WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board announced recently that it had approved an interim final rule to eliminate several statutory reporting and disclosure requirements relating to insider lending by insured depository institutions and was seeking public comment on it.

The Fed Board proposed and supported eliminating these statutory reporting and disclosure provisions because the federal banking agencies have not found them particularly useful in monitoring insider lending or preventing insider abuse. Regulation O implements statutory restrictions on the ability of insured depository institutions to extend credit to their executive officers, directors, principal shareholders, and to related interests of such persons. However, the interim rule does not alter the substantive restrictions on loans by insured depository institutions to their insiders or to insiders of their correspondent banks.

The interim rule would be effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register.