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
On June 15, 2017, the CFPB announced that it is proposing for public comment certain modifications to its prepaid rule. The rule, which was issued in final form in October 2016, limits consumers’ losses for lost and stolen prepaid cards, requires financial institutions to investigate errors, and includes enhanced disclosure provisions. The final rule unexpectedly … 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
On May 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a request for information on small business lending. In a press release accompanying the request, the CFPB stated that its goal is to “learn more about how small businesses engage with financial institutions, with a particular focus on women-owned and minority-owned small business,” in … Continue Reading
On May 2, 2017, more than 100 Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to the recently installed Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta encouraging the Labor Department to “delay ˗ in its entirety” the Department of Labor’s final rule on the definition of fiduciary (the so-called “fiduciary rule”). This new rule expands the definition of fiduciary under ERISA … Continue Reading
On April 20, 2017, the CFPB released a final rule to delay the effective date for certain provisions of the prepaid accounts final rule, from October 1, 2017, to April 1, 2018. We discussed the CFPB’s proposal to delay the effective date of the prepaid accounts final rule in a prior post. In the final … Continue Reading
On April 13, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (the “NPRM” or “proposal”) to amend the Regulation C final rule issued by the CFPB in October 2015 (“Final Rule”). Regulation C implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”), 12 U.S.C. § 2801 et seq. The Final Rule … 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 9, 2017, the CFPB released a proposal to delay the effective date for certain provisions of the prepaid accounts final rule for six months, from October 1, 2017, to April 1, 2018. In its proposal, the CFPB indicated that the proposed extension was prompted by industry concerns about constraints on the ability to … 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
As reported by Law360, European Central Bank (“ECB”) Executive Board Member and Supervisory Board Vice-Chair Sabine Lautenschläger suggested in a February 19 interview that the ECB intends to keep “European [banking] institutions on a tighter rein” than the United States appears to intend to do with domestic banks. Ms. Lautenschläger noted “it is imperative that … Continue Reading
Today, both the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published guidance addressing the agencies’ “expectations for compliance” with minimum variation margin requirements for non-cleared swaps that become effective March 1, 2017. The guidance is relevant to any swap dealer registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) for which … Continue Reading
On February 14, 2017, President Donald Trump signed a resolution nullifying a Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulation that required energy companies to disclose foreign payments. This marks the first successful use of the Congressional Review Act (“CRA”) procedure in 16 years, and only the second successful use since the statute passed in 1996. Several … Continue Reading
Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to curtail financial regulations, particularly those promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act. President Trump argued frequently that the regulations issued under the act have proven overly burdensome and, among other things, limited job growth. This afternoon, the President took his first formal step in implementing his deregulatory agenda. He … Continue Reading
On February 1, 2017, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (“DSIO”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued a no-action letter granting relief from compliance with certain provisions of the CFTC’s margin requirements for uncleared swaps. This relief applies to swap dealers entering into swaps with counterparties subject to the non-centrally cleared … Continue Reading
On January 31, 2017, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to Democratic Senators arguing that the single director structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) should not be replaced with a five-member commission. Specifically, the Senators warned that attempts to restructure the CFPB are intended “to prevent the agency … Continue Reading
On January 30, 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve Board”) released a final rule amending its capital plan and Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (“CCAR”) stress testing rules. The final rule addresses the following key issues, among others: Qualitative Assessments. Under the final rule, “large and noncomplex bank … 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
The CFTC announced today that it will extend the comment period for the supplemental proposal for Regulation AT until May 1, 2017. This is in keeping with Acting Chairman Giancarlo’s remark during SEFCON VII earlier this month, when he pointed out that an extension was warranted “based on the complexity of the supplemental notice and … 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
On January 12, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published final rules for inflation-adjusted civil penalty amounts. Beginning January 15, 2017, the FTC and CFPB’s new civil penalty amounts for consumer protection violations are:… Continue Reading
On December 2, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) proposed rules establishing capital requirements for swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”). The CFTC’s proposed capital rules would cover those swap dealers and major swap participants that are not subject to prudential regulation. Chairman Timothy Massad noted in his attached statement that the … 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
