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Banker Compliance News

Banking compliance professionals require hot-topic news on consumer and regulatory compliance updates, decisions, amendments, changes and launches from across a wide spectrum of news agencies and federal websites. Not only do we update our News pages with individual news items and their links, but these are sent to members in a Daily Bank Compliance email that can be signed up for once new members log-in. Compliance Alliance monitors these agencies for bank compliance news updates throughout the day—posting relevant information to our News page. This is a valuable resource for Bank Managers and their employees.

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  • Bank Activities: Chief Counsel’s Interpretation Clarifying Authority of a Bank to Engage in Certain Cryptocurrency Activities and Authority of the OCC to Charter a National Trust Bank

    November 24, 2021 / Source: OCC

    On November 23, 2021, the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued Interpretive Letter 1179, which clarified and elaborated on aspects of prior interpretive letters addressing cryptocurrency and trust activities.

  • Computer-Security Incident Notification: Final Rule

    November 24, 2021 / Source: OCC

    On November 23, 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation published a final rule to establish computer-security incident notification requirements for banking organizations and their bank service providers. Note for Community Banks This final rule applies to community banks.1

  • Investments: Venture Capital Funds

    November 24, 2021 / Source: OCC

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is issuing this bulletin to remind banks1 that they are prohibited from making most equity investments in venture capital funds. Note for Community Banks This bulletin applies to community banks.

  • Joint Statement on Crypto-Asset Policy Sprint Initiative and Next Steps

    November 23, 2021 / Source: FDIC

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the agencies) are jointly issuing this statement to summarize the work undertaken during the interagency policy sprints focused on crypto-assets, and to provide a roadmap of future planned work. The joint Statement can be found on the FDIC website.

  • Crypto-Assets: Joint Statement on Crypto-Asset Policy Sprint Initiative and Next Steps

    November 23, 2021 / Source: OCC

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) today issued a joint statement summarizing the interagency “policy sprint” on crypto-assets1 and announcing several initiatives to provide greater clarity on permissibility, safety and soundness, consumer protection, and compliance with existing laws and regulations related to crypto-asset-related activities in which banks2 may engage. The OCC is approaching crypto-related activities in the federal banking system very carefully with a high degree of caution and expects its supervised institutions to do the same. OCC-supervised institutions should reach out to the appropriate OCC supervisory office before engaging in any crypto-related activity.

  • Statement by FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams on the Final Rule on Computer-Security Incident Notification at the FDIC Board Meeting

    November 22, 2021 / Source: FDIC

    Technological advancement in banking has lowered the cost of financial services and products, expanded the pool of creditworthy consumers, and increased access to financial services. As the nation’s deposit insurer and primary supervisor of community banks, the FDIC is also cognizant of the critical role of innovation in allowing community banks to remain competitive in the modern world. At the same time, however, as technology has evolved, so have the cybersecurity risks with which banks must grapple. In recent years, the frequency and severity of cyberattacks against financial institutions have increased.

  • Ethics Guidance to Protect the Public Trust and Detect Revolving Door Misconduct

    November 22, 2021 / Source: CFPB

    This year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau turned ten years old. The agency has been lucky to attract so many skilled public servants committed to the mission of promoting fair, transparent, and competitive markets.

  • FinCEN Notice: FinCEN Calls Attention to Environmental Crimes and Related Financial Activity

    November 18, 2021 / Source: FinCEN

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing this Notice to call attention to an upward trend in environmental crimes and associated illicit financial activity. FinCEN is highlighting this trend because of: (1) its strong association with corruption and transnational criminal organizations, two of FinCEN’s national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) priorities;1 (2) a need to enhance reporting and analysis of related illicit financial flows;2 and (3) environmental crimes’ contribution to the climate crisis, including threatening ecosystems, decreasing biodiversity, and increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.3 This Notice provides financial institutions with specific suspicious activity report (SAR) filing instructions and highlights the likelihood of illicit financial activity related to several types of environmental crimes.

  • Agencies approve final rule requiring computer-security incident notification Federal Reserve Bank

    November 18, 2021 / Source: FRB

    Federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the approval of a final rule to improve the sharing of information about cyber incidents that may affect the U.S. banking system. The final rule requires a banking organization to notify its primary federal regulator of any significant computer-security incident as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours after the banking organization determines that a cyber incident has occurred. Notification is required for incidents that have materially affected—or are reasonably likely to materially affect—the viability of a banking organization's operations, its ability to deliver banking products and services, or the stability of the financial sector.

  • Agencies Approve Final Rule Requiring Computer-Security Incident Notification

    November 18, 2021 / Source: OCC

    Federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the approval of a final rule to improve the sharing of information about cyber incidents that may affect the U.S. banking system. The final rule requires a banking organization to notify its primary federal regulator of any significant computer-security incident as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours after the banking organization determines that a cyber incident has occurred. Notification is required for incidents that have materially affected—or are reasonably likely to materially affect—the viability of a banking organization’s operations, its ability to deliver banking products and services, or the stability of the financial sector.

  • Agencies Approve Final Rule Requiring Computer-Security Incident Notification

    November 18, 2021 / Source: FDIC

    Federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the approval of a final rule to improve the sharing of information about cyber incidents that may affect the U.S. banking system. The final rule requires a banking organization to notify its primary federal regulator of any significant computer-security incident as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours after the banking organization determines that a cyber incident has occurred. Notification is required for incidents that have materially affected—or are reasonably likely to materially affect—the viability of a banking organization’s operations, its ability to deliver banking products and services, or the stability of the financial sector.

  • Remarks by Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang at the 2021 Treasury Market Conference

    November 17, 2021 / Source: Treasury

    The Interagency Working Group on Treasury Market Surveillance, or IAWG, has co-hosted this event every year for the past 7 years. But the IAWG was founded several decades ago – in 1992 to improve oversight of the Treasury market and strengthen interagency coordination after the Salomon Brothers scandal – and since then IAWG staffs have worked together to monitor the Treasury market. More recently, IAWG staffs have been reviewing recent Treasury market disruptions and pursuing a program of analysis to inform policy making. IAWG-hosted forums like this allow us to communicate to the public our program of analysis and to encourage public engagement. Last week, the IAWG released a staff progress report, “Recent Disruptions and Potential Reforms in the U.S. Treasury Market,” which is a key focus for discussion at today’s conference.[1]

  • Reflections on Stablecoins and Payments Innovations

    November 17, 2021 / Source: FRB

    The U.S. payment system is experiencing a technology-driven revolution. Shifting consumer preferences and the introduction of new products and services from a wide variety of new entities have led to advancements in payments technology. This dynamic landscape has also sparked an active policy debate—about the risks these new developments pose, how regulators should address them, and whether the government should offer an alternative of its own.

  • CFPB Seeks Input on Detecting Discrimination in Mortgage Lending

    November 17, 2021 / Source: CF

    Insights gathered will support a fairer mortgage market

  • FinCEN Holds FinCEN Exchange on Environmental Crimes and Related Financial Activity

    November 16, 2021 / Source: FinCEN

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today convened a virtual FinCEN Exchange focused on identifying and combatting illicit financial flows associated with environmental crimes and related money laundering. Representatives from financial institutions, law enforcement, and Federal government agencies attended the session.

  • Treasury International Capital Data for September

    November 16, 2021 / Source: Treasury

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for September 2021. The next release, which will report on data for October 2021, is scheduled for December 15, 2021.

  • Acting Comptroller Discusses Modernizing the Financial Regulatory Perimeter

    November 16, 2021 / Source: OCC

    Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu today discussed modernizing the financial regulatory perimeter at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Fifth Annual Fintech Conference.

  • Remarks by FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams at the 2021 Bank On National Conference

    November 15, 2021 / Source: FDIC

    The FDIC is the nation’s deposit insurer and primary supervisor of community banks. We are cognizant, therefore, of the important role the FDIC plays in helping banks meet the needs of their customers and communities. We have seen meaningful improvements in recent years in reaching the “last mile” of unbanked households in this country. Based on the results of our biennial survey of households, the proportion of U.S. households that were banked in 2019 – 94.6 percent – was the highest since the survey began in 2009.1

  • Orders Imposing Additional Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements

    November 15, 2021 / Source: FinCEN

    Final Rule

  • U.S. Department of the Treasury Announces Partnership with Israel to Combat Ransomware

    November 15, 2021 / Source: Treasury

    Partners Establish Bilateral Task Force to Support Fintech Innovation and Cybersecurity Announcement Part of Biden Administration Efforts to Accelerate International Cooperation to Counter Ransomware

  • Treasury Sanctions Four Entities and Two Individuals in Connection with the Crisis in Ethiopia

    November 12, 2021 / Source: Treasury

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four entities and two individuals pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14046 in response to the growing humanitarian and human rights crisis and expanding military conflict in Ethiopia. Today’s action targets Eritrean actors that have contributed to the crisis and conflict, which have undermined the stability and integrity of the Ethiopian state. The United States is actively working with partners throughout the region and the world to support a negotiated cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia. The presence of Eritrean forces is an impediment to ending the ongoing fighting and increasing humanitarian access. Leaders from around the world have repeatedly called for Eritrea to withdraw its forces from Ethiopia. The E.O., which President Biden signed on September 17, 2021, authorizes targeting of actors contributing to the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia and is not directed at the people of Ethiopia or Eritrea.

  • CFPB Sues Pawn Lenders for Cheating Military Families

    November 12, 2021 / Source: CFPB

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal district court against FirstCash, Inc. and Cash America West, Inc. The CFPB alleges that the two companies violated the Military Lending Act (MLA) by charging higher than the allowable 36% annual percentage rate on pawn loans to active-duty servicemembers and their dependents. The CFPB also alleges that FirstCash violated a 2013 CFPB order against its predecessor company prohibiting MLA violations. The CFPB is seeking an injunction, redress for affected borrowers, and a civil money penalty.

  • Treasury Issues State Small Business Credit Initiative Program Implementation Guidance

    November 10, 2021 / Source: Treasury

    The State Small Business Credit Initiative provides $10 billion to expand access to capital for small businesses emerging from the pandemic, build opportunity, and create high-quality jobs across America.

  • Mortgage Servicing: Joint Statement on Supervisory and Enforcement Practices Regarding the Mortgage Servicing Rules in Response to the Continuing COVID-19 Pandemic and CARES Act

    November 10, 2021 / Source: OCC

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), 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 state financial regulators (collectively, the agencies) today issued a joint statement regarding mortgage servicing rules. The joint statement communicates to mortgage servicers that the temporary supervisory and enforcement flexibility provided in the April 2020 joint statement no longer applies and the agencies will apply their respective supervisory and enforcement authorities, when appropriate, to address any noncompliance or violations of the Regulation X mortgage servicing rules that occur after the date of this statement.

  • CFPB Takes Action to Prevent Avoidable Foreclosures

    November 10, 2021 / Source: CFPB

    Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), jointly with other government agencies, announced a return to enforcement of critical protections for families and homeowners. Those protections, put in place in the wake of the Great Recession to prevent another foreclosure crisis, give families the chance to find alternatives to foreclosure before losing their home. With the majority of the over one million remaining COVID-19 forbearances expected to end before the end of the year, struggling homeowners will need these protections to avoid foreclosure.