A number of compliance-related regulations have threshold amounts below which institutions are exempt from compliance requirements. The applicable regulatory agency is often required to adjust the threshold levels annually by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Below are a number of adjustments made by the CFPB, the FDIC, the OCC and/or the Federal Reserve:
- Effective January 1, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adjusted the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions under Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The asset-size exemption will increase to $44 million. Therefore, institutions with assets of $44 million or less as of December 31, 2014 are exempt from collecting HMDA data in 2015.
- Effective January 1, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adjusted the asset-size exemption threshold under Regulation Z, which implements the
- Truth in Lending Act. The asset-size threshold for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption to the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan is adjusted to increase to $2.060 billion. Therefore, creditors with assets of $2.060 billion or less as of December 31, 2014 are exempt, if other requirements of Regulation Z also are met, from establishing escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans in 2015. The adjustment to the escrow exemption asset-size threshold will also increase a similar threshold for small-creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgages. Balloon-payment qualified mortgages that satisfy all applicable criteria, including being made by creditors that do not exceed the asset-size threshold, are also excepted from the prohibition on balloon payments for high-cost mortgages.
- On December 23, the Federal Reserve Board announced the annual adjustment to the dollar amount used to determine whether a small loan is exempt from the special appraisal requirements that apply to higher-priced mortgage loans. The exemption was adjusted to $25,500, effective January 1, 2015. The Dodd-Frank Act amended the Truth in Lending Act to require creditors to obtain a written appraisal based on a physical visit of the home's interior before making a higher-priced mortgage loan.
- On December 19, the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank, small savings association, intermediate small bank, and intermediate small savings association under the Community Reinvestment Act regulations. Financial institutions are evaluated under different CRA examination procedures based upon their asset-size classification. Those meeting the small and intermediate small asset-size threshold are not subject to the reporting requirements applicable to large banks and savings associations. The asset-size threshold adjustments were effective January 1, 2015.
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