[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 12CFR208.84]

[Page 254-255]
 
                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING
 
                   CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
 
PART 208--MEMBERSHIP OF STATE BANKING INSTITUTIONS IN THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (REGULATION H)--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart H--Consumer Protection in Sales of Insurance
 
Sec. 208.84  What you must disclose.

    (a) Insurance disclosures. In connection with the initial purchase 
of an insurance product or annuity by a consumer from you, you must 
disclose to the consumer, except to the extent the disclosure would not 
be accurate, that:
    (1) The insurance product or annuity is not a deposit or other 
obligation of, or guaranteed by, the bank or an affiliate of the bank;
    (2) The insurance product or annuity is not insured by the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other agency of the United 
States, the bank, or (if applicable) an affiliate of the bank; and
    (3) In the case of an insurance product or annuity that involves an 
investment risk, there is investment risk associated with the product, 
including the possible loss of value.
    (b) Credit disclosure. In the case of an application for credit in 
connection with which an insurance product or annuity is solicited, 
offered, or sold, you must disclose that the bank may not condition an 
extension of credit on either:
    (1) The consumer's purchase of an insurance product or annuity from 
the bank or any of its affiliates; or
    (2) The consumer's agreement not to obtain, or a prohibition on the 
consumer from obtaining, an insurance product or annuity from an 
unaffiliated entity.
    (c) Timing and method of disclosures--(1) In general. The 
disclosures required by paragraph (a) of this section must be provided 
orally and in writing before the completion of the initial sale of an 
insurance product or annuity to a consumer. The disclosure required by 
paragraph (b) of this section must be made orally and in writing at the 
time the consumer applies for an extension of credit in connection with 
which insurance is solicited, offered, or sold.
    (2) Exceptions for transactions by mail. If a sale of an insurance 
product or annuity is conducted by mail, you are not required to make 
the oral disclosures required by paragraph (a) of this section. If you 
take an application for credit by mail, you are not required to make the 
oral disclosure required by paragraph (b) of this section.
    (3) Exception for transactions by telephone. If a sale of an 
insurance product or annuity is conducted by telephone, you may provide 
the written disclosures required by paragraph (a) of this section by 
mail within 3 business days beginning on the first business day after 
the sale, excluding Sundays and the legal public holidays specified in 5 
U.S.C 6103(a). If you take an application for such credit by telephone, 
you may provide the written disclosure required by paragraph (b) of this 
section by mail, provided you mail it to the consumer within three days 
beginning

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the first business day after the application is taken, excluding Sundays 
and the legal public holidays specified in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a).
    (4) Electronic form of disclosures. (i) Subject to the requirements 
of section 101(c) of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National 
Commerce Act (12 U.S.C. 7001(c)), you may provide the written 
disclosures required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section through 
electronic media instead of on paper, if the consumer affirmatively 
consents to receiving the disclosures electronically and if the 
disclosures are provided in a format that the consumer may retain or 
obtain later, for example, by printing or storing electronically (such 
as by downloading).
    (ii) Any disclosures required by paragraphs (a) or (b) of this 
section that are provided by electronic media are not required to be 
provided orally.
    (5) Disclosures must be readily understandable. The disclosures 
provided shall be conspicuous, simple, direct, readily understandable, 
and designed to call attention to the nature and significance of the 
information provided. For instance, you may use the following 
disclosures, in visual media, such as television broadcasting, ATM 
screens, billboards, signs, posters and written advertisements and 
promotional materials, as appropriate and consistent with paragraphs (a) 
and (b) of this section:

[sbull] NOT A DEPOSIT
[sbull] NOT FDIC-INSURED
[sbull] NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
[sbull] NOT GUARANTEED BY THE BANK
[sbull] MAY GO DOWN IN VALUE

    (6) Disclosures must be meaningful. (i) You must provide the 
disclosures required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section in a 
meaningful form. Examples of the types of methods that could call 
attention to the nature and significance of the information provided 
include:
    (A) A plain-language heading to call attention to the disclosures;
    (B) A typeface and type size that are easy to read;
    (C) Wide margins and ample line spacing;
    (D) Boldface or italics for key words; and
    (E) Distinctive type size, style, and graphic devices, such as 
shading or sidebars, when the disclosures are combined with other 
information.
    (ii) You have not provided the disclosures in a meaningful form if 
you merely state to the consumer that the required disclosures are 
available in printed material, but you do not provide the printed 
material when required and do not orally disclose the information to the 
consumer when required.
    (iii) With respect to those disclosures made through electronic 
media for which paper or oral disclosures are not required, the 
disclosures are not meaningfully provided if the consumer may bypass the 
visual text of the disclosures before purchasing an insurance product or 
annuity.
    (7) Consumer acknowledgment. You must obtain from the consumer, at 
the time a consumer receives the disclosures required under paragraphs 
(a) or (b) of this section, or at the time of the initial purchase by 
the consumer of an insurance product or annuity, a written 
acknowledgment by the consumer that the consumer received the 
disclosures. You may permit a consumer to acknowledge receipt of the 
disclosures electronically or in paper form. If the disclosures required 
under paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section are provided in connection 
with a transaction that is conducted by telephone, you must:
    (i) Obtain an oral acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosures and 
maintain sufficient documentation to show that the acknowledgment was 
given; and
    (ii) Make reasonable efforts to obtain a written acknowledgment from 
the consumer.
    (d) Advertisements and other promotional material for insurance 
products or annuities. The disclosures described in paragraph (a) of 
this section are required in advertisements and promotional material for 
insurance products or annuities unless the advertisements and 
promotional materials are of a general nature describing or listing the 
services or products offered by the bank.

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