Lending Facility. 

Consistent with generally accepted 

accounting principles, the OCC would 

expect national banks to report 

purchased ABCP as an investment 

security (for example, held-to-maturity). 

These assets would be reflected at the 

time of purchase at the national bank’s 

best estimate of fair value. The 

nonrecourse nature of the transaction 

would impact the valuation of the 

liability to the Federal Reserve. After 

reflecting any appropriate discounts on 

the assets and associated liabilities, 

national banks are not expected to 

report any material net gains or losses 

at the time of purchase. 

Effective Date; Solicitation of Comments 

This interim final rule is effective 

immediately upon adoption. Pursuant to 

the Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA), at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), notice and 

comment are not required prior to the 

issuance of a final rule if an agency, for 

good cause, finds that ‘‘notice and 

public procedure thereon are 

impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary 

to the public interest.’’ 2 Similarly, a 

final rule may be published with an 

immediate effective date if an agency 

finds good cause and publishes such 

with the final rule.3

Consistent with section 553(b)(B) of 

the APA, the OCC finds that good cause 

exists for a finding that notice and 

comment is impracticable and contrary 

to the public interest. As previously 

described, modification of the riskbased capital guidelines are critical to 

maintain the orderly functioning of 

markets and provide market liquidity. 

Completion of notice and comment 

rulemaking procedures prior to issuing 

this interim final rule would delay their 

implementation. In the current market 

environment, such a delay is 

impracticable and inconsistent with the 

public interest since it may result in 

undue constraint on national banks’ 

ability to perform critical lending and 

financial intermediary roles which are 

necessary for the orderly functioning 

and liquidity of markets. Issuance of 

this interim final rule furthers the 

public interest because it will reduce 

liquidity and other strains being 

experienced by money market mutual 

funds. For the same reasons, the OCC 

finds good cause to publish this interim 

final rule with an immediate effective 

date.4

Although notice and comment are not 

required prior to the effective date of 

this interim final rule, the OCC invites 

comments on all aspects of the rule and 

will revise it if necessary or appropriate 

in light of the comments received. 

Regulatory Analysis 

Executive Order 12,866 

For the reasons described elsewhere 

in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION the 

OCC’s issuance of this interim final rule 

is subject to the procedures set forth in 

Section 6(a)(3)(D) of Executive Order 

12,866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. 

L. 96–354, Sept. 19, 1980) (RFA) applies 

only to rules for which an agency 

publishes a general notice of proposed 

rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b).5

Pursuant to the Administrative 

Procedure Act (APA) at 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), general notice and an 

opportunity for public comment are not 

required prior to the issuance of a final 

rule when an agency, for good cause, 

finds that ‘‘notice and public procedure 

thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, 

or contrary to the public interest.’’ 6

As discussed above, the OCC has 

determined for good cause that the APA 

does not require general notice and 

public comment on this interim final 

rule and, therefore, we are not 

publishing a general notice of proposed 

rulemaking. Thus, the RFA, pursuant to 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
55706 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 188 / Friday, September 26, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

5 U.S.C. 601(2), does not apply to this 

interim final rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the requirements 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3506), we have reviewed the 

interim final rule to assess any 

information collections. There are no 

collections of information as defined by 

the Paperwork Reduction Act in the 

interim final rule. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

Section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. 

104–4 (2 U.S.C. 1532) (Unfunded 

Mandates Act), requires that an agency 

prepare a budgetary impact statement 

before promulgating any rule likely to 

result in a Federal mandate that may 

result in the expenditure by State, local, 

and tribal governments, in the aggregate, 

or by the private sector, of $100 million 

or more in any one year. The OCC has 

determined that there is no Federal 

mandate imposed by this rulemaking. 

Accordingly, the interim final rule is not 

subject to section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Act. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 3 

Administrative practices and 

procedure, Capital, National banks, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Risk. 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons stated in the preamble, 

the Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency amends Part 3 of chapter I of 

Title 12, Code of Federal Regulations as 

follows: 

PART 3—MINIMUM CAPITAL RATIOS; 

ISSUANCE OF DIRECTIVES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 3 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 93a, 161, 1818, 

1828(n), 1828 note, 1831n note, 1835, 3907, 

and 3909. 

■ 2. In Appendix A to part 3, section 

3(a)(1) is amended to add new 

paragraph (ix) to read as follows: 

PART 3—MINIMUM CAPTIAL RATIOS; 

ISSUANCE OF DIRECTIVES 

Appendix A to Part 3—Risk-Based 

Capital Guidelines 

* * * * * 

Section 3. Risk Categories/Weights for OnBalance Sheet Assets and Off-Balance Sheet 

Items 

(a) * * * 

(1) Zero percent risk weight. * * * 

(ix) Asset-backed commercial paper 

(ABCP) that is: 

(A) Purchased by the bank between 

September 19, 2008, and January 30, 2009 

(unless further extended by the OCC), from 

an Securities and Exchange Commission 

(SEC)-registered open-end investment 

company that holds itself out as a money 

market mutual fund under SEC Rule 2a–7 (17 

CFR 270.2a–7); and 

(B) Pledged by the bank to a Federal 

Reserve Bank to secure financing from the 

ABCP lending facility established by the 

Federal Reserve Board on September 19, 

2008. 

* * * * * 

Dated: September 20, 2008. 

John C. Dugan, 

Comptroller of the Currency. 

[FR Doc. E8–22720 Filed 9–25–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–33–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Parts 208 and 225 

[Regulations H and Y; Docket No. 1332] 

Risk-Based Capital Guidelines; 

Leverage Capital Guidelines 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for public comment. 

SUMMARY: To reduce liquidity and other 

strains being experienced by money 

market mutual funds, the Federal 

Reserve System adopted on September 

19, 2008, a special lending facility 

(ABCP Lending Facility) that enables 

depository institutions and bank 

holding companies to borrow from the 

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on a 

nonrecourse basis if they use the 

proceeds of the loan to purchase certain 

types of asset-backed commercial paper 

(ABCP) from money market mutual 

funds. To facilitate this Federal Reserve 

lending program, the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (Board) also has adopted, on an 

interim final basis, an exemption from 

its leverage and risk-based capital rules 

for ABCP held by a state member bank 

or bank holding company as a result of 

its participation in this program. 

DATES: The interim final rule became 

effective on September 19, 2008. 

Comments must be received on or 

before October 31, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. R–1332, by any 

of the following methods: 

• Agency Web site: http:// 

www.federalreserve.gov Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments at 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/ 

generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: regs.comments@

federalreserve.gov. Include docket 

number in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 452–3819 or (202) 452– 

3102. 

• Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, 20th Street and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20551. 

All public comments are available 

from the Board’s Web site at http:// 

www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/

foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted, 

unless modified for technical reasons. 

Accordingly, your comments will not be 

edited to remove any identifying or 

contact information. Public comments 

may also be viewed electronically or in 

paper form in Room MP–500 of the 

Board’s Martin Building (20th and C 

Street, NW) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

on weekdays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark E. Van Der Weide, Assistant 

General Counsel, (202) 452–2263, or 

Andrea R. Tokheim, Counsel, (202) 452– 

2300, Legal Division; Barbara J. 

Bouchard, Associate Director, (202) 

452–3072, or Juan C. Climent, Senior 

Supervisory Financial Analyst, (202) 

872–7526, Division of Banking 

Supervision and Regulation. For the 

hearing impaired only, 

Telecommunication Device for the Deaf 

(TDD), (202) 263–4869. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In light of 

the ongoing dislocations in the financial 

markets, and the impact of such 

dislocations on the functioning of the 

markets for ABCP and on the operations 

of money market mutual funds, the 

Board adopted the ABCP Lending 

Facility on September 19, 2008. Under 

the ABCP Lending Facility, depository 

institutions and bank holding 

companies (banking organizations) are 

able to borrow from the Federal Reserve 

Bank of Boston on a nonrecourse basis 

on condition that the organizations use 

the proceeds of the Federal Reserve 

credit to purchase, at amortized cost, 

certain highly rated U.S. dollardenominated ABCP from money market 

mutual funds. The ABCP purchased 

must be used to secure the borrowing 

from the Reserve Bank. The purpose of 

the ABCP Lending Facility is to assist 

money market mutual funds to obtain 

liquidity by enabling them to sell some 

of their high-credit-quality secured 

assets at amortized cost. The ABCP 

Lending Facility will expire on January 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES