Compliance Blog

Written by Steve Van Beek

With the creation of a new financial regulator, comes the requirement to track and research new regulations.

One of my favorite starting research points is the main Electronic Code of Federal Regulations page.

What is the e-CFR?  

"The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a currently updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). It is not an official legal edition of the CFR. The e-CFR is an editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments produced by the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Printing Office. The OFR updates the material in the e-CFR on a daily basis." 

This main page provides the ability to search federal regulations by Title (everyones' favorite hobby, right?)  The majority of the regulations impacting credit unions are found in Title 12 (Banks and Banking) of the Code of Federal Regulations.

For example, the Federal Reserve's regulations are in the 200's (such as Reg E - 12 CFR 205 or Reg Z - 12 CFR 226).  NCUA's regulations are in the 700's (such as Truth in Savings - 12 CFR 707 or Member Business Loans - 12 CFR 723).  

And - Title 12 is also the location of the 1000's series featuring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulations. 

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This also brings up an interesting situation.  The Federal Reserve "owned" Reg Z and had regulatory authority over it - which is why Reg Z is in the Federal Reserve's section under 12 CFR 226.  Now that the CFPB has regulatory authority over the consumer regulations (such as Reg Z) - will the CFPB make changes and bring these regulations under the 1000 series?  

We haven't heard any indication either way on this - but if the CFPB does move the regulations over they would be located in the 12 CFR 1000 section of the Code of Federal Regulations.