Photo of Stuart Stock

Stuart Stock

On October 17, 2018, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) announced that it  voted unanimously to rescind its designation of Prudential Financial, Inc. as a so-called “systemically important financial institution” (“SIFI”).  Section 113 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) enables FSOC to identify a nonbank financial company for supervision by

On September 11, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “Bureau”, and, collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a statement “clarifying the role of supervisory guidance.” The release affirms that the Agencies “do not take enforcement actions based on supervisory guidance” and that such guidance “does not have the force and effect of law.” This statement continues a recent pattern in regulatory policy of downplaying the force of guidance documents, at least as they relate to enforcement actions.

The statement explains that, rather than create binding rules with the force and effect of law, guidance “outlines supervisory expectations or priorities” and/or provides examples of practices the Agencies consider acceptable under applicable legal standards, such as safety and soundness standards. Further, the Agencies state that guidance is often issued in part as a response to requests from supervised institutions to “provide insight to industry” and help “ensure consistency in the supervisory approach.”

Continue Reading Banking Regulators Issue Joint Policy Statement Downplaying the Role of Supervisory Guidance in Enforcement

On October 19, 2016, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released a joint Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) requesting public comment on enhanced cybersecurity standards that would apply to certain large, interconnected financial entities as well as