(4) DATE OF APPLICABILITY.-The provisions of this Act shall not apply with respect to any depository institution before the effective date of regulations prescribed by the Board under this subsection (or by the National Credit Union Administration Board under section 12(b),1 in the case of any depository institution described in clause (iv) of section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act).

(b) MODEL FORMS AND CLAUSES.

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Board shall publish model forms and clauses for common disclosures to facilitate compliance with this Act. In devising such forms, the Board shall consider the use by depository institutions of data processing or similar automated machines.

(2) USE OF FORMS AND CLAUSES DEEMED IN COMPLIANCE.— Nothing in this Act may be construed to require a depository institution to use any such model form or clause prescribed by the Board under this subsection. A depository institution shall be deemed to be in compliance with the disclosure provisions of this Act if the depository institution

(A) uses any appropriate model form or clause as published by the Board; or

(B) uses any such model form or clause and changes it by

(i) deleting any information which is not required by this Act; or

(ii) rearranging the format,

if in making such deletion or rearranging the format, the depository institution does not affect the substance, clarity, or meaningful sequence of the disclosure.

(3) PUBLIC NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT.— Model disclosure forms and clauses shall be adopted by the Board after duly given notice in the Federal Register and an opportunity for public comment in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 270. [12 U.S.C. 4309] ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.

(a) IN GENERAL.-Compliance with the requirements imposed under this Act shall be enforced under

(1) section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act

(A) by the appropriate Federal banking agency (as defined in section 3(q) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) in the case of insured depository institutions (as defined in section 3(c)(2) of such Act);

(B) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the case of depository institutions described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act which are not insured depository institutions (as defined in section 3(c)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act); and

(C) by the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision in the case of depository institutions described in clause (v) and or (vi) of section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act which are not insured depository institutions (as defined in section 3(c)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act); and

1 So in original. Should probably be "section 272(b)".

(2) the Federal Credit Union Act, by the National Credit Union Administration Board in the case of depository institutions described in clause (iv) of section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act.

(b) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT POWERS.

(1) VIOLATION OF THIS ACT TREATED AS VIOLATION OF OTHER ACTS.-For purposes of the exercise by any agency referred to in subsection (a) of such agency's powers under any Act referred to in such subsection, a violation of a requirement imposed under this Act shall be deemed to be a violation of a requirement imposed under that Act.

(2) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY UNDER OTHER ACTS.-In addition to the powers of any agency referred to in subsection (a) under any provision of law specifically referred to in such subsection, each such agency may exercise, for purposes of enforcing compliance with any requirement imposed under this Act, any other authority conferred on such agency by law.

(c) REGULATIONS BY AGENCIES OTHER THAN THE BOARD.-The authority of the Board to issue regulations under this Act does not impair the authority of any other agency referred to in subsection (a) to make rules regarding its own procedures in enforcing compliance with the requirements imposed under this Act.

SEC. 271. [12 U.S.C. 4310] CIVIL LIABILITY. 1

(a) CIVIL LIABILITY.-Except as otherwise provided in this section, any depository institution which fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this Act or any regulation prescribed under this Act with respect to any person who is an account holder is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of—

(1) any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of the failure;

(2)(A) in the case of an individual action, such additional amount as the court may allow, except that the liability under this subparagraph shall not be less than $100 nor greater than $1,000; or

(B) in the case of a class action, such amount as the court may allow, except that

(i) as to each member of the class, no minimum recovery shall be applicable; and

(ii) the total recovery under this subparagraph in any class action or series of class actions arising out of the same failure to comply by the same depository institution shall not be more than the lesser of $500,000 or 1 percent of the net worth of the depository institution involved; and (3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under paragraph (1) or (2), the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney's fee as determined by the court.

(b) CLASS ACTION AWARDS.-In determining the amount of any award in any class action, the court shall consider, among other relevant factors

1 Pursuant to section 2604(a) of P.L. 104-208 (110 Stat. 3009-487) this section is repealed effective "as of the end of the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act" Sept. 30, 1996).

(1) the amount of any actual damages awarded;

(2) the frequency and persistence of failures of compliance; (3) the resources of the depository institution;

(4) the number of persons adversely affected; and

(5) the extent to which the failure of compliance was intentional.

(c) BONA FIDE ERRORS.

(1) GENERAL RULE.-A depository institution may not be held liable in any action brought under this section for a violation of this Act if the depository institution demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error, notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid any such error.

(2) EXAMPLES.-Examples of a bona fide error include clerical, calculation, computer malfunction and programming, and printing errors, except that an error of legal judgment with respect to a depository institution's obligation under this Act is not a bona fide error.

(d) NO LIABILITY FOR OVERPAYMENT.-A depository institution may not be held liable in any action under this section for a violation of this Act if the violation has resulted in

(1) an interest payment to the account holder in an amount greater than the amount determined under any disclosed rate of interest applicable with respect to such payment;

or

(2) a charge to the consumer in an amount less than the amount determined under the disclosed charge or fee schedule applicable with respect to such charge.

(e) JURISDICTION.-Any action under this section may be brought in any United States district court, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, within 1 year after the date of the occurrence of the violation involved.

(f) RELIANCE ON BOARD RULINGS.-No provision of this section imposing any liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith in conformity with any regulation or order, or any interpretation of any regulation or order, of the Board, or in conformity with any interpretation or approval by an official or employee of the Board duly authorized by the Board to issue such interpretation or approval under procedures prescribed by the Board, notwithstanding, the fact that after such act or omission has occurred, such regulation, order, interpretation, or approval is amended, rescinded, or determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.

(g) NOTIFICATION OF AND ADJUSTMENT FOR ERRORS.-A depository institution shall not be liable under this section or section 270 for any failure to comply with any requirement imposed under this Act with respect to any account if

(1) before

(A) the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date on which the depository institution discovered the failure to comply;

(B) any action is instituted against the depository institution by the account holder under this section with respect to such failure to comply; and

(C) any written notice of such failure to comply is received by the depository institution from the account holder, the depository institution notifies the account holder of the failure of such institution to comply with such requirement; and (2) the depository institution makes such adjustments as may be necessary with respect to such account to ensure that

(A) the account holder will not be liable for any amount in excess of the amount actually disclosed with respect to any fee or charge;

(B) the account holder will not be liable for any fee or charge imposed under any condition not actually disclosed; and

(C) interest on amounts in such account will accrue at the annual percentage yield, and under the conditions, actually disclosed (and credit will be provided for interest already accrued at a different annual percentage yield and under different conditions than the yield or conditions disclosed). (h) MULTIPLE INTERESTS IN 1 ACCOUNT.-If more than 1 person holds an interest in any account

(1) the minimum and maximum amounts of liability under subsection (a)(2)(A) for any failure to comply with the requirements of this Act shall apply with respect to such account; and

(2) the court shall determine the manner in which the amount of any such liability with respect to such account shall be distributed among such persons.

(i) CONTINUING FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.

(1) CERTAIN CONTINUING FAILURES TREATED AS 1 VIOLATION.-Except as provided in paragraph (2), the continuing failure of any depository institution to disclose any particular term required to be disclosed under this Act with respect to a particular account shall be treated as a single violation for purposes of determining the amount of any liability of such institution under subsection (a) for such failure to disclose.

(2) SUBSEQUENT FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.-The continuing failure of any depository institution to disclose any particular term required to be disclosed under this Act with respect to a particular account after judgment has been rendered in favor of the account holder in connection with a prior failure to disclose such term with respect to such account shall be treated as a subsequent violation for purposes of determining liability under subsection (a).

(3) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 270.-This subsection shall not limit or otherwise affect the enforcement power under section 270 of any agency referred to in subsection (a) of such section.

SEC. 272. [12 U.S.C. 4311] CREDIT UNIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.-No regulation prescribed by the Board under this Act shall apply directly with respect to any depository institu

tion described in clause (iv) of section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act.

(b) REGULATIONS PRESCRIBED BY THE NCUA-Within 90 days of the effective date of any regulation prescribed by the Board under this Act, the National Credit Union Administration Board shall prescribe a regulation substantially similar to the regulation prescribed by the Board taking into account the unique nature of credit unions and the limitations under which they may pay dividends on member accounts.

SEC. 273. [12 U.S.C. 4312] EFFECT ON STATE LAW.

The provisions of this Act do not supersede any provisions of the law of any State relating to the disclosure of yields payable or terms for accounts to the extent such State law requires the disclosure of such yields or terms for accounts, except to the extent that those laws are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency. The Board may determine whether such inconsistencies exist.

SEC. 274. [12 U.S.C. 4313] DEFINITIONS.

For the purposes of this Act

(1) ACCOUNT.-The term "account" means any account intended for use by and generally used by consumers primarily for personal, family, or household purposes that is offered by a depository institution into which a consumer deposits funds, including demand accounts, time accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, and share draft accounts.

(2) ANNUAL PERCENTAGE YIELD.-The term "annual percentage yield" means the total amount of interest that would be received on a $100 deposit, based on the annual rate of simple interest and the frequency of compounding for a 365-day period, expressed as a percentage calculated by a method which shall be prescribed by the Board in regulations.

(3) ANNUAL RATE OF SIMPLE INTEREST.-The term "annual rate of simple interest"—

(A) means the annualized rate of interest paid with respect to each compounding period, expressed as a percentage; and

(B) may be referred to as the "annual percentage rate".

(4) BOARD.-The term "Board" means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

(5) DEPOSIT BROKER.-The term "deposit broker"—

(A) has the meaning given to such term in section 29(f)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; and

(B) includes any person who solicits any amount from any other person for deposit in an insured depository insti

tution.

(6) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.-The term "depository institution" has the meaning given such term in clauses (i) through (vi) of section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act, but does not include any nonautomated credit union that was not required to comply with the requirements of this title as of the date of enactment of the Economic Growth and Regulatory