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Trump Announces CFPB Transition Team
On January 5, 2016, the Trump Transition team announced the names of the four individuals assigned to lead the President-elect’s CFPB “Landing Team.” Generally, each landing team is tasked with collect information on each agency—ranging from the agency's budget and policies to the status of various rulemakings and the current administration's priorities—all with the overarching purpose of facilitating an orderly transfer of power at the federal financial regulators. The CFPB Landing Team includes:
- Paul Atkins, former GOP Commissioner for the SEC and current CEO of Patomak Global Partners LLC, which provides consulting services concerning financial services industry matters, regulatory compliance, risk and crisis management, public affairs, independent reviews, litigation support, and strategy.
- Kyle Hauptman, Senior Development Manager and occasional writer about financial & political issues for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), member of the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies, and former chief economic adviser on the issues of Financial Markets, Housing to the Romney For President (RFP) campaign.
- Consuala “CJ” Jordan, a public relations executive and Republican political consultant who is currently CEO of The Jordan Management Group, LLC, a full service Government Relations and Public Affairs Firm, specializing in strategic business development.
- Julie B. Lindsay, Managing Director and General Counsel of Capital Markets and Corporate Reporting at Citigroup Inc., and former Counsel to Commissioner Glassman at the SEC.
FTC Chief Ramirez Announces Resignation
On January 13, the FTC announced that Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will be stepping down effective February 10. Chairwoman Ramirez was appointed by President Barack Obama and has served as a commissioner since April 2010. She became chairwoman in March 2013, after former FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz resigned. Her departure means that President-elect Donald Trump will have the chance to fill three vacancies at the agency.
CFPB Publishes Fall 2016 Rulemaking Agenda
On December 2, the CFPB published its Fall 2016 Statement of Regulatory Priorities, and its Fall 2016 rulemaking agenda, addressing current and future rulemakings in accordance with its obligations under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. In its Agenda, the Bureau notes, among other things, that: (i) publication of a final Arbitration rule is expected in February 2017; (ii) the Bureau intends to finalize proposed amendments to TRID by March 2017; and (iii) the Bureau plans to release in March 2017 a proposed set of technical corrections to the HMDA reporting requirements and proposed amendments to Regulation B “to clarify how financial institutions and creditors subject to Regulation C and Regulation B may comply with both regulations.” There was no next step identified for the proposed rule on payday loans and deposit advance products.
In a corresponding blog post, the Bureau provided a brief status update and overview of its various rulemakings, which are grouped into pre-rule, proposed rule, final rule, long-term, and completed stages. The CFPB noted that it anticipates that the next “larger participant” rulemaking will focus on the markets for consumer installment loans and vehicle title loans, including whether to impose registration requirements on non-depository lenders.
Division of Corporation Finance Director Keith Higgins to Leave SEC; Shelley Parratt to Become Acting Director
In a December 6 press release, the SEC announced that Keith F. Higgins, Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, plans to leave the SEC in early January. Since joining the SEC in 2013, Mr. Higgins led the Division’s implementation of significant rulemaking and other responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank Act, Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), and Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). Upon Mr. Higgins’ departure, Shelley Parratt, Deputy Director for the Division of Corporation Finance, will become the acting Director. Ms. Parratt has served previously as acting Director. Ms. Parratt has served as Deputy Director of the Division since 2003, and has been responsible for assisting in strategic planning and developing Division policies and procedures and overseeing the disclosure review program. Ms. Parratt came to the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance in 1986. She received her M.B.A. from Syracuse University and her B.A. from St. Lawrence University.
New Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(b) Takes Effect; Cyber Warrants Can Now Cross State Borders
A change to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure took effect on December 1. Amended Rule 41(b) now allows courts to issue warrants for remote access to electronic data outside their jurisdiction if the location of the information has been “concealed through technological means” or when the data is in five or more districts. Thus, under the revised rule, a magistrate judge has the authority to issue a warrant outside of their district without specific knowledge of the location of the computers being searched. By contrast, warrant requests were previously limited to the search and seizure of property within the court’s own district.
ABA Sues Credit Union Regulator Over Field of Membership Rule
On December 7, the American Bankers Association (ABA) filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn a final rule published by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) in that morning’s Federal Register. The final rule purports to “implement changes in policy affecting: The definition of a local community, a rural district, and an underserved area; the chartering and expansion of a multiple common bond credit union; the expansion of a single common bond credit union that serves a trade, industry or profession; and the process for applying to charter, or to expand, a federal credit union.”
ABA’s law suit contends, among other things, that by “fail[ing] to adhere to the limitations on federal credit unions established by Congress,” the NCUA’s final rule “upsets the balance Congress struck between granting federal credit unions tax-favored status and limiting their operations to carefully circumscribed groups or localities that share a common bond.” Under the final rule, scheduled to take effect Feb. 6, Federal Credit Unions (FCUs) can apply to serve entire geographic regions, so-called “rural districts” up to 1 million people (which include the entirety of Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont or Wyoming), and areas contiguous to their existing service areas. NCUA is also facilitating easier conversions to community charters.
GOP Leaders Formally Request that Obama Administration Not Finalize Rules and Regulations in its Final Days
On November 15, GOP leaders sent a letter to “Secretaries, Administrators, Directors and Commissioners” within the Obama Administration caution[ing] [each] against finalizing pending rules or regulations in the administration’s last days.” The letter explains that by “refraining from acting with undue haste, . . . it [is] less likely that unintended consequences will harm consumers and businesses.” In addition, “such forbearance is necessary to afford the recently elected administration and Congress the opportunity to review and give direction concerning pending rulemakings.”
FDIC Board Approves Final Rule on Deposit Account Recordkeeping Requirements to Facilitate Timely Payment of Insured Deposits in Large Bank Failures
On November 15, the FDIC approved a final rule establishing systems and recordkeeping requirements for large FDIC-insured institutions to facilitate the prompt payment of insured deposits to customers upon the failure of any such depository institution. The final rule requires each insured depository institution that has two million or more deposit accounts to: (i) configure its IT system so that it is capable of calculating insured and uninsured amounts in each deposit account by ownership right and capacity; and (ii) maintain complete and accurate records with all information needed by the FDIC to determine deposit insurance coverage with respect to each deposit account. The final rule will become effective April 1, 2017.
OCC Proposes Revisions to Stress Test Information Collection
On November 15, the OCC published a notice and request for comment on proposed changes to its rules requiring certain covered financial institutions, including national banks and federal savings associations with assets over $50 billion, to report certain financial information as part of stress testing. The proposed revisions to the OCC’s reporting requirements are “intended to promote consistency with” the Fed’s proposed changes to its form FR Y-14A, and consist generally of clarifying instructions, shifting the “as-of date”, adding data items, deleting data items, and redefining existing data items—including an expansion of the information collected in the scenario schedule. The proposed revisions also reflect the implementation of the final Basel III regulatory capital rule, which is set to revise and replace the OCC’s risk-based and leverage capital requirements to be consistent with agreements reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in ‘‘Basel III: A Global Regulatory Framework for More Resilient Banks and Banking Systems’’ (Basel III). All comments must be received by January 19, 2017.
FDIC Proposed Rule to Consolidate Regulations
On November 1, the FDIC published a proposed rule that would rescind and remove Part 391 subpart A (Security Procedures, transferred from the former OTS) from the Code of Federal Regulations and to amend FDIC regulations at Part 326 to make the removed OTS regulations applicable to state savings associations. Comments on the proposal are due by January 3, 2017.