Financial Institutions Regulatory Act

The Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act (FIRA) is a United States Federal law enacted in 1978 pertaining to depository financial institutions. The act made five major changes to these institutions, and created the Central Liquidity Facility and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), made electronic funds transfers federally regulated, changed the terms under which loans were provided to directors, officers, etc. as well as authorized cease and desist orders to be placed on them.

The FFIEC was formed to regulate and create standards for depository financial institutions, as required by Title X of the Financial Institutions Regulatory Act. The Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) was formed in 1989, as required by Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA). The FFIEC is an interagency body that creates uniform standards, principles, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the following agencies:

• The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB)
• The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

The FFIEC’s State Liaison Committee works to promote and maintain uniform regulation of financial institutions.

The Central Liquidity Facility was formed to lend money to credit unions on a short-term basis to help them in times of need, in order to support their financial stability, support mortgage and consumer lending by credit unions, encourage savings, and extend financial resources to all parts of the economy. The Credit Liquidity Facility helps stabilize credit unions that are experiencing unexpected or unusual shortfalls in liquidity. The NCUA oversees the management of the Credit Liquidity Facility. The Credit Liquidity Facility is open to all credit unions, and membership is voluntary.