Full text of Federal Reserve Bank of New York Circulars : 7953. Furnishing of Credit Information Under Regulation B

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FED ER A L RESERVE BANK
O F N EW YORK

[

7953T
September 13, 1976 J

C ir c u la r N o.

FURNISHING OF CREDIT INFORMATION UNDER REGULATION B
— Termination of Proposed Amendments
— Extension of Effective Date
To A ll M em ber Banks, and O thers Concerned,
in the Second Federal Reserve D istrict:

Following is the text of a statem ent issued September 2 by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System:
T he B oard of G overnors of the F ederal Reserve System today announced that it would retain the existing
requirem ent in its R egulation B— E qual C redit O p p o rtu n ity — for creditors to report credit histories in the
names of both husband and wife when the account is shared.
A t the same time, the B oard postponed the effective date of the requirem ent from N ovem ber 1, 1976, to
June 1, 1977.
T he provision of the Regulation concerned (S ection 202.6) requires creditors to furnish credit inform ation
“in the nam e of each spouse.” T he B oard asked on M ay 25, 1976, for public comment on a possible change of
this language to perm it creditors to report credit inform ation relating to a shared account of a m arried couple
“ in a m anner reflecting the participation of both spouses.”
In view of generally unfavorable com m ent, the B oard decided to retain the existing language which in
effect calls for credit reporting agencies to m aintain two separate files for m arried couples sharing an account,
but to extend the effective date in order to give creditors more time for revision of their files and record keeping
systems.

In subm itting the notice for publication in the F ederal R e g is te r , the Board of Governors
made the following additional statem ent:
T he purpose of this notice is to announce that the Board of G overnors is term inating consideration of the
am endm ents to §202.6 of its R egulation B (D ocket No. R -0038), which were published in the F e d e r a l R e g i s t e r
on Ju n e 4, 1976 (41 F R 22592). In addition, the B oard is extending the effective date of §202.6 to June 1, 1977.
T he existing language of §202.6 (w hich th e Board has decided to retain ) requires a creditor to determ ine
w hether a particu lar account is one which both spouses will use or for which both will be contractually liable.
T he creditor m ust then designate the account accordingly. Section 2 0 2 .6 (a) (2 ) (i) now provides that when
the creditor reports inform ation concerning the account to a consum er reporting agency, it m ust report the infor­
m ation "in a m anner which will enable the agencies to provide access to inform ation about the account in the
name of each spouse.”
T he B o ard ’s proposed am endm ent to §202.6 would have substituted the phrase “ in a way which reflects the
participation of each spouse” for “ in the nam e of each spouse.”
U pon review of the com m ents received in response to the publication of the proposed am endm ents, the
B oard has determ ined that the m ost appropriate mechanism for regulating the designation and reporting by credi­
tors of credit inform ation relating to jo in t accounts held by m arried persons is contained in the present version of
§202.6. T herefore, the B oard has decided not to adopt the proposed am endm ents.
T he B oard recognizes, how ever, that, because of the uncertainty that has existed until now about the rep o rt­
ing requirem ents of §202 .6 , m any creditors and the credit reporting industry are not prepared to comply w ith the
provisions of the section by N ovem ber 1 , 1976. T herefore, the B oard has decided to extend the effective date
of the designation and reporting requirem ents of §202.6 to June 1, 1977. T he B oard’s proposed revision of R egu­
lation B, which was published in the F e d e r a l R e g i s t e r on Ju ly 20, 1976 (41 F R 29870), will be am ended to
incorporate this change.

Enclosed is a copy of the amendment to Regulation B reflecting the extension, to June 1, 1977,
of the effective date of Section 202.6. Questions regarding- this m atter may be directed to our
Bank Regulations Departm ent.
Additional copies of the enclosure will be furnished upon request.




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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

EQUAL CREDIT O PPO R TU N ITY

A M E N D M E N T T O R E G U L A T IO N B

Effective O ctober 6, 1976, Section 202.6 is
am ended as fo llo w s:
(1 )
T he date “June 1, 1977” is substituted
for the date “ N ovem ber 1, 1976” w herever the
latter appears in §202.6; (2 ) the date “ O ctober
1, 1977” is substituted for the date “ F eb ru ary
1, 1977” w here the latter appears twice in
§202.6(b) (1 ) ( i i ) ; and (3 ) the phrase “June
1977” is substituted for the phrase “ N ovem ber
1976” w here the latter appears in §202.6(b)

For this Regulation to be complete, retain:
1) Regulation B pamphlet, effective October 28, 1975.
2) Amendments effective May 13, 1976, June 30, 1976, and July 30, 1976.
3) This slip sheet.




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