Fed OKs Comment on Non-Bank Bank Rules

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors said Wednesday that it would allow a 30-day comment period before it takes final action on a set of guidelines for services that bank holdimg companies can provide their offspring “non-bank banks.”

The clear sentiment among the seven-member board was to adopt the guidelines prepared by the Fed staff with a specification that loan and investment decisions remain solely with the non-bank bank rather than the parent company.

Although no formal vote was taken, five of the seven said they favored allowing parent firms to provide a variety of so-called back-office support services such as data processing and central purchasing.