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 bothstatute and common law place responsibility for the management of a bankfirmly and squarely on the board of directors. The directors of a national bankmay delegate the day-to-day routine of conducting the bank's business to theirofficers and employees, but they cannot delegate their responsibility for theconsequences of unsound or imprudent policies and practices whether itinvolves lending, investing, protecting against internal fraud, or any otherbanking activity. The directorate is responsible to its depositors...

The explanation that emerging market economies will continue to expand at a faster rate than those in developed markets provides business incentive for banks to become active in the EM.

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.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act 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 on credit information.

A national bank generally establishes a future commission merchant operating subsidiary for one of two reasons. First, a FCM operating subsidiary provides a bank that engages in futures and options transactions with more direct access to these markets, thereby improving information flow and reducing transaction costs.

The National Flood Insurance Program, the insurance fund that insures borrows against risk of loss from flooding, is administered under three statuses: the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, the Flood Disaster protection Act of 1973, and Title V of the Riegle, Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994.

This booklet provides background information and optional expanded examination procedures for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Regulation C. Examiners will select which of these procedures are necessary, if any, after first completing the core assessment as outlined in the "Large Bank Supervision" and "Community Bank Supervision" booklets of the Comptroller's Handbook.

The review and analysis of the bank's financial condition and results ofoperations should begin during the initial review of the bank using the mostrecent UBPR. This review is meant to identify potential problem areas in orderto properly scope the supervisory activity, ensure the availability of adequatestaff resources, and select appropriate review procedures.

This "Insider Activities" booklet is one of several booklets in the Comptroller's Handbook that will be published under the theme of corporate governance. This booklet provides guidance on how banks may legally and prudently engage in transactions with insiders and implement risk management processes that provide for the appropriate control and monitoring of insider activities. This booklet also provides guidance on how examiners will review and assess insider activities during the supervisory process.