Comptroller of the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig Asked Bank, Thrift and Credit Union Regulators January 26 to Consider Whether the Interagency Guidelines on Nondeposit Investment Products Should Be Converted into Regulations

WASHINGTON, DC — Comptroller of the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig asked bank, thrift and credit union regulators January 26 to consider whether the interagency guidelines on nondeposit investment products should be converted into regulations.

Mr. Ludwig also asked the four agencies to consider whether insurance sales activities by banks should be brought within uniform interagency standards.

Mr. Ludwig said in his letter that it is an appropriate time to consider a regulation because the agencies now have several years of experience in working with the guidelines. The interagency guidelines, which were adopted on February 15, 1994, set out standards for banks that sell investment products, including disclosures that such products are not insured by the FDIC or guaranteed by the bank.

The letter went to the members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council, an umbrella organization whose members include the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration. Mr. Ludwig currently chairs the FFIEC.