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Rule: Lending limits: Residential real estate, small business, and small farm loans
P. 1Rule: Lending limits: Residential real estate, small business, and small farm loansRule: Lending limits: Residential real estate, small business, and small farm loansRatings: (0)|Views: 62|Likes: 3Published by Justia.comRule: Lending limits:Residential real estate, small business, and small farm loans, 31441-31444 [E7-11014] Comptroller of the CurrencyRule: Lending limits:Residential real estate, small business, and small farm loans, 31441-31444 [E7-11014] Comptroller of the CurrencyMore info:Published by: Justia.com on May 01, 2008Copyright:Public DomainAvailability:Read on Scribd mobile: iPhone, iPad and Android.download as PDF, TXT or read online from ScribdFlag for inappropriate content|Add to collectionSee moreSee lesshttps://www.scribd.com/doc/2773958/Rule-Lending-limits-Residential-real-estate-small-business-and-small-farm-loans10/14/2013pdftextoriginal 31441
Federal Register/ Vol. 72, No. 109 / Thursday, June 7, 2007 / Rules and Regulations
1See 12 CFR 32.2(n) (defining\u2018\u2018readily
marketable collateral\u2019\u2019).
212 U.S.C. 84(d).
366 FR 31114 (June 11, 2001); 12 CFR 32.7.
469 FR 51355 (August 19, 2004).
[Docket ID: OCC\u20132007\u20130011]
RIN 1557\u2013AD03
Special Lending Limits for Residential
Real Estate Loans, Small Business
Loans, and Small Farm Loans
AGENCY:Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, Treasury.
ACTION: Interim rule, request for
SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency (OCC) is amending Part
32 to permanently incorporate special
lending limits for 1\u20134 family residential
real estate loans, small business loans,
and small farm loans or extensions of
credit. These special lending limits
have, since 2001, been available to
certain eligible national banks through a
lending limits pilot program (pilot
program). Under the pilot program, an
eligible national bank with a main office
located in a state that has a lending limit
for residential real estate, small
business, or small farm loans that is
higher than the current Federal limit
may apply to take part in the pilot
program and make use of the higher
limit. The OCC has found that banks in
the pilot program, and loans made
under the program, have operated in a
safe and sound manner since 2001.
Accordingly, this interim rule amends
Part 32 to make permanent the special
limits set forth in the pilot program.
This interim rule removes the expiration
date for the pilot program and makes
one change to the special lending limits
available under the pilot program. The
OCC also seeks comment on any other
changes that should be considered for
the final rule. As in the past, only
eligible banks can use the special limits.
Those banks already approved to
participate in the pilot program may
continue to use the special lending
limits and need not submit a new
application to do so.
DATES:Effective Date: June 7, 2007.
Comments must be received by July 9,
ADDRESSES:You may submit comments
\u2022Federal eRulemaking Portal\u2014
\u2018\u2018Regulations.gov\u2019\u2019: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov,select
\u2018\u2018Comptroller of the Currency\u2019\u2019 from the
agency drop-down menu, then click
\u2018\u2018Submit.\u2019\u2019 In the \u2018\u2018Docket ID\u2019\u2019column,
select\u2018\u2018OCC\u20132007\u20130011\u2019\u2019 to submit or
view public comments and to view
supporting and related materials for this
interim rule. The\u2018\u2018User Tips\u2019\u2019 link at the
top of the Regulations.gov home page
provides information on using
for submitting or viewing public
comments, viewing other supporting
and related materials, and viewing the
docket after the close of the comment
\u2022Fax: (202) 874\u20134448.
\u2022Mail: Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail
Stop 1\u20135, Washington, DC 20219.
\u2022Hand Delivery/Courier: 250 E
Street, SW., Attn: Public Information
Room, Mail Stop 1\u20135, Washington, DC
Instructions: You must include
\u2018\u2018OCC\u2019\u2019 as the agency name and \u2018\u2018Docket
Number OCC\u20132007\u20130011\u2019\u2019 in your
comment. In general, OCC will enter all
comments received into the docket and
publish them on Regulations.gov
without change, including any business
or personal information that you
provide such as name and address
information, e-mail addresses, or phone
numbers. Comments, including
attachments and other supporting
materials, received 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
You may review comments and other
related materials by any of the following
\u2022Viewing Comments Electronically:
Go tohttp://www.regulations.gov, select
select\u2018\u2018OCC\u20132007\u20130011\u2019\u2019 to view public
comments for this interim rule.
\u2022Viewing Comments Personally:You
may personally inspect and photocopy
comments at the OCC\u2019s Public
Information Room, 250 E Street, SW.,
Washington, DC. You can make an
appointment to inspect comments by
calling (202) 874\u20135043.
\u2022Docket: You may also view or
request available background
documents and project summaries using
Mitchell Plave, Counsel, Legislative and
Regulatory Activities Division, (202)
874\u20135090, Stuart Feldstein, Assistant
Director, Legislative and Regulatory
Activities Division, (202) 874\u20135090, or
Terry Howard, National Bank Examiner,
Commercial Credit Risk, (303) 293\u2013
The percentage of capital and surplus
that a bank may loan to any one
borrower is limited by 12 U.S.C. 84.
Section 84 and the OCC\u2019s implementing
regulations, 12 CFR part 32, permit a
national bank to make loans in an
amount up to 15 percent of its
unimpaired capital and surplus to a
single borrower. A national bank may
extend credit up to an additional 10
percent of unimpaired capital and
surplus to the same borrower if the
amount of the loan that exceeds the 15
percent limit is secured by\u2018\u2018readily
marketable collateral.\u2019\u20191Part 32 refers to
these lending limits as the\u2018\u2018combined
general limit.\u2019\u2019 The statute and
regulation also provide exceptions to,
and exemptions from, the combined
general limit for various types of loans
and extensions of credit.
Section 84 authorizes the OCC to
establish lending limits\u2018\u2018for particular
classes or categories of loans or
extensions of credit\u2019\u2019 that are different
from those expressly provided by the
statute\u2019s terms.2Effective September 10,
2001, the OCC added to Part 32 a new
\u00a732.7, which established a three-year
pilot program with special lending
limits for certain residential real estate
loans and small business loans or
extensions of credit.3The OCC extended
the pilot program in 2004 for an
additional three years and, at the same
time, expanded the scope of the
program to include certain small farm
loans.4The aim of the program is to
enable community national banks to
utilize a higher lending limit for certain
residential real estate, small business
loans, and small farm loans, where the
bank is located in a state that allows
state-chartered banks to apply a higher
lending limit, subject to the national
bank\u2019s compliance with certain
conditions designed to ensure that
lending under the higher limits is
consistent with safety and soundness.
For purposes of the special limits, a
residential real estate loan is a loan
secured by a perfected first-lien security
interest in 1\u20134 family real estate in an
amount that does not exceed 80 percent
of the appraised value of the collateral
at the time the loan is made. A small
business loan is a loan\u2018\u2018secured by
nonfarm, nonresidential properties\u2019\u2019 or a
\u2018\u2018commercial and industrial loan\u2019\u2019as
those terms are described in the current
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5For reporting purposes, the current version of
the instructions for Schedule RC\u2013C part II of the
Call Report, provides that\u2018\u2018loans to small farms\u2019\u2019
should be included on that schedule only if the
loans are for original amounts of $500,000 or less.
This $500,000 limit is not part of the regulation\u2019s
definition of\u2018\u2018loans to small farms.\u2019\u2019 Therefore, it
does not apply to or condition the lending authority
granted under the pilot program. Similarly, the
current version of the instructions for Schedule RC\u2013
C, part II of the Call Report, provides that loans
\u2018\u2018secured by nonfarm residential property\u2019\u2019and
\u2018\u2018commercial and industrial\u2019\u2019 loans should be
included on that schedule only if they are loans for
original amounts of $1,000,000 or less. This
$1,000,000 limit is not part of the regulation\u2019s
definition of loans\u2018\u2018secured by nonfarm residential
property\u2019\u2019 and\u2018\u2018commercial and industrial\u2019\u2019 loans.
Therefore, the $1,000,000 limit does not apply to or
condition the lending authority granted under the
6A\u2018\u2018well capitalized\u2019\u2019 bank under 12 CFR
6.4(b)(1) is one that: (i) Has a total risk-based capital
ratio of 10.0 percent or greater; (ii) has a Tier 1 risk-
based capital ratio of 6.0 percent or greater; (iii) has
a leverage ratio of 5.0 percent or greater; and (iv)
is not subject to any written agreement, order or
capital directive, or prompt corrective action
directive issued by the OCC pursuant to section 8
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act), the
International Lending Supervision Act of 1983 (12
U.S.C. 3907), or section 38 of the FDI Act, or any
regulation thereunder, to meet and maintain a
specific capital level for any capital measure.
769 FR 21978, 21980 (April 23, 2004).
version of the instructions for
preparation of the Consolidated Report
of Condition and Income (Call Report),
Schedule RC\u2013C, part I, item nos. 1.e and
4 (FFIEC 031 and 041) (Loans and Lease
Financing Receivables). A\u2018\u2018small farm
loan or extension of credit\u2019\u2019 is a loan
described in the current version of the
instructions for preparation of the Call
Report, Schedule RC\u2013C, part I, item nos.
1.b and 3, as\u2018\u2018loans secured by
farmland\u2019\u2019 and\u2018\u2018loans to finance
agricultural production and other loans
to farmers.\u2019\u20195
The pilot program authorizes an
eligible national bank to apply for
approval to make residential real estate,
small business, and small farm loans to
a single borrower in addition to
amounts that they may already lend to
that borrower under the existing
combined general limit in 12 CFR
32.3(a) and the limits for the particular
categories of loans enumerated in 12
CFR 32.3(b). A bank is eligible for the
pilot program only if it is well
capitalized, as defined in 12 CFR
6.4(b)(1),6and has a composite rating of
1 or 2 under the Uniform Financial
Institutions Rating System (UFIRS),
with at least a rating of 2 for asset
quality and for management. These
criteria ensure that the program is
available only to banks in good financial
condition with a demonstrated record of
making sound loans.
Under the pilot program, an eligible
national bank may make residential
loans, small business loans, and small
farm loans in an additional amount up
to the lesser of 10 percent of its capital
and surplus, or the percent of its capital
and surplus in excess of 15 percent that
a state bank is permitted to lend under
the state lending limit that is available
(in the state where the main office of the
bank is located) for residential loans,
small business loans, and small farm
loans, or for unsecured loans.
The pilot program contains a number
of safeguards that apply to a bank using
its special lending limits. For example,
the amount that a bank may lend under
the pilot program\u2019s special limits is
subject to an individual borrower cap
and an aggregate borrower cap
expressed as percentages of the bank\u2019s
capital and surplus. Under the
individual borrower cap, the total
outstanding amount of a bank\u2019s loans to
one borrower under\u00a7\u00a7 32.3(a) and (b),
together with loans made to that
borrower under the special limits
authorized by\u00a7 32.7, may not exceed 25
percent of the bank\u2019s capital and
surplus. The aggregate cap provides that
the total outstanding amount of loans
made by a bank to all of its borrowers
under the special limits authorized by
\u00a732.7 may not exceed 100 percent of the
bank\u2019s capital and surplus. Finally, for
each loan category covered by\u00a7 32.7, a
bank may not lend more than $10
million to a single borrower under the
special limit.
A bank must apply and obtain the
OCC\u2019s approval before it may use the
special lending limits. The application
includes: a certification that the bank is
well capitalized and has the requisite
ratings; citations to relevant state laws
or regulations on lending limits; a copy
of a written resolution by a majority of
the bank\u2019s board of directors approving
the use of the new lending authority;
and a description of how the board will
exercise its continuing responsibility to
oversee the use of this lending
The OCC stated in the preamble to its
2001 and 2004 final rules that, prior to
the conclusion of the pilot program, the
OCC would evaluate the performance of
the program and determine whether,
and under what circumstances, to
extend the program or adopt it
A. Supervisory Experience, 2001\u20132004
As of the end of February 2004, 169
national banks headquartered in 23
states had received approval to
participate in the program. At that time,
the OCC compared the performance of
129 banks that participated in the
program to that of comparable state-
chartered banks and national banks that
did not participate in the program
focusing on: (1) Loan portfolio
composition; (2) asset quality; (3)
liquidity and capital; and (4) differences
in interest expense, non-interest
expense and profitability indicators
between participating banks and their
peers. The OCC could not attribute any
statistical differences in this comparison
group directly to participation in the
pilot program and concluded that the
program had operated in a safe and
sound manner since its inception in
2001.7On this basis, the OCC extended
the pilot program for three years, from
2004 until 2007, to collect additional
data and assess whether to integrate the
special lending limits provided by the
program into Part 32 on a long-term or
B. Supervisory Experience, 2004 to 2007
As of February, 2007, the OCC had
approved more than 288 national banks
to participate in the pilot program,
representing nearly 15% of national
community banks. Banks that
participate in the pilot program are
headquartered in twenty-four states in
the U.S. The OCC gathered supervisory
data during the second phase of the
pilot program to assess the performance
of participating banks. The data focused
on: (1) Adherence to the capital and
surplus limits; (2) adherence to the $10
million cap on loans to one borrower;
(3) whether loans made under the pilot
program were subject to supervisory
criticism and, if so, the amount of such
loans and the category of supervisory
criticism; (4) whether loans made under
the pilot program were past due and, if
so, the amount of such loans; (5)
whether banks had adequate internal
controls and monitoring systems to
provide oversight of loans made under
the pilot program; and (6) whether loans
made under the pilot program were in
compliance with the resolutions issued
by the bank\u2019s board governing the
The OCC\u2019s supervisory experience
between 2004 and 2007 shows that the
expanded lending limits capacity has
had a neutral impact on the asset quality
and overall safety and soundness of
participating institutions. This
experience confirms our earlier
observation that authorization to use
higher lending limits has been
consistent with the safety and
soundness of participating institutions.
National banks that have made use of
the program have indicated to the OCC
that the special lending limits allowed
those banks to better serve their
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The interim rule incorporates the
special lending limits currently
authorized by the pilot program into
Part 32 with one change, makes
technical changes to remove references
to the\u2018\u2018pilot program,\u2019\u2019 and eliminates
the provision in Part 32 that limits the
duration, to September 10, 2007, of
approvals given by the OCC to banks to
lend under the program\u2019s special limits.
The interim rule removes the $10
million cap on loans to one borrower for
loans in each loan category covered by
the interim rule. In view of the other
limits and safeguards in the interim
rule, and the OCC\u2019s experience with the
pilot program, the OCC does not believe
this restriction is necessary.
Under the interim rule, an eligible
national bank will continue to be
required to apply to, and receive
approval by, the OCC before using the
special lending limits. A newly
chartered national bank may apply to
use the special limits once it meets the
criteria for an eligible bank. The
authority given by the OCC to national
banks under the special limits will not
expire, but will continue to be subject
to discretionary termination by the OCC
based on supervisory concerns about
credit quality, undue concentrations in
the bank\u2019s portfolio of residential real
estate, small business, or small farm
loans, or concerns about the bank\u2019s
overall credit risk management systems
and controls. The effect of this interim
rule is to make the pilot program
permanent with the change noted above.
The OCC also requests comment on
the interim rule and on ways in which
the special lending limits could be
expanded or enhanced, consistent with
Administrative Procedure Act/Effective
The OCC finds that there is good
cause to dispense with prior notice and
public comment on this interim rule
and with the 30-day delay of effective
date generally prescribed by the
Administrative Procedure Act (APA). 5
U.S.C. 553. Under section 553(b) of the
APA, the OCC is not required to provide
notice and an opportunity for public
comment on a rule if we find, for good
cause, that notice and comment are
\u2018\u2018impracticable, unnecessary or contrary
to the public interest.\u2019\u2019 The OCC finds
that notice and public comment before
the interim rule takes effect are
unnecessary. The OCC has previously
provided the opportunity for comment
on all aspects of the pilot program, in
2001 and 2004. The one change made to
the program by the interim rule relieves
the restriction imposed by a cap that the
OCC has concluded is unnecessary
based on its experience supervising
institutions that have participated in the
program thus far. In addition, by issuing
the rule on an interim final basis, the
OCC will avoid any unnecessary
disruption in the operation of the
program and its special limits during
the pendancy of the comment period.
Under section 553(d) of the APA, the
OCC must generally provide a 30-day
delayed effective date for final rules.
The OCC may dispense with the 30-day
delayed effective date requirement\u2018\u2018for
good cause found and published with
the rule.\u2019\u2019 The OCC finds that there is
good cause to dispense with the
effective date requirement because the
interim rule recognizes an exemption
and will prevent unnecessary disruption
in the operation of the lending limits
program in its current form. In addition,
the purpose of the delayed effective date
provision is to afford affected persons a
reasonable time to comply with rule
changes. The interim rule imposes no
further restrictions on the substance of
the existing lending limits pilot
program. As such, there is no need for
banks to make adjustments to their
current lending under the program.
Solicitation of Comments on Use of
Section 722 of the Gramm-Leach-
Bliley Act, Public Law 106\u2013102, section
722, 113 Stat. 1338, 1471 (Nov. 12,
1999), requires an agency to use plain
language in all proposed and final rules
published. The OCC believes that the
interim rule is presented in a clear and
straightforward manner. We invite your
comments on how to make this interim
rule easier to understand. For example:
\u2022Have we organized the material to
suit your needs? If not, how could this
material be better organized?
\u2022Are the requirements in the
regulation clearly stated? If not, how
could the regulation be more clearly
\u2022Does the regulation contain
language or jargon that is not clear? If
so, which language requires
\u2022Would a different format (grouping
and order of sections, use of headings,
paragraphing) make the regulation
easier to understand? If so, what
changes to the format would make the
\u2022What else could we do to make the
Solicitation of Comments on Impact on
The OCC adopted the pilot program
following a review of our regulations
that focused on ways to change the
regulations to respond to community
bank needs. 66 FR 31114, 31115 (June
11, 2001). The purpose of the review
was to explore ways in which our
regulations could be modified,
consistent with safety and soundness, to
reflect the fact that community banks
operate with more limited resources,
and often different risk profiles, than
larger institutions. Our goal was to
identify alternative regulatory
approaches to minimize the burden on
community banks and promote their
The special lending limits in the
interim rule are substantively identical
to those authorized by the pilot
program. The OCC seeks comments on
how community banks assess the
interim rule and on the impact of the
proposal on community banks\u2019 current
resources and available personnel with
requisite expertise. The OCC also seeks
comments on whether the goals of the
interim rule could be achieved, for
community banks, through an
does not apply to a rulemaking where a
general notice of proposed rulemaking
is not required. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
As noted previously, the OCC has
determined that it is unnecessary to
publish a notice of proposed rulemaking
for this interim final rule. Accordingly,
the RFA\u2019s requirements relating to an
initial and final regulatory flexibility
analysis do not apply.
The OCC has determined that this
interim rule is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order
of 1995 (UMA), Public Law 104\u20134, 109
Stat. 48, applies only when an agency is
required to issue a general notice of
proposed rulemaking or a final rule for
which the agency published a general
notice of proposed rulemaking, 2 U.S.C.
1532. As noted previously, the OCC has
determined, for good cause, that notice
and comment is unnecessary for this
interim rule. Accordingly, the UMA
does not require a budgetary impact
(OMB) has reviewed and approved the
contained in the pilot program under
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