Pending rules held for Obama staff review

Jan. 22, 2009 – The Obama administration has ordered federal agencies and departments – including NCUA, the Federal Reserve and other financial institution regulators – to hold off the implementation of pending rules until administration staff have had a chance to review and approve them.

This type of order is typical at the start of a new administration. In response to Tuesday’s order, from delivered in a memorandum from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, NCUA decided to pull a final rule on insurance signs at shared branches from today’s open meeting agenda.

NCUA’s recent final rule on credit union service organizations, set to take effect Jan. 28, may also be delayed, NAFCU staff noted, along with a recent final rule on unfair and deceptive acts or practices in credit card programs. These regs were published last month with an effective date of July 1, 2010; related overdraft provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2010.

Some rules are excepted from Tuesday’s order, Emanuel noted. These include rules that address emergency situations or other urgent circumstances (health, safety, environmental, financial or natural security matters, for example).

Subject to these exceptions, the order requires that agencies:

• withdraw all proposed and final rules that haven’t yet been published in the Federal Register and hold those pending review;
  
  
• consider extending for 60 days the effective date of regulations already published in the Federal Register;
  
  
• where the effective date is extended, immediately reopen the notice-and-comment period for 30 days;
  
  
• notify the director of the Office of Management and Budget of any regs that should not be subject to the directives above.

Where implementation is extended, the memo says no further action is required if no substantial questions of law or policy are raised.