FFIEC Annual Report 1999
FFIEC Annual Report 1999
FFIEC Annual Report 1999
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Laurence H. Meyer<br />
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN<br />
Nineteen ninty-nine was a productive<br />
year for the Federal Financial<br />
Institutions Examination Council,<br />
highlighted by the successful<br />
completion of its multi-year initiative<br />
to prepare both member agencies<br />
and financial institutions for the<br />
Year 2000 date change and by the<br />
continued success of its policy and<br />
examiner training initiatives.<br />
The Council exercised proactive<br />
leadership in addressing the major<br />
challenge of preventing Year 2000<br />
rollover-related disruptions in the<br />
financial system, providing unified<br />
supervisory information and guidance<br />
to the banking industry. The<br />
Council’s five member agencies,<br />
together with their state regulatory<br />
counterparts, worked to supervise<br />
industry preparation for the Year<br />
2000 date change and to ensure the<br />
continued operation of the agencies,<br />
own systems. Because of the global<br />
significance of the issue and the<br />
potential severe negative ramifications<br />
of financial system failure, the<br />
Council’s member agencies dedicated<br />
substantial staff and other<br />
resources to this initiative.<br />
The Council took the initiative in<br />
addressing Year 2000 date change<br />
issues beginning in mid-1997, developing<br />
examination guidance, making<br />
industry outreach efforts, providing<br />
examiner training, and<br />
conducting joint examinations.<br />
Where these efforts identified shortfalls<br />
or weaknesses in a segment of<br />
the industry, member agencies<br />
worked quickly to address the problems.<br />
The Year 2000 initiative was<br />
an unprecedented endeavor for the<br />
Council and its member agencies, as<br />
it was for the banking and financial<br />
industries. Its successful outcome<br />
demonstrates, however, that the<br />
United States’ banking industry and<br />
the agencies that supervise it were<br />
well prepared for the century date<br />
change.<br />
In addition to its concerted work on<br />
the Year 2000 issue, the Council<br />
continued to make progress on a<br />
range of projects in <strong>1999</strong>. These<br />
projects include revising the capital<br />
treatment of securitizations, eliminating<br />
differences in the agencies’<br />
capital rules, identifying ways to<br />
reduce reporting burden, and developing<br />
a revised retail credit classification<br />
policy. The Council also conducted<br />
examiner training on a<br />
broad range of topics and developed<br />
its first web-connected training<br />
CD-ROM. The Council’s task<br />
forces issued uniform policy guidance<br />
on a number of topics, including<br />
subprime lending, retained<br />
interests in securitization, external<br />
audits, various consumer issues,<br />
and other topics within the<br />
Council’s areas of responsibility.<br />
The agencies’ staffs showed their<br />
continuing dedication and commitment<br />
to our nation’s financial system<br />
through their industrious and<br />
innovative work on this diverse<br />
supervisory agenda.<br />
I am pleased to have served as the<br />
Chairman of the Council during this<br />
exciting period and am equally<br />
pleased with the Council’s record<br />
of outstanding accomplishment<br />
during <strong>1999</strong> as highlighted in this<br />
report.<br />
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