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AMENDMENTS TO THE GUIDELINES MANUAL

2024

AMENDMENT 317

Section 2B1.1(b) is amended by inserting the following additional subdivision:

"(7) If the offense substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of a financial institution, increase by 4 levels. If the resulting offense level is less than level 24, increase to level 24.".

The Commentary to §2B1.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended by inserting the following additional notes:

"9. ‘Financial institution,’ as used in this guideline, is defined to include any institution described in 18 U.S.C. §§ 215, 656-657, 1005-1008, 1014, and 1344; any state or foreign bank, trust company, credit union, insurance company, investment company, mutual fund, savings (building and loan) association, union or employee pension fund; any health, medical or hospital insurance association; brokers and dealers registered, or required to be registered, with the Securities and Exchange Commission; futures commodity merchants and commodity pool operators registered, or required to be registered, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and any similar entity, whether or not insured by the federal government. ‘Union or employee pension fund’ and ‘any health, medical, or hospital insurance association,’ as used above, primarily include large pension funds that serve many individuals (e.g., pension funds of large national and international organizations, unions, and corporations doing substantial interstate business), and associations that undertake to provide pension, disability, or other benefits (e.g., medical or hospitalization insurance) to large numbers of persons.

10. An offense shall be deemed to have ‘substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of a financial institution’ if as a consequence of the offense the institution became insolvent, substantially reduced benefits to pensioners or insureds, was unable on demand to refund fully any deposit, payment or investment, or was so depleted of its assets as to be forced to merge with another institution in order to continue active operations.".

The Commentary to §2B1.1 captioned "Background" is amended by inserting the following additional paragraph at the end:

" Subsection (b)(7) implements, in a broader form, the statutory directive to the Commission in Section 961(m) of Public Law 101-73.".

Section 2B4.1(b) is amended by deleting "Characteristic" and inserting in lieu thereof "Characteristics"; and by inserting the following additional subdivision:

"(2) If the offense substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of a financial institution, increase by 4 levels. If the resulting offense level is less than level 24, increase to level 24.".

The Commentary to §2B4.1 captioned "Statutory Provisions" is amended by deleting "§§ 1," and inserting in lieu thereof "§§".

The Commentary to §2B4.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended by inserting the following additional notes:

"3. ‘Financial institution,’ as used in this guideline, is defined to include any institution described in 18 U.S.C. §§ 215, 656-657, 1005-1008, 1014, and 1344; any state or foreign bank, trust company, credit union, insurance company, investment company, mutual fund, savings (building and loan) association, union or employee pension fund; any health, medical or hospital insurance association; brokers and dealers registered, or required to be registered, with the Securities and Exchange Commission; futures commodity merchants and commodity pool operators registered, or required to be registered, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and any similar entity, whether or not insured by the federal government. ‘Union or employee pension fund’ and ‘any health, medical, or hospital insurance association,’ as used above, primarily include large pension funds that serve many individuals (e.g., pension funds of large national and international organizations, unions, and corporations doing substantial interstate business), and associations that undertake to provide pension, disability, or other benefits (e.g., medical or hospitalization insurance) to large numbers of persons.

4. An offense shall be deemed to have ‘substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of a financial institution’ if as a consequence of the offense the institution became insolvent, substantially reduced benefits to pensioners or insureds, was unable on demand to refund fully any deposit, payment or investment, or was so depleted of its assets as to be forced to merge with another institution in order to continue active operations.".

The Commentary to §2B4.1 captioned "Background" is amended by inserting the following additional paragraph at the end:

" Subsection (b)(2) implements, in a broader form, the statutory directive to the Commission in Section 961(m) of Public Law 101-73.".

Section 2F1.1(b) is amended by inserting the following additional subdivision:

"(6) If the offense substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of a financial institution, increase by 4 levels. If the resulting offense level is less than level 24, increase to level 24.".

The Commentary to §2F1.1 captioned "Statutory Provisions" is amended by deleting "290" and inserting in lieu thereof "289".

The Commentary to §2F1.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended by inserting the following additional notes:

"14. ‘Financial institution,’ as used in this guideline, is defined to include any institution described in 18 U.S.C. §§ 215, 656-657, 1005-1008, 1014, and 1344; any state or foreign bank, trust company, credit union, insurance company, investment company, mutual fund, savings (building and loan) association, union or employee pension fund; any health, medical or hospital insurance association; brokers and dealers registered, or required to be registered, with the Securities and Exchange Commission; futures commodity merchants and commodity pool operators registered, or required to be registered, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and any similar entity, whether or not insured by the federal government. ‘Union or employee pension fund’ and ‘any health, medical, or hospital insurance association,’ as used above, primarily include large pension funds that serve many individuals (e.g., pension funds of large national and international organizations, unions, and corporations doing substantial interstate business), and associations that undertake to provide pension, disability, or other benefits (e.g., medical or hospitalization insurance) to large numbers of persons.

15. An offense shall be deemed to have ‘substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of a financial institution’ if as a consequence of the offense the institution became insolvent, substantially reduced benefits to pensioners or insureds, was unable on demand to refund fully any deposit, payment or investment, or was so depleted of its assets as to be forced to merge with another institution in order to continue active operations.".

The Commentary to §2F1.1 captioned "Background" is amended by inserting the following additional paragraph at the end:

" Subsection (b)(6) implements, in a broader form, the statutory directive to the Commission in Section 961(m) of Public Law 101-73.".

Reason for Amendment: This amendment implements, in a broader form, the following statutory directive in Section 961(m) of Public Law 101-73: "Pursuant to section 994 of title 28, United States Code, and section 21 of the Sentencing Act of 1987, the United States Sentencing Commission shall promulgate guidelines, or amend existing guidelines, to provide for a substantial period of incarceration for a violation of, or a conspiracy to violate, section 215, 656, 657, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1014, 1341, 1343, or 1344 of title 18, United States Code, that substantially jeopardizes the safety and soundness of a federally insured financial institution." In addition, this amendment deletes an incorrect statutory provision in the Commentary to §2B4.1, and deletes a reference to a petty offense in the Commentary to §2F1.1 that was inadvertently retained when other references to petty offenses were deleted.

Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1990.