Market deregulation, growth in global trade, and continuing technological developments have revolutionized the financial marketplace during the past two decades. A by-product of this revolution is increased market volatility, which has led to a corresponding increase in demand for risk management products. This demand is reflected in the growth of financial derivatives from the standardized futures and options products of the 1970s to the wide spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) products offered and sold in the 1990s.

Directors are placed in positions of trust by the bank's shareholders, and both statute and common law place responsibility for the management of a bank firmly and squarely on the board of directors. The directors of a national bank may delegate the day-to-day routine of conducting the bank's business to their officers and employees, but they cannot delegate their responsibility for the consequences of unsound or imprudent policies and practices whether it involves lending, investing, protecting against internal fraud, or any other banking activity. The directorate is responsible to its...

Examiners use these procedures to evaluate a national bank's compliance with the Fair Housing Act (FH Act), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), and the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation B. This booklet contains the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC) "Interagency Fair Lending Examination Procedures," and appropriate OCC supplemental material. These procedures are intended to provide a flexible framework to be used in fair lending examinations conducted by the FFIEC agencies. They are also intended to guide examiner judgment, not to supplant it. The procedures may be...

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) became effective on April 25, 1971. The FCRA is designed to regulate the consumer reporting industry; to place disclosure obligations on users of consumer reports; and to ensure fair, timely, and accurate reporting of credit information. It also restricts the use of reports on consumers and, in certain situations, requires the deletions of obsolete information.

Foreign banking organizations (FBOs) have long conducted banking operations in the United States through branches, agencies, and subsidiaries. With the passage of the International Banking Act (IBA) in 1978, foreign banks could opt to conduct banking operations through a branch or agency licensed by the Comptroller of the Currency. Such licensed entities are known as " federal branches and agencies." Federal branches and agencies can exercise much the same rights and privileges as national banks and are subject to much the same laws, rulings, and regulations. The principle behind this...

A national bank generally establishes a futures commission merchant (FCM) operating subsidiary for one of two reasons. First, a FCM operating subsidiary provides a bank that engages in futures and options transaction flow and reducing transaction costs. Second, establishing a FCM operating subsidiary allows a national bank to provide an additional service - that of executing and/or clearing futures and options contracts- to bank customers.

This booklet is designed to help examiners evaluate bankers' acceptance activities. Some of the booklet's topics are the acceptances': purpose, eligibility to be purchased by the Federal Reserve, according treatment and risks.