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  • Federal government directs agencies to eliminate medical debt as an indicator of creditworthiness

    Federal Issues

    On August 25, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo directing “agencies with direct loan and loan guarantee programs that focus on consumer loans or small and medium businesses where a consumer’s credit history is a factor, to whenever possible and consistent with the law take actions to reduce the impact of medical debt in the underwriting of Federal credit programs.” Although OMB recognized that some agencies such as the Department Veterans Affairs and the CFPB have already taken some steps to lessen medical debt burdens, it found that these prior efforts have been insufficient. Instead, the memo stresses that “[t]he collective efforts of the Federal Government, working with the private sector” are necessary to “remedy the impact of the issue of medical debt as an indicator for creditworthiness.” The memo outlines guidance for agencies to develop a plan to eliminate medical debt as a factor for underwriting in credit programs. These steps include (i) “[i]dentifying any statutory, regulatory, or administrative changes that would be required to modify criteria and consideration factors, exclude medical debt, or otherwise lessen the impact of medical debt consideration or underwriting in Federal lending programs”; (ii) conducting an “[i]nitial qualitative assessment and cost-benefit analysis of any statutory or regulatory changes” or any anticipated changes; (iii) conducting an “[a]ssessment of whether model updates are required for FCRA cost estimation, especially if the exclusion of medical debt would explicitly or implicitly affect particular underwriting requirements such as debt-to-income ratios, etc.”; and (iv) incorporating stakeholder input and assessing known risks that may impact an agency’s goal of achieving its plan.

    Federal Issues Medical Debt Consumer Finance OMB Underwriting Department of Veterans Affairs CFPB

  • FinCEN requests comments on renewal of the OMB control number

    Financial Crimes

    On January 11, FinCEN issued a notice in the Federal Register soliciting comments on the renewal of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number assigned to the regulation requiring reports of transactions with foreign financial agencies (FFAs). According to the notice, the regulation in the Bank Secrecy Act authorizes the Treasury Secretary “to promulgate regulations requiring specified financial institutions to file reports with [FinCEN] of certain transactions with designated [FFAs].” Although no changes are proposed to the information collection itself, the notice gives stakeholders an opportunity to comment on existing regulatory requirements and related burden estimates under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The notice also proposes for review and comment a methodology to expand the scope of future estimates for purposes of the PRA to account for cost and time when a financial institution must also report on multiple prior (“backward-looking”) and future (“forward-looking”) transactions with a designated FFA, thus “intending to be more granular in the estimates of resources expended to comply with these regulatory requirements.” Comments must be received by March 14, 2022.

    Financial Crimes Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FinCEN Federal Register OMB Bank Secrecy Act Of Interest to Non-US Persons

  • Agencies adopt standardized approach for counterparty credit risk Call Report

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On November 9, the FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, and the OCC announced the publication of final regulatory reporting changes in the Federal Register applicable to three versions of the Call Report (FFIEC 031, FFIEC 041, and FFIEC 051). In July, the agencies proposed to revise and extend the Call Report for three years, and requested public comments on proposed changes to clarify instructions for reporting of deferred tax assets (DTAs) and to add a new item related to the standardized approach for counterparty credit risk (SA–CCR). (See FIL-53-2021.) Following the comment period, the agencies are proceeding with the proposed SA-CCR-related reporting change to the Call Report, which will take effect with the December 31, 2021 report date, subject to approval by the Office of Management and Budget. However, proposed instruction revisions related to DTAs are not final as the agencies continue to consider comments received on the proposed rule on tax allocation agreements. (See FIL-29-2021.) Supervised financial institutions are encouraged to review the proposed regulatory change. Redline copies of the Call Report and related draft reporting instructions are available on the FFIEC’s webpage here.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FDIC Federal Reserve OCC Call Report OMB FFIEC Bank Regulatory

  • CFPB says it will submit important research to peer review

    Federal Issues

    On August 28, the CFPB announced a new external peer review process of its “important technical and scientific research” in order to ensure its quality. The Bureau noted it is following guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which encourages federal agencies to seek peer review of “‘influential scientific information’ and ‘highly influential scientific assessments,’” specific terms defined by OMB in the guidance. The Bureau notes that it will use the Academic Research Council (ARC)—a panel of outside researchers with expertise in consumer finance—to conduct the peer reviews of its research. The Bureau has a dedicated webpage where it will post the original report, its peer review request, the ARC’s report, and if necessary, a revised report addressing the ARC’s review.

    The first report subject to peer review is the Bureau’s February report titled, “Disclosure of Time-Barred Debt and Revival: Findings from the CFPB’s Quantitative Disclosure Testing.” A copy of the report and the ARC’s review report are now available on the Bureau’s webpage.

    Federal Issues CFPB Research OMB

  • OMB requires review of all regulatory materials, including guidance

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 11, acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russel Vought, sent a memorandum to the heads of all executive agencies announcing that on May 11, agencies will be required to submit all regulatory guidance materials to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review prior to publication. The memo asserts that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) “applies to more than just notice-and-comment rules; it also encompasses a wide range of other regulatory actions, including, inter alia, guidance documents, general statements of policy and interpretive rules” and therefore, agencies should not publish a regulatory action in the Federal Register without first submitting the document to OIRA to determine whether it is considered a “major rule” under the CRA. The CRA defines a “major rule” as one having (i) an annual effect on the economy of at least $100 million; (ii) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, or federal and state governments; or (iii) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, and U.S.-based enterprises. Should OIRA consider the regulatory action to be a “major rule,” the rule will be submitted to Congress with OIRA’s report and will not become effective sooner than 60 days after its submission. The memo instructs agencies to provide OIRA a quantitative analysis, which includes costs, benefits, and transfer impacts relative to a baseline, “when reasonably possible.” Additionally, the agency’s analysis should include whether the regulatory action would impose a disproportionate cost on a particular group or place a significant burden on the economy.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Federal Issues OIRA OMB Congressional Review Act

  • CFPB seeks information on debt collection disclosures

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On February 4, the CFPB released a request for public comment on a new information collection titled, “Debt Collection Quantitative Disclosure Testing.” The proposed collection—which seeks Office of Management and Budget approval to conduct a web survey as part of the Bureau's debt collection disclosure research—“will explore consumer comprehension and decision making in response to debt collection disclosure forms.” Comments must be received by March 6.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB Debt Collection Disclosures OMB Federal Register

  • Trump intends to nominate Kathleen Kraninger to be director of the CFPB

    Federal Issues

    On June 18, the White House announced President Trump’s selection of Kathleen Kraninger to be the director of the CFPB for a five-year term. Kraninger currently serves as the associate director for general government at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to OMB, Kraninger worked at the Department of Homeland Security and in Congress on the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. Mick Mulvaney, the acting director of the Bureau and director of OMB, supervises Kraninger in her current role. In a statement commending the selection, Mulvaney emphasized that Kraninger is likely to follow his example, “I have never worked with a more qualified individual than Kathy… I know that my efforts to rein in the bureaucracy at the [Bureau] to make it more accountable, effective, and efficient will be continued under her able stewardship.” While the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) required the president to nominate a new director prior to June 22nd, Mulvaney is likely to remain the acting Bureau director for the foreseeable future, as FVRA allows Mulvaney to continue in the acting capacity until the Senate confirms or denies Kraninger’s nomination. If Kranginger’s nomination fails, FVRA would allow Mulvaney to restart a new 210-day period as acting director of the Bureau and to continue serving if the president makes another nomination before that period ends.

    Federal Issues CFPB Succession Trump OMB

  • Agencies seek OMB approval on November 2017 Call Report revisions

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 11, the Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, and OCC—as members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)—published a joint notice and request for comment for OMB review and approval regarding revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports) for financial institutions. The finalized changes modify Call Reports applicable to banks with (i) domestic offices only and less than $1 billion in total assets (FFIEC 051); (ii) domestic offices only (FFIEC 041); and (iii) domestic and foreign offices (FFIEC 031). The changes include removing or consolidating certain data items and adding a new or raising certain existing reporting thresholds in the three versions of the Call Report. Comments must be submitted by May 11. Subject to OMB approval, the revisions would take effect as of the June 30, 2018 report date. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the changes were originally proposed in November 2017.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Call Report Federal Reserve FDIC OCC FFIEC OMB

  • OCC makes technical changes to stress testing rule; regulators submit unified stress test report for OMB approval

    Federal Issues

    On February 23, the OCC finalized technical changes to its annual stress testing rule. Specifically, the final rule (i) changes the range of possible “as-of” dates used in the global market shock component to conform to changes already made by the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) to its annual stress testing regulations; (ii) extends the transition process for covered institutions with $50 billion or more in assets (“a national bank or federal savings association that becomes an over $50 billion covered institution in the fourth quarter of a calendar year will not be subject to the stress testing requirements applicable to over $50 billion covered institutions until the third year after it crosses the asset threshold”); and (iii) makes certain technical clarifications to the requirements of the OCC’s stress testing rule. The final rule takes effect March 26.

    The same day, the Fed, the OCC, and the FDIC submitted a notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requesting approval of a new stress test report form (FFIEC 016) to be implemented for the stress test report due July 31. If approved, FFIEC 016 would replace the agencies’ three separate, yet identical, forms currently used to collect information from financial institutions and holding companies with total assets of more than $10 billion but less than $50 billion. Comments on the proposed change must be received on or before March 26.

    Federal Issues OCC Stress Test Federal Reserve FDIC OMB FFIEC

  • CFPB Publishes Notices and Requests for Comment Concerning Collection of Consumer Complaints

    Consumer Finance

    On November 28, the CFPB published two notices of its intention to obtain OMB approval to continue its existing consumer complaint collection activities using its “Consumer Response Intake Form” and “Generic Information Collection Plan for Consumer Complaint and Information Collection System (Testing and Feedback).” According to the CFPB, use of the forms allows for electronic complaint submission on the Bureau’s website and streamlines the complaint process for consumers. Comments on the agency’s notices (CFPB-2017-0035 and CFPB-2017-0036) must be received by December 28, 2017.

    Consumer Finance CFPB Consumer Complaints OMB

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