Home Mortgage Disclosure — 2002-05-08 [02-11343]

On February 15, 2002, the Board published in the Federal Register amendments to Regulation C effective for data collected beginning January 1, 2003, and solicited comment on several related issues with a comment period that closed on April 12. Financial institutions and their trade associations requested a postponement of the effective date until January 1, 2004, on the grounds that a 2003 deadline does not afford institutions adequate time to take the steps necessary to ensure full compliance with the new rules (including reprogramming their data systems and retraining their employees). Consumer and community organizations generally opposed postponement of the effective date. The Board has weighed the financial institutions' claims and underlying assumptions against public policy benefits of collecting the new data as soon as possible.