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Fed Fines New York Bank $3 Million for Violating Regulatory Risk Capital Requirements
On June 26, the Federal Reserve fined a New York-based bank $3 million for unsafe and unsound banking practices after the firm allegedly assigned a lower risk weighting to a portfolio of assets in violation of then-applicable Basel I regulatory risk capital requirements. According to the consent order, between 2010 and 2014, the bank consolidated a portfolio of collateralized loan obligations onto its balance sheet. It allegedly assigned a zero-risk weighting to the assets improperly, and therefore overstated its risk-based capital ratios and set aside less capital than it should have.
CFTC Enters into First-Ever Non-Prosecution Deals in Spoofing Investigation
On June 29, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) entered into non-prosecution agreements with three futures traders who admitted to engaging in “spoofing” in the U.S. Treasury futures market between 2011 and 2012 (see non-prosecution agreements here, here, and here). Spoofing involves placing bids or offers with the intent to cancel before execution. Here, the traders placed a small bid or offer on one side of the market and a large bid or offer on the opposite side of the market to be cancelled almost immediately (often in less than one second). The traders used the strategy to get smaller orders filled (and filled more quickly) at favorable prices.
This is the first time the CFTC has used non-prosecution agreements, which the Director of Enforcement called “a powerful tool to reward extraordinary cooperation in the right cases, while providing individual and organizations strong incentives to promptly accept responsibility for their wrong doing and cooperate with the Division’s investigation.” In announcing the agreements, the CFTC lauded the traders’ “timely and substantial cooperation,” noting that their efforts provided assistance in connection with a $25 million settlement with the multinational bank they worked for earlier this year.
CFPB Sues Credit Repair Companies for $2 Million
On June 27, the CFPB filed two complaints in the District Court for the Central District of California against several credit repair companies and affiliated individuals. The CFPB alleged that these defendants violated the Consumer Financial Protect Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule by charging consumers illegal fees and misleading consumers about services (see complaints here and here).
According to a CFPB press release, the defendants allegedly “[c]harged illegal advance fees” such as initial consultation fees, and set-up fees prior to providing certain services. Defendants also allegedly “[f]ailed to disclose limits on ‘money-back guarantees’” and “[m]isled consumers about the benefits of their services” by suggesting they could remove negative information from credit reports and “substantial[ly] increase” credit scores.
The CFPB submitted a proposed final judgment for each suit. In the first suit, the CFPB proposed a civil money penalty of over $1.5 million, and restrained defendants from working in credit repair services or maintaining an ownership interest in any company that provides credit repair services for a period of five years. In the second suit, the CFPB sought similar injunctive relief, and also proposed “equitable monetary relief in the form of disgorgement . . . in the amount of $500,000.”
CFPB Issues Semi-Annual Report to Congress
On June 26, the CFPB issued its eleventh semi-annual report to Congress, covering the period October 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017. The report highlights various supervisory and enforcement actions, regulations, and other guidance. The report focuses on Regulations E and Z, which “create a comprehensive set of consumer protections for prepaid products.” In addition, the report notes ongoing efforts to develop rules with respect to payday loans, auto title loans, installment loans, arbitration agreements, and overdraft programs.
CFPB Director Challenges House Financial Services’ Report on Bureau’s Role in Fraudulent Accounts Scandal Investigation
On June 14, CFPB Director Richard Cordray issued a letter to Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) in response to the House Financial Services Committee’s (Committee) June 6 interim majority staff report on the investigation of the role federal financial regulators played in detecting and remedying a major national bank’s practice of opening unauthorized bank accounts. As previously covered in InfoBytes, the Bureau issued a consent order to the bank last September over allegations that the bank employees’ improper sales practice of opening unauthorized accounts as part of an incentive compensation program was unfair and abusive. In his letter, Director Cordray defended the CFPB’s role in the investigation and detailed inaccuracies and errors in the Committee’s report.
The Committee’s report notes that immediately after the September 8 CFPB announcement, the House Financial Services Committee began a “comprehensive investigation” to answer two questions: (i) “how and why [the bank] allowed these fraudulent activities to occur at a disturbing scale across the [b]ank for well over a decade”; and (ii) “whether or not federal financial regulators were effective in detecting and remedying [the bank’s] fraudulent branch sale practices.” According to the report, “[o]ver the course of six months, the CFPB only produced 1,010 pages of records comprised almost entirely of records easily obtainable from [the bank] or the OCC”—both of which, the report contends, have cooperated fully with the investigation. In April 2017, the CFPB received a subpoena but allegedly provided records previously produced by the bank. Due to a lack of cooperation, the Committee staff recommended the possibility of issuing deposition subpoenas to CFPB employees to investigate Director Cordray’s alleged failure to respond, as well as the suggestion of bringing contempt proceedings against Director Cordray to enforce compliance with the subpoena.
Director Cordray responded that, among others things, the majority staff of the Committee refused to receive a September 2016 follow-up briefing from Bureau staff and failed to respond to his offer to publicly testify at a Committee hearing. Furthermore, Director Cordray states that the CFPB has submitted over 57,000 pages of records “in an effort to comply with the Committee’s broadly worded requests.” He notes the complaint about the documents in the CFPB’s production being “redundant of documents received from either [the bank] or the OCC, though the same point could be made in reverse,” and that his staff has repeatedly sought guidance from the Committee to narrow the scope but has yet to receive a response.
In response to the Committee’s query as to why it took more than a decade to uncover the bank’s practice of opening unauthorized accounts, Director Cordray responded that the Bureau opened its doors in 2011—more than 10 years after the bank’s activities commenced according to the Committee’s report—and wasn't fully operational until 2014.
OCC Issues New Comptroller’s Licensing Manual Booklet to Provide Guidance on Articles of Association Amendments, Charters, and Bylaws
On June 19, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released Bulletin OCC 2017-23 announcing a new booklet designed to provide consolidated guidance on several policies and procedures impacting national banks and federal savings associations when forming the framework of articles of association or charter documents. The “Articles of Association, Charter, and Bylaw Amendments” booklet, which is a part of the Comptroller’s Licensing Manual, covers:
- regulatory requirements for articles of association, charters, and bylaws;
- an overview of the process required to notify the OCC or obtain OCC approval of an amendment;
- requirements for the content of the articles of association, charters, and bylaws;
- actions a national bank or federal savings association should take during the amendment process; and
- references and links to informational resources and sample documents that national banks or federal savings associations may use during the amendment process.
OCC Announces May 2017 Enforcement Actions
On June 16, the OCC released a list of new enforcement actions taken against national banks, federal savings associations, and former institution-affiliated parties as well as a list of existing enforcement actions that were terminated in May. The actions include cease and desist, civil money penalties (CMP), and removal/prohibition orders. Among the actions, a senior loan originator of an Illinois bank was ordered to cease and desist and pay a CMP of $8,000 due to breaches of fiduciary duty and unsafe or unsound practices involving the transfer via unencrypted email of confidential consumer financial information.
Fed Assesses $1.8 Million Civil Money Penalty Against Florida-Based Holding Company, Terminates Enforcement Action
On June 8, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (Board) announced the termination of an enforcement action brought against a Florida-based holding company in April 2011 relating to deficiencies in its residential mortgage loan servicing, loss mitigation, and foreclosure processing activities found in an Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) review of the company. Additionally, the OTS review found inadequate procedures to assess potential risks associated with such activities. Under the terms of the 2011 enforcement action, the holding company was required to enhance its oversight of its thrift subsidiary and improve its internal risk management, audit, and compliance programs to address deficiencies in these areas. The decision to terminate the action was based on a review conducted by the Board’s supervisory team, which determined the holding company made “sustainable improvement” in its mortgage servicing oversight practices. Furthermore, the mortgage servicer has agreed to pay a $1.8 million civil money penalty.
FTC Announces Settlement with Operators of Tech Support Scam
On June 7, the FTC announced two settlements in a pending action brought against defendants who allegedly used pop-up internet ads to deceive consumers into believing their computers were infected and then sold unnecessary technical support services to fix the issues. Under the terms of the settlements (available here and here), the defendants (i) will relinquish assets combined at nearly $6 million to provide restitution to victims, and (ii) are banned from marketing, promoting, or misrepresenting technical support products or services in the future. The settlement is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to pursue tech support scams through its Operation Tech Trap initiative. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here.)
OFAC Updates: New Sanction Designations and Additions to Specially Designated Nationals List
Recently, OFAC announced implementation of sanctions against several entities and individuals designated for, among others, materially assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial support to certain foreign entities. In addition, OFAC updated its list of Specially Designed Nations (SDN) and announced a settlement agreement with a Canadian-based motor vehicle finance company.
North Korea Suppliers of Weapons Proliferation Programs. On June 1, OFAC announced it was taking action against six entities and three individuals in response to their involvement in North Korea’s continued efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The announcement targets the country’s military, nuclear, and WMD programs, in addition to its overseas financial operations. The sanctions prohibit any U.S. individual from dealing with the designees, and further states that “any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked.” John E. Smith, the Director of OFAC, stated, “Treasury is working with our allies to counter networks that enable North Korea’s destabilizing activities, and we urge our partners to take parallel steps to cut off their funding sources.” These sanctions are in addition to those imposed earlier in April on eleven North Koreans and one associated entity (see previous InfoBytes coverage here).
Iraq-Based Chemical Weapons Developers. On June 12, OFAC announced, for the first time, designations against individuals involved in the development of ISIS’ chemical weapons. The sanctions were pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which “provides a means by which to disrupt the financial support network for terrorists and terrorist organizations by authorizing the U.S. government to designate and block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism.” The property and interests in property of the two individuals identified in the designations, subject to U.S. jurisdiction, are blocked, and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.”
Settlement Agreement with Motor Vehicle Finance Company. On June 8, OFAC announced it had reached a settlement with a motor vehicle finance company as a result of transactions by its Canadian based subsidiary. The enforcement action claims the majority-owned subsidiary, which “specializes in various forms of financing in the [U.S.] for purchasers, lessees, and authorized independent [auto] dealers,”—between 2011 and 2014—allegedly violated 13 Cuban Assets Control Regulations by leasing vehicles to the Cuban Embassy in violation of OFAC’s Blocked Persons and SDN list, which prohibited transactions with Cuban government entities. The company voluntarily self-disclosed the alleged violations and agreed to remit $87,255 to settle its potential civil liability.
Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions. On May 24 and 25, OFAC made additions to the SDN list, which designates individuals and companies who are prohibited from dealing with the U.S. and whose assets are blocked. Transactions are prohibited if they involve transferring, paying, exporting, or otherwise dealing in the property or interest in property of an entity or individual on the SDN list. Additions to the list were made under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations against several Mexican and Colombian individuals and entities.