On June 20, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPR”) seeking comment on proposed changes to HUD’s 2013 regulations concerning the Fair Housing Act’s “Disparate Impact Rule” (the “Rule”). The changes are primarily intended to ensure the Rule is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s … Continue Reading
On June 12, 2018, a federal judge in the Western District of Texas denied a joint motion by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (“Bureau”), the Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. (“Community Financial Services Association”) and the Consumer Alliance of Texas (“Consumer Alliance”), to stay the compliance date of the substantive provisions of … Continue Reading
On June 1, 2018, the OCC and FDIC issued a final rule shortening the settlement cycle for securities transactions effected by OCC- and FDIC-regulated institutions. Under the final rule, all such banks will be required to adhere to the standard industry settlement cycle, which currently requires trades to be settled no later than the second … Continue Reading
On May 30, 2018, the Federal Reserve Board approved a notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at simplifying regulations implementing section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1851), also known as the “Volcker Rule” (or the “Rule”). Enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Act following the financial crisis of 2008, the Volcker Rule … Continue Reading
FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence Rule for Financial Institutions (the “CDD Rule”) became effective yesterday. The rule, which was published by FinCEN on May 2016 (and slightly amended on September 29, 2017) is described in this Covington client alert. It requires covered financial institutions to: (i) adopt due diligence procedures to identify and verify a legal … Continue Reading
On April 26, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “Bureau”) finalized an amendment to the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule (also known as the TILA-RESPA Rule), which it proposed in July 2017 and which we previously described in this blog. The amendment eliminates uncertainty regarding a timing restriction in the TILA-RESPA … Continue Reading
On April 3, 2018, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) released its much-anticipated recommendations to reform the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). The report, which is addressed to the federal banking agencies, outlines a number of proposed regulatory and administrative changes to (i) the CRA’s performance evaluation criteria, and (ii) the federal banking agencies’ approach to … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a joint annual report to Congress on their activities in 2017 to combat illegal debt collection practices under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), for which the agencies share responsibilities. The report suggests that, even amidst other changes at the CFPB, … Continue Reading
On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) approved a statement and interpretive guidance that provides the Commission’s views on a public company’s disclosure obligations concerning cybersecurity risks and incidents (the “2018 Commission Guidance”). This guidance reinforces and expands upon previous cybersecurity disclosure guidance issued by the Division of Corporation Finance … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, February 21, the Treasury Department issued a report regarding the Orderly Liquidation Authority (“OLA”) established by Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act under which the FDIC may be appointed as receiver of a severely distressed and systemically important financial company. This report was prepared in response to the President’s April 21, 2017 memorandum … Continue Reading
On January 31, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau” or “CFPB”) issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking comments and information from the public regarding the Bureau’s use of administrative adjudications. The Bureau intends to use the comments received to inform deliberations as to whether and how to revise and update the Bureau’s … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) announced that it “intends to engage in a rulemaking process so that the Bureau may reconsider the Payday Rule.” The Payday Rule, previously published last fall, became effective on January 16, 2018. The announcement may be a first step toward substantially reversing or eliminating the … Continue Reading
Today the Federal Reserve issued its semiannual regulatory flexibility agenda for fall 2017, which lists regulatory matters the agency anticipates having under consideration during the period from November 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018. The agenda is notable in two respects. First, the Federal Reserve anticipates issuing, together with the Office of the Comptroller of … Continue Reading
On December 5, 2017, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a letter finding that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s March 21, 2013 Bulletin on Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act is a “rule” for the purposes of the Congressional Review Act (“CRA”), and therefore should have been submitted to … Continue Reading
On October 26, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued an order postponing the automatic lowering of the swap dealer de minimis threshold. Instead of dropping from $8 billion in notional value (measured over the prior 12-month period) to $3 billion on December 31, 2018, which would have required firms to begin tracking swap … Continue Reading
After months of speculation, the Senate voted tonight to strike down the CFPB’s controversial Arbitration Rule pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Since the House voted to repeal the Rule back in July, the repeal now heads to the President, who is expected to sign it promptly. Once signed into law, the CRA repeal … Continue Reading
On October 5, 2017, the CFPB finalized its long-awaited rule on payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans, commonly referred to as the “payday lending rule.” The final rule places ability-to-repay requirements on lenders making covered short-term loans and covered longer-term balloon-payment loans. For all covered loans, and for certain longer-term installment loans, the … Continue Reading
On September 29, 2017, a coalition of bank and trade associations filed a federal court challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) arbitration rule. The industry group plaintiffs allege that the arbitration rule is illegal on four grounds, including that the CFPB’s actions are unconstitutional, and that the Bureau violated the … Continue Reading
On September 20, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (“CFPB”) announced final amendments to Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”), to provide flexibility and clarity to mortgage lenders regarding the collection and retention of information about the ethnicity, sex, and race of certain mortgage applicants. The CFPB also issued proposed policy … Continue Reading
See our article in Law360, A Pro-Consumer, Pro-Arbitration Approach At the CFPB, regarding the CFPB’s arbitration rule, which Congress is weighing whether to overturn pursuant to the Congressional Review Act.… Continue Reading
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC” or the “Commission”) has been very active since the beginning of this year, despite the change in Presidential Administration, the lack (until recently) of appointed Commissioners, and the turnover of leadership at both the Commission and Division level. Notably, the Commission has announced over 20 enforcement actions, … Continue Reading
On August 24, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a final rule amending Regulation C, the implementing regulation for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”). In October 2015, the CFPB promulgated substantial revisions to Regulation C (the “HMDA Rule”) to implement statutory amendments to HMDA in section 1094 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street … Continue Reading
For nearly six months following former Chairman Timothy G. Massad’s resignation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the CFTC operated with only two commissioners, current Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo and Commissioner Sharon Y. Bowen. Even with only two commissioners, the CFTC was able to undertake several regulatory initiatives, including Project KISS, an effort towards … Continue Reading
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
