E-Sign Rules Deferred

The effective date for the Federal Reserve's e-sign rules has been lifted and no new date put into place. The rules would provide e-sign and disclosure compliance requirements for the FRB's consumer protection regulations, ranging from Regulation B through Regulation Z and DD.

The Board received comments that raised concerns about compliance with certain aspects of the rules, particularly notification to consumers by e-mail when disclosures are made available at another site. This requirement, more restrictive than the interim rules for E and DD, triggers technical compliance difficulties that the Board did not anticipate.

The Board expects to revise the rules based on comments received. In the interim, it is business as it was before the rule was published. This means that you can continue whatever method you had been using for customer agreement. While this deferral may sound positive, it has the effect of extending the period during which the institution takes the risk of figuring out what constitutes compliance.

Copyright © 2001 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 6, No. 9, 8/01