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 July 20, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced the release of its Spring 2017 semiannual update of its rulemaking agenda, which is included in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the “Unified Agenda”), published by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”). Submissions for the Spring 2017 update to … Continue Reading
On July 14, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a proposal to ease, at least temporarily, the reporting requirements for community banks and credit unions under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”). The proposed rule would raise the threshold at which financial institutions have to report on home equity lines of credit for … Continue Reading
See our sister blog, Inside Privacy, for a summary of the FAQs published by the New York State Department of Financial Services on its new cybersecurity regulations.… Continue Reading
On July 10, 2017, the FDIC published for comment a handbook on deposit insurance applications, Deposit Insurance Applications: Procedures Manual. The manual covers each step in the application process: pre-filing activities, application receipt, review and acceptance, application processing, pre-opening activities and post-opening considerations. The FDIC has two audiences and purposes in issuing the manual. For potential bank organizers, the manual provides greater clarity of … Continue Reading
Earlier this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a final rule substantially curtailing the ability of financial services providers and consumers to enter into voluntary pre-dispute arbitration clauses. The final rule, like the proposed rule that preceded it, would i) prevent financial services providers from including arbitration clauses in consumer contracts unless those arbitration … Continue Reading
On July 7, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (“CFPB”) announced final amendments to its “Know Before You Owe” (“KBYO”) mortgage disclosure rule to memorialize informal guidance regarding the rule, clarify certain aspects of the rule, and provide implementation guidance to industry. The CFPB also issued a proposed rule regarding when a creditor may compare … 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
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
