InfoBytes Blog

Special Alert: Banks no longer required to file SARs for hemp-related businesses

Federal and state banking regulators confirmed in a December 3 joint statement that banks are no longer required to file a suspicious activity report on customers solely because they are “engaged in the growth or cultivation of hemp in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.”

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Click here to read the full special alert.

For questions about the alert and related issues, please visit our Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering practice page, or contact a Buckley attorney with whom you have worked in the past.

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Federal Reserve FDIC FinCEN OCC CSBS Department of Agriculture Bank Secrecy Act SARs Hemp Businesses Special Alerts

CFPB analyzes first-time homebuying data for servicemembers

On March 1, the CFPB released its latest Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends report titled, “Mortgages to First-time Homebuying Servicemembers,” which analyzes mortgages made to first-time homebuying active duty servicemembers and veterans (collectively defined as “servicemembers”). The report, using data from the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel (CCP) supplemented with data on military service, offers information on the mortgage choices and mortgage performance outcomes of servicemembers who bought homes between 2006 and 2016. Key findings include:

• The share of first-time homebuying servicemembers using the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guaranteed home loan program significantly increased, from 30 percent before 2007 to 63 percent in 2009. By 2016, 78 percent of servicemembers relied on a VA mortgage for their first home loan.
• Conventional mortgages, which accounted for approximately 60 percent of loans among first-time homebuying servicemembers in 2006 and 2007, declined to 13 percent by 2016. During this period, the use of conventional mortgages among non-servicemembers also decreased, as the use of FHA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased.
• In 2016, the median servicemember first-time homebuyer VA loan amount was $212,000, increasing from $156,000 in 2006.
• Early delinquency rates for nonprime servicemember first-time VA-loan borrowers decreased from an average of 5 percent to 7 percent in 2006 and 2007 to slightly above 3 percent in 2016. Notably, early delinquency rates were lower for active duty VA-loan borrowers than for veteran VA-loan borrowers.

Lending CFPB Military Lending Servicemembers Mortgages Department of Veterans Affairs FHA Department of Agriculture

GAO Report Evaluates "Permanent Funding Authorities"

On December 9, the GAO released a report detailing the results of its audit of “permanent funding authorities”—a term it defines as “entities with authority to collect and obligate funds without further congressional action.” The report, entitled Permanent Funding Authorities: Some Selected Entities Should Review Financial Management, Oversight, and Transparency Policies: (i) describes the different types of authorities for entities funded by fines and penalties and for regulatory entities; (ii) assesses the policies and procedures related to agencies’ and other entities’ management of their permanent funding authorities; and (iii) makes recommendations to ensure efficient use of resources.

In conducting its audit, the GAO examined five case studies that illustrate the variation in permanent funding authorities: the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); the CFPB; the DOJ’s Crime Victims Fund (CVF); the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (Trust Fund); and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), overseen by the SEC. Based on its review, the GAO recommended that in order to “ensure efficient resource use,” APHIS, the CFPB, and the SEC—in its oversight of PCAOB—should review reserve targets. To facilitate oversight, the SEC should establish time frames for PCAOB’s annual report. According to the report, the Department of Agriculture, CFPB, PCAOB, and SEC agreed with GAO’s recommendations.

Federal Issues CFPB SEC DOJ GAO CVF APHIS Trust Fund PCAOB Department of Agriculture