For the purpose of this part, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) Affiliated organization means any organization, other than a Farm Credit organization, of which a director, senior officer or nominee for director of the reporting institution is a partner, director, officer, or majority shareholder.

(b) Association means any of the associations as described in § 619.9050 of this chapter.

(c) Bank means any of the Farm Credit banks as described in § 619.9140 of this chapter.

(d) Direct lender association means any association that is a direct lender as described in § 619.9135 of this chapter.

(e) Immediate family means spouse, parents, siblings, children, mothers- and fathers-in-law, brothers- and sisters-in-law, and sons- and daughters-in-law.

(f) Institution means any bank or association chartered by the Act.

(g) Loan means any extension of credit or lease that is recorded as an asset of a reporting institution, whether made directly or purchased from another lender. The term “loan” includes, but is not limited to, loans originated through direct negotiations between the reporting institution and a borrower; purchased loans or interests in loans, including participation interests, retained subordinated participation interests in loans sold, interests in pools of subordinated participation interests that are held in lieu of retaining a subordinated participation interest in loans sold; contracts of sale; notes receivable; and other similar obligations and lease financings.

(h) Material. The term material, when used to qualify a requirement to furnish information as to any subject, limits the information required to those matters to which there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable person would attach importance in making shareholder decisions or determining the financial condition of the institution.

(i) Normal risk of collectibility means the ordinary risk inherent in the lending operation. Loans that are deemed to have more than a normal risk of collectibility include, but are not limited to, any adversely classified loans.

(j) Permanent capital shall have the same meaning as set forth in § 615.5201 of this chapter.

(k) Protected borrower capital means eligible borrower stock as defined in § 615.5260 of this chapter.

(l) Related association means an association within the reporting bank's chartered territory that generates loans for the bank or whose operations the bank funds.

(m) Related bank means a reporting association's funding bank or the bank for which it generates loans.

(n) Related organization means any Farm Credit institution that is a shareholder of the reporting institution or in which the reporting institution has an ownership interest.

(o) Report refers to the annual report, quarterly report, notice, or information statement, regardless of form, required by this part unless otherwise specified.

(p) Signed, when referring to paper form, means a manual signature, and, when referring to electronic form, means marked in a manner that authenticates each signer's identity.

(q) Significant event means any event that is likely to have a material impact on the reporting institution's financial condition, results of operations, cost of funds, or reliability of sources of funds. The term “significant event” includes, but is not limited to, actual or probable noncompliance with the regulatory minimum permanent capital standards or capital adequacy requirements, stock impairment, the imposition of or entering into enforcement actions, execution of financial assistance agreements with other institutions, collateral deficiencies that impact a bank's ability to obtain loan funds, or defaults on debt obligations.

For the purposes of this part, the following shall apply:

(a) Copies of each report required by this part, including financial statements and related schedules, exhibits, and all other papers and documents that are a part of the report, must be sent to the Farm Credit Administration according to our instructions. Submissions must comply with the requirements of § 620.3 of this part. The Farm Credit Administration must receive the report within the period prescribed under applicable subpart sections.

(b) The reports must be available for public inspection at the issuing institution and the Farm Credit Administration office with which the reports are filed. Farm Credit bank reports must also be available for public inspection at each related association's office(s).

(c) The reports sent to shareholders must comply with the requirements of § 620.3 and electronic delivery of those reports requires shareholder agreement.

(d) Information in any part of a report may be incorporated by reference in answer or partial answer to any other item of the report, unless instructions for the report state otherwise.

(e) All items of essentially the same character as items required to be reported in the reports of condition and performance pursuant to part 621 of this chapter shall be prepared in accordance with the rules set forth in part 621.

(f) No disclosure required by subparts B and E of this part shall be deemed to violate any regulation of the Farm Credit Administration.

(g) Each Farm Credit institution shall present its reports in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and in a manner that provides the most meaningful disclosure to shareholders.

(1) Any Farm Credit institution that presents its annual and quarterly financial statements on a combined or consolidated basis shall also include in the report the statement of condition and statement of income of the institution on a stand-alone basis. The stand-alone statements may be in summary form and shall disclose the basis of presentation if different from accounting policies of the combined or consolidated statements.

(2) Any Farm Credit bank that prepares its annual financial statements on a stand-alone basis must also provide financial information on its related associations as part of its annual report. The information on the related associations must be presented on a combined basis with the bank's financial information and, at a minimum, include both a condensed statement of condition and a statement of income. The combined bank and association financial information may either be in the footnotes of the bank's annual report or located in a supplement to the report. All combined information provided through either a footnote or a supplement will be considered part of the bank's annual report, subject to the same annual report preparation, distribution, and accuracy requirements of part 620.

(i) The combined bank and association financial information may be unaudited but must disclose the basis of presentation if different from accounting policies used for the bank-only financial statements.

(ii) If the combined bank and association financial information is presented in the form of a supplement, the supplement must be referenced within the bank's annual report and accompany the annual report when distributed.

(h)(1) Each institution's annual report or notice must state, in a prominent location within the report or notice:

(i) That the institution's quarterly reports are available free of charge on request;

(ii) The approximate dates the quarterly reports will be available; and

(iii) The telephone numbers and addresses (including information on any other distribution method the institution makes available) where shareholders can request or obtain copies of the quarterly reports.

(2) Each association must state, in a prominent location within each report:

(i) That the shareholders' investment in the association may be materially affected by the financial condition and results of operations of the related bank;

(ii) That (if not otherwise provided) a copy of the bank's financial reports to shareholders will be made available free of charge on request; and

(iii) The telephone numbers and addresses (including information on any other distribution method the association makes available) where shareholders can request or obtain copies of the related bank's financial reports.

(3) Each institution shall, after receiving a request for a report, provide the report to the requestor. The first copy of the requested report shall be provided to the requestor free of charge.

(i) Any events that have affected one or more related organizations of the reporting institution that are likely to have a material effect on the financial condition, results of operations, cost of funds, or reliability of sources of funds of the reporting institution shall be considered significant events for the reporting institution and shall be disclosed in the reports. Any significant event affecting the reporting institution that occurred during the preceding fiscal quarters that continues to have a material effect on the reporting institution shall be considered significant events of the current fiscal quarter and shall be disclosed in the reports.

(a) Prohibition against incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading disclosures. No institution and no employee, officer, director, or nominee for director of the institution shall make any disclosure to shareholders or the general public concerning any matter required to be disclosed by this part that is incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading. When any such person makes disclosure that, in the judgment of the Farm Credit Administration, is incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading, whether or not such disclosure is made in disclosure statements required by this part, such institution or person shall make such additional or corrective disclosure as is necessary to provide shareholders and the general public with a full and fair disclosure. Unless otherwise determined by the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the appropriate use of the limited disclosure authorized by § 628.62(c) of this chapter does not create an incomplete disclosure.

(b) Signatures. The name and position title of each person signing the report must be printed beneath his or her signature. If any person required to sign the report has not signed the report, the name and position title of the individual and the reason(s) such individual is unable or refuses to sign must be disclosed in the report. All reports must be dated and signed on behalf of the institution by:

(1) The chief executive officer (CEO);

(2) The chief financial officer (CFO), or if the institution has no CFO, the officer responsible for preparing financial reports; and

(3) A board member formally designated by action of the board to certify reports on behalf of individual board members.

(c) Certification of financial accuracy. The report must be certified as financially accurate by the signatories to the report. If any signatory is unable to, or refuses to, certify the report, the institution must disclose the individual's name and position title and the reason(s) such individual is unable or refuses to certify the report. At a minimum, the certification must include a statement that:

(1) The signatories have reviewed the report,

(2) The report has been prepared in accordance with all applicable statutory or regulatory requirements, and

(3) The information is true, accurate, and complete to the best of signatories' knowledge and belief. If the report contains the limited disclosure authorized by § 628.62(c) of this chapter, the statement may be modified to explain that the completeness of the report was determined in consideration of § 628.62(c).

(d) Management assessment of internal control over financial reporting. Annual reports of those institutions with over $1 billion in total assets (as of the end of the prior fiscal year) must include a report by management assessing the effectiveness of the institution's internal control over financial reporting. The assessment must be conducted during the reporting period and be reported to the institution's board of directors. Quarterly and annual reports for those institutions with over $1 billion in total assets (as of the end of the prior fiscal year) must disclose any material change(s) in the internal control over financial reporting occurring during the reporting period.