District Circular Letters

August 13, 2001

BANKING SUPERVISION AND REGULATION:
ELECTRONIC DELIVERY MANDATORY
COMPLIANCE DATE LIFTED

To State Member Banks, Bank
Holding Companies, U.S. Branches
and Agencies of Foreign Banks,
and Others Concerned,
in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District

Interim Rules Governing Electronic Delivery (R-1040, R-1041, R-1042, R-1043, R-1044)

The Federal Reserve Board has lifted the October 1, 2001, mandatory compliance date for interim rules governing the electronic delivery of certain consumer disclosures.

On March 29, 2001, the Board published interim final rules on electronic disclosures and invited public comment. The rules establish uniform standards for the electronic delivery of federally mandated disclosures under five consumer protection regulations: B (Equal Credit Opportunity), E (Electronic Fund Transfers), M (Consumer Leasing), Z (Truth in Lending), and DD (Truth in Savings). Please see our letter dated April 4, 2001.

Financial institutions, creditors, lessors, and others may deliver disclosures electronically if they obtain consumers’ consent in accordance with the requirements of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (the "E-Sign Act"), enacted in June 2000.

Some commenters indicated that there are operational issues raised by the requirements of the interim rules. They also noted that the October 1, 2001 deadline does not afford financial institutions and others covered by the Board’s consumer disclosure rules adequate time for making the needed changes.

Based on these and other comments, the Board is considering adjustments to the rules to provide additional flexibility, and is, therefore, lifting the October 1, 2001 compliance date for the interim rules. Once permanent final rules are issued, the Board will allow institutions a reasonable period of time to comply with those rules.

Additional Information

All circulars and documents are available on the Internet through the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Internet site, at http://www.frbsf.org/banking/letters.

Copies of the Board's notice (Dockets R-1040, R-1041, R-1042, R-1043, R-1044) are available from our Corporate Services Department. To request copies to be sent by mail, please call (415) 974-2060.

For additional information about the lifting of the mandatory compliance date, please contact our Banking Supervision and Regulation Department at (415) 974-2967.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO