As part of the FDIC's systematic review of its regulations and written policies under section 303(a) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (CDRI), the FDIC has revised and consolidated its three different groups of rules and regulations governing international banking. The first group governs insured branches of foreign banks and specifies what deposit-taking activities are permissible for uninsured state-licensed branches of foreign banks. The FDIC's final rule makes conforming changes throughout this group of regulations to reflect the statutory requirement that domestic retail deposit activities must be conducted through an insured bank subsidiary, not through an insured branch. Also with respect to this group of regulations, the FDIC is rescinding the provisions concerning optional insurance for U.S. branches of foreign banks; the pledge of assets formula has been revised; and the FDIC Division of Supervision's (DOS) new supervision program--the Case Manager approach--has been integrated throughout the applicable regulations. The second group of regulations governs the foreign branches of insured state nonmember banks, and also governs such banks' investment in foreign banks or other financial entities. The final rule modernizes this group of regulations and clarifies provisions outlining the activities in which insured state nonmember banks may engage abroad, and reduces the instances in which banks must file an application before opening a foreign branch or making a foreign investment. The third group of regulations governs the international lending of insured state nonmember banks and specifies when reserves are required for particular international assets. The final rule revises this group of regulations to simplify the accounting for fees on international loans to make it consistent with generally accepted accounting principles. Consistent with the goals of CDRI, the final rule improves efficiency, reduces costs, and eli