FEDERAL RESERVE REGULATIONS

Rules put in place by the Federal Reserve Board to regulate the practices of banking and lending institutions, usually in response to laws enacted by the legislature. The primary purpose of most Federal Reserve regulations is to protect individual consumers against banking and lending practices that are deceptive, can potentially cause financial harm or violate individual privacy rights.

Because many of the Federal Reserve regulations have lengthy official titles, they are more often referred to by their assigned regulation letter, such as Regulation D, T or Z. These letters are assigned in alphabetical order as new regulations are enacted, with newer regulations having to resort to a double-digit format such as AA, BB, etc.