Amendments to Regulation CC, Appendix A.

The Federal Reserve Board on September 22, 2004, provided information about future amendments to appendix A of Regulation CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks) that the Board will make in 2005 through early 2006 to reflect the restructuring of the Federal Reserve's check-processing operations.

Appendix A provides a routing number guide that helps depository institutions determine the maximum permissible hold periods for most deposited checks. Collectively, the amendments will reduce the number of check-processing regions listed in the appendix from thirty-two to twenty-three, resulting in some nonlocal checks in the affected regions becoming local checks that are subject to faster availability schedules. The Board intends to publish each amendment in the Federal Register at least sixty days before the effective date to allow ample time for depository institutions to make necessary changes.

The Board on September 22, 2004, also approved a final rule that deletes the reference in appendix A to the Indianapolis check-processing office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and reassigns the Federal Reserve routing symbols currently listed under that office to the Cincinnati office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. As of October 30, 2004, the Chicago Reserve Bank's Indianapolis office no longer processes checks, and banks that were served by that office have been reassigned to the Cleveland Reserve Bank's Cincinnati office. To coincide with the effective date of the underlying check-processing changes, the final rule became effective October 30, 2004. As a result of these changes, some checks deposited in the affected regions that were nonlocal checks have become local checks that are subject to shorter permissible hold periods.

The final rule deleting the reference in appendix A to the Indianapolis office is the last in a series of amendments to the appendix associated with the restructuring of check-processing operations that the Reserve Banks announced in February 2003. That phase of restructuring resulted in the number of check-processing regions listed in the appendix being reduced from forty-four to thirty-two.