This morning, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released a Request for Information (“RFI”) to determine how regulations implementing the Volcker Rule should be revised to better accomplish the purposes of the statute. The OCC’s release notes that the information the agency is soliciting could support revisions to the regulation that are consistent … Continue Reading
On June 29, 2017, the Division of Corporate Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will permit all companies to submit drafts of certain registration statements to the Division on a confidential basis, expanding a popular privilege that was made available to emerging growth companies under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (known … Continue Reading
On June 27, 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the “Agencies”) proposed revisions to their Call Report forms for insured depository institutions. The proposed changes are intended to align Call Reports with a recent accounting change and … Continue Reading
On June 12, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the first of a series of reports recommending regulatory reforms to the financial system consistent with President Trump’s Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System. Treasury’s first report focuses on the regulatory framework governing the depository system. Notably, a substantial portion of … Continue Reading
See our article in BAI Banking Strategies, On the Road to Recovery: Phasing in Your Bank’s Recovery Plan, regarding compliance with the OCC’s recovery planning guidance.… Continue Reading
Federal financial agencies are taking steps to reevaluate the Volcker Rule as part of the Trump Administration’s review of financial regulations. In a May 8, 2017 meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reportedly directed the five agencies responsible for the Volcker Rule – the Board of Governors of the Federal … Continue Reading
Senators Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill today (S. 1139) that would raise the threshold for a banking organization to be subject to Dodd-Frank Act Stress Tests (DFAST) to $50 billion in total consolidated assets from the current $10 billion threshold. The bill, titled the Main Street Regulatory Fairness Act, would … Continue Reading
On April 19, 2017, the House Financial Services Committee released a new discussion draft of the Financial CHOICE Act, its comprehensive regulatory reform bill. The Committee released the first version of the CHOICE Act in June 2016. Buoyed by the election of a Republican president, and following several months of public and industry outreach, Committee … Continue Reading
On April 4, 2017, Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel K. Tarullo gave his final speech as a governor before his departure from the Board the next day. Governor Tarullo, widely considered the “most influential Wall Street regulator” during his term as governor, took the lead for the Federal Reserve in developing the agency’s most significant … Continue Reading
On March 30, 2017, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (“BCBS”) issued a consultative document to revise the methodology it uses to measure the systemic importance of internationally active banks. The BCBS methodology incorporates various quantitative indicators of a bank’s “Cross-Jurisdictional Activity,” “Size,” “Interconnectedness,” “Substitutability,” and “Complexity” to arrive at a single score of each … Continue Reading
Having released executive orders directing federal agencies to curb the issuance of new regulations and requiring a regulatory review of financial regulations, President Trump issued a new executive order on February 24, 2017 (the “Order”) to create a process within the federal agencies for implementing his administration’s deregulatory agenda. The Order contains two general requirements. … Continue Reading
On September 29, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued final guidance for recovery planning. The Guidance applies to insured national banks, federal savings associations and federal branches of foreign banks with average total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more. We partnered with Ernst & Young LLP to prepare a getting … Continue Reading
On January 30, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order to reduce the number of federal regulations and control regulatory costs (the “Order”). The Order, which applies to any “executive department or agency”— forbids any such department or agency from issuing a new regulation unless it identifies two existing regulations to be rescinded, unless prohibited … Continue Reading
On Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017, the Trump administration issued a freeze on new regulations by executive agencies, and on January 23, 2017, the administration ordered a freeze on hiring employees by executive agencies. Each of these actions has the potential to affect federal financial regulation.… Continue Reading
With this week’s close of the comment period on the December 2016 whitepaper by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) regarding special purpose charters for fintech companies, which we discussed in a previous client alert, several key stakeholders have weighed in on the OCC’s plans. Notably, on January 13, 2017, the Conference … Continue Reading
As we discussed in a recent client alert, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held on December 27, 2016, in Bandimere v. SEC, that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s use of administrative law judges (“ALJs”) to adjudicate enforcement actions is unconstitutional. The decision has created a circuit split that breathes new life … Continue Reading
On January 3, 2017, Timothy G. Massad announced that he will step down as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017. Chairman Massad’s announcement also notes that he will also step down as a Commissioner after a few weeks. President Barack Obama nominated Chairman Massad to … Continue Reading
On December 20, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released a final rule addressing the receivership of national banks that are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and therefore are not subject to receivership by the FDIC under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”). While all 52 existing … Continue Reading
On December 15, 2016, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”) issued a final rule requiring global systemically important banking organizations (“G-SIBs”) to issue minimum amounts of “plain vanilla” unsecured long-term debt and total loss-absorbing capacity (“TLAC”) instruments, and to maintain so-called “clean” holding companies that have no “runnable” liabilities. … Continue Reading
The election of Donald J. Trump as President, along with continued Republican control of the Senate and House of Representatives, promises to bring change to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). The transition at the FDIC should be gradual due to the structure of the agency’s board of directors. The five-person board consists of three … Continue Reading
On November 7, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced that the agency will begin phasing in a new, centralized online system for processing licensing and public welfare investment applications and notices filed by national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies (collectively, “banks”).… Continue Reading
On October 5, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued guidance to national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies regarding their periodic evaluation of the risks related to foreign correspondent accounts. The guidance appears aimed to address widely reported concerns that financial institutions are unnecessarily terminating relationships with … Continue Reading
On October 11, 2016, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) issued guidance to its regulated banking organizations regarding incentive compensation practices. The guidance is intended to address recent concerns over compensation practices that may incentivize employees to engage in inappropriate sales practices.… Continue Reading
Today, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued its final standard on the regulatory capital treatment of banking organizations’ holdings of Total Loss Absorbing Capacity (“TLAC”) and related instruments issued by global systemically important banking organizations (“G-SIBs”). The final standard has important implications for the marketability and liquidity of TLAC and other instruments that G-SIBs … Continue Reading
