Today, March 26, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released an interagency statement encouraging financial institutions to offer responsible small-dollar loans to both consumers and small businesses facing … Continue Reading
Yesterday, March 23, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “FRB”) announced the latest in a series of extraordinary actions intended to help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. economy. Unlike the measures announced last week – which mostly involved re-establishing emergency programs that were used during the … Continue Reading
On Sunday, March 22, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors released an Interagency Statement encouraging financial institutions to work with borrowers affected … Continue Reading
On February 10, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued supplementary guidance intended to clarify existing procedures for deposit insurance applications for non-traditional banks.… Continue Reading
On January 8, 2020, Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) Governor Lael Brainard delivered remarks on the state of Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) reform before an audience at the Urban Institute. As we summarized in a client alert, last month, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) released … Continue Reading
On January 7, 2020, the presidential campaign of Senator Elizabeth Warren released a plan to overhaul the consumer bankruptcy system in the United States. The plan would repeal means testing and other provisions of the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. It would also implement enhanced protections for consumer debtors who file for … Continue Reading
On December 3, 2019, the Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and National Credit Union Administration (collectively, “the agencies”), released a joint statement on the use of alternative data in underwriting by banks, credit unions, and non-bank financial firms. The agencies defined alternative data … Continue Reading
On October 22, 2019, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued two letters concluding that three Federal Reserve Supervision and Regulation letters, SR 12-17: Consolidated Supervision Framework for Large Financial Institutions, SR 14-8: Consolidated Recovery Planning for Certain Large Domestic Bank Holding Companies, and SR 11-7: Guidance on Model Risk Management, are “rules” under the … Continue Reading
On September 17, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Director Kathleen Kraninger sent letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that the CFPB “has determined that the for-cause removal provision of the Consumer Financial Protection Act . . . is unconstitutional.” The Bureau now affirms that the for-cause removal provision … Continue Reading
As we turn the page on the summer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is poised to be active – and actively overseen – in the months ahead. Here’s an overview of some of the issues and events ahead. … Continue Reading
On August 14, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a consent order (the “Consent Order”)—agreed to by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”), Kraft Foods Group Inc. (“Kraft”) and Mondelēz Global LLC (“Mondelēz”)—to resolve long-running market manipulation litigation between the parties.… Continue Reading
In the past few weeks, both Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) Chairman Jelena McWilliams and Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting have spoken publicly about ongoing efforts by their agencies, and by the Federal Reserve Board, to reform regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). The federal bank regulatory agencies have been working on reforms … Continue Reading
On July 22, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the “federal banking agencies”), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a joint statement emphasizing their risk-focused … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, June 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) convened the first in a new series of symposia on consumer protection topics. The symposium series was announced in Director Kathleen Kraninger’s first major speech as the Bureau’s Director on April 17, 2019. The intent of the series is to initiate dialogue with stakeholders … Continue Reading
On June 13, 2019, the FDIC released its first edition of Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights, the purpose of which is to increase transparency regarding the FDIC’s consumer compliance supervisory activities. The publication provides a high-level overview of the consumer compliance issues identified through approximately 1,200 consumer compliance examinations conducted in 2018 for non-member state-chartered banks … Continue Reading
On June 4, 2019, Jelena McWilliams, the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), addressed the Community Development Bankers Association. Her remarks emphasized the importance of community banking in the U.S. economy while also touching upon a number of related topics including Minority Depositary Institutions (“MDIs”), the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”), Small-Dollar Lending and … Continue Reading
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released earlier this week its Semmiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2019. The 30-page report, authored by the OCC’s National Risk Committee, reflects the agency’s view of current risks facing OCC-regulated banks. One of the functions of the National Risk Committee is to guide bank examiners on … Continue Reading
On April 30, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) opened a 45-day public comment period on its Innovation Pilot Program (the “Program”). In accordance with the agency’s objective of providing constructive and proactive supervision, the OCC’s proposed Program is intended to encourage the testing of innovative activities – including products, services, … Continue Reading
On April 18, 2019, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced an enforcement action against Eric Powers, a California-based peer-to-peer (P2P) virtual currency exchanger, for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). This marks the first time FinCEN has taken action against a P2P virtual currency exchanger and the first time it … Continue Reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced Tuesday that going forward the agency will provide more information in its Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”). The American Bankers Association and others had voiced concerns about the often vague and expansive scope of such demands in response to the Bureau’s 2018 Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking feedback on … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, March 27, 2019, the CFTC’s Market Intelligence Branch of the Division of Market Oversight issued a report on the impact of automated orders in futures markets to determine how technological change affects futures trading. Automated trading refers to orders that are generated or routed without human intervention. The CFTC presented the report before … Continue Reading
On March 21, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) announced that it was enhancing its advisory committee charters. The announcement follows former Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s decision in June 2018 to reduce the number of members on the committees and decrease membership terms. Director Kathy Kraninger described these changes as a product … Continue Reading
On March 12, 2019, the CFPB released the 18th edition of its Supervisory Highlights report. The report covers supervision activities completed between June 2018 and November 2018 and discusses supervisory observations related to automobile loan servicing, mortgage servicing, remittances, and deposits. The report also summarizes the CFPB’s previously announced public enforcement actions and guidance during … Continue Reading
On February 12, 2019, for the first time in its history, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) announced the release of 2019 examination priorities for each of its regulatory Divisions. CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo stated that “[t]his first-ever publication of division examination priorities is in line with Project KISS and other agency initiatives to … Continue Reading
