Amendment to Regulation CC, Appendix A.

The Federal Reserve Board announced on October 12, 2005, amendments to appendix A of Regulation CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks) that reflect the restructuring of the Federal Reserve's check-processing operations in the Fourth, Tenth, and Eleventh Districts. These amendments are part of a series of amendments to appendix A that will take place through the first quarter of 2006, associated with the previously announced restructuring of the Reserve Banks' check-processing operations.

Appendix A provides a routing symbol guide that helps depository institutions determine the maximum permissible hold periods for most deposited checks. As of December 10, 2005, the Oklahoma City Branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will no longer process checks, and depository institutions that were assigned to that office have been reassigned to the head office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. As of January 21, 2006, banks with 0442 and 2442 routing symbols, currently assigned to the Columbus office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, will be reassigned to that Reserve Bank's Cincinnati Branch office. As of February 11, 2006, banks with 0440, 2440, 0441, and 2441 routing symbols, also currently assigned to the Columbus office, will be reassigned to the Cleveland Reserve Bank's head office and the Columbus office will cease processing checks. The Federal Reserve Banks' transfer of the Columbus office's check-processing operations to both the Cincinnati Branch office and the Cleveland head office differs from earlier announcements indicating that the entirety of the Columbus office's operations would be transferred to the Cleveland head office. The Reserve Banks believe that this arrangement will better serve the needs of affected depository institutions.

To ensure that the information in appendix A accurately describes the structure of check-processing operations within the Federal Reserve System, the final rule revises the lists of routing symbols associated with Federal Reserve offices to reflect the reassignments discussed above. Each appendix A revision will be effective on the date of the underlying check-processing change. The Board is providing earlier-than-usual notice of the amendments to the appendix A routing symbol lists under the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland because these amendments differ from earlier announcements.