The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) amended its annual stress test rule, making several technical revisions to the regulation.
The stress testing rule was established through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It requires national banks and federal savings associations with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion to conduct annual stress tests. It does not apply to community banks.
The amendments to the final rule extend by three months the range of possible “as-of” dates used in the trading and counterparty default component of the annual stress tests. Previously, the rule said the as-of date may occur between Jan. 1 and March 1 of the calendar year of the stress test. The final rule extends this window back three months, making the new window Oct. 1 through March 1.
Further, it extends the transition process for certain covered national banks and federal savings associations that cross the $50 billion asset threshold and makes technical and linguistic changes to the OCC’s stress testing regulation to promote clarity. Specifically, it removes certain obsolete transition provisions and changes the defined term “over $50 billion covered institution” to “$50 billion or over covered institution” to be more precise.
The rule will go into effect on March 26, 2018.