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Mind Your Flanks: Collateral Litigation Associated with FCPA Actions
When allegations of foreign bribery surface — whether from news reports, a whistleblower submission, or otherwise — companies move aggressively to address the many issues associated with a potential investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and/or the U.S. Securities and Exchange...
ArticlesAnother Court Affirms DOJ Financial Fraud Strategy
On Sept. 24, 2013, Judge Jesse Furman in the Southern District of New York released his widely anticipated decision allowing the U.S. Department of Justice’s False Claims Act and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act case against a major financial institution to proceed. The...
ArticlesStudents, Loan Servicers, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Over the past two years, mortgage loan servicers have faced an onslaught of regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions and targeted litigation. The Department of Justice, state attorneys general and the federal banking regulators have extracted tens of billions of dollars in settlements, borrower...
ArticlesSpotlight on the Short-Term Credit Crackdown
Short-term lending is under a new round of attacks, and this time some banks are feeling the heat. The New York State Department of Financial Services recently issued a letter to 117 banks requesting that they “choke off" automated clearing house (ACH) payment access to their customers’ accounts,...
ArticlesA Practical Guide to CFPB Compliance Examination Management
CFPB compliance examinations tend to be more adversarial and yield more severe consequences for supervised entities than the banking industry has experienced with the prudential banking regulators. The authors describe what to expect and suggest practical steps - before, during, and after the...
ArticlesAvoiding the FCA & FIRREA Trap: Practical Tips for Compliance Professionals
As the government becomes increasingly aggressive in its efforts to fight financial fraud, companies naturally are looking for new ways to avoid becoming the next target. In the last two years, the Department of Justice (‘‘DOJ’’) has filed lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages from...
ArticlesWhich One of Us Is the Service Provider? The Dodd-Frank Act's Infinite Loop of Oversight
Prudential regulators have advised supervised banks for nearly 30 years about the need for careful diligence of their service providers, but the expectations of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) raise both the intensity of these warnings, and the stakes. Title X of...
ArticlesThe CFPB's Amicus Program - Friend or Foe?
Amanda Raines wrote, "The CFPB's Amicus Program - Friend or Foe?" in the August 6, 2013 issue of BNA's Banking Report . They discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s amicus program which advocates for policy within the context of pending litigation, and how the CFPB’s use of amicus briefs...
ArticlesAn Overview of the CFPB's Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued an avalanche of new mortgage rules slated to become effective next January 10, and probably none will have as broad an impact on residential credit as the “Ability-to-Repay” rule (the Rule). The Rule will require nearly all lenders to make...
ArticlesHUD Sets Stage for FCA Claims Against Fund Recipients
The Fair Housing Act requires agencies to administer their programs and activities relating to housing and urban development “affirmatively to further” fair housing. Recipients of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program funding currently are required to conduct a fairly...
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