Proposed rules published for providing disclosures.

The Federal Reserve Board, on November 26, 2003, published proposed rules to establish more uniform standards for providing disclosures under five consumer protection regulations: B (Equal Credit Opportunity); E (Electronic Fund Transfers); M (Consumer Leasing); Z (Truth in Lending); and DD (Truth in Savings).

Establishing a more uniform standard, and defining more specifically the standard for providing disclosures, is intended to help ensure that consumers receive noticeable and understandable information that is required by law in connection with obtaining consumer financial products and services. In addition, consistency among the regulations should facilitate compliance by institutions. Under most of the consumer financial services and fair lending laws administered by the Board, consumers must be provided with disclosures that are "clear and conspicuous." This standard is currently defined using similar but not identical language in the various regulations. The proposed rules provide a more specific definition for "clear and conspicuous" and include examples of how to meet the standard.

The Board is also proposing additional amendments to Regulation Z and the staff commentary that interprets and implements the regulation. An interpretive rule of construction would be added to clarify that the word "amount" represents a numerical amount throughout Regulation Z. Proposed updates to the staff commentary provide guidance on consumers' exercise of rescission rights for certain home-secured loans. The proposal also includes several technical revisions to the staff commentary.