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OCC Lays Out Supervision Plan for 2017
On September 14, the OCC released its bank supervision operating plan for fiscal year 2017. The plan identifies the OCC’s priority objectives, which include: (i) commercial and retail loan underwriting; (ii) business model sustainability and viability; (iii) operational resiliency; (iv) BSA/AML compliance; and (v) processes to address regulatory changes. Moreover, the plan affirms that the OCC will look at each individual bank’s key risks, and will continue the process of stress testing, both for large banks and for midsize and community banks.
OCC to Host Workshop for Bank Directors
From September 19 through September 21, the OCC will host a “Building Blocks for Directors” workshop in St. Louis for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the OCC. OCC supervision staff will lead the workshop, which will focus on directors’ duties and responsibilities, relevant laws and regulations, and increasing understanding of the examination process. The OCC is limiting the workshop’s capacity to the first 35 registrants.
OCC Releases Semiannual Risk Perspective Report
On July 11, the OCC released its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2016, which generally provides an overview of supervisory concerns for the federal banking system and specifically presents data as of December 31, 2015 in the following areas: (i) operating environment; (ii) bank performance; (iii) key risk issues; and (iv) regulatory actions. Similar to the fall 2015 report, the current report identifies cybersecurity, third-party vendor management, business continuity planning, TRID, and BSA/AML compliance, among other things, as key areas of potential operational and compliance risk. Further, the report highlights the new Military Lending Act rule, effective October 3, 2016, as a new key potential risk. According to the report, the OCC’s supervisory priorities for the next twelve months will generally remain the same; moreover, the outlook for the OCC’s Large Bank Supervision and Midsize and Community Bank Supervision operating units will remain broadly similar.
OCC Names Beverly Cole Deputy Comptroller for Compliance Supervision
On June 22, the OCC named Beverly Cole its Deputy Comptroller for Compliance Supervision. Effective July 2016, Cole will serve as the operational executive responsible for developing and promulgating compliance operational protocols, examination strategies, and schedules. Cole started at the OCC in 1979 as an Assistant National Bank Examiner. In 1984, she left the OCC to work in the banking industry, but she returned to the OCC three years later. Throughout her tenure with the OCC, Cole has served in various supervisory roles overseeing banks of all sizes.
New York DFS Submits Letter to Federal Regulators Regarding Potential Cybersecurity Regulations
On November 9, the New York DFS sent a letter to federal regulators and other interested parties, including the CFPB, Federal Reserve Board, and the OCC, regarding potential new regulations aimed at increasing cybersecurity efforts within the financial sector. The letter references recent DFS reports that covered key findings from surveys given to regulated banking organizations on their cybersecurity programs, costs, and future plans. The reports raised the following concerns: (i) the speed of technological change and the increasingly sophisticated nature of threats; (ii) third-party service providers tend to have access to sensitive information and companies’ IT systems, providing potential hackers with a point of entry; and (iii) the “scale and breadth of the most recent breaches and incidents.” In light of these concerns, the DFS asserts that it would be beneficial to coordinate with state and federal regulators to “develop a comprehensive [cybersecurity] framework that addresses the most critical issues, while still preserving the flexibility to address New York-specific concerns.” According to the letter, the DFS expects to propose regulations requiring entities to set specific requirements in areas such as: (i) cybersecurity policies and procedures; (ii) third-party service provider management; (iii) cybersecurity personnel and intelligence, including implementing mandatory cybersecurity training programs; and (iv) notice of cybersecurity breaches.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Delivers Semi-Annual Report on Supervision and Regulation
On November 4, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testified before the House Committee on Financial Services. The topic of Chair Yellen’s testimony was “the lessons of the financial crisis and how we have transformed our regulatory and supervisory approach.” She explained that, prior to the crisis, the Fed’s “primary goal was to ensure the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions” and that, since the crisis, the Fed’s aim has been to regulate and supervise “in a manner that promotes the stability of the financial system as a whole.” Yellen went on to explain that the regulatory approaches adopted to address both large financial institutions and companies and community banks have been different. According to Yellen, with respect to the large financial institutions, the Fed’s approach is “oriented toward both the safety and soundness of the individual firms, and the stability of the financial system as a whole." With respect to community banks, Chair Yellen noted that the Fed’s supervisory approach is risk based: “[i]n supervising these institutions, we follow a risk-focused approach that aims to target examination resources to higher-risk areas of each bank’s operations and to ensure that banks maintain risk-management capabilities appropriate to their size and complexity.”
U.S. House of Representatives Passes Several Financial Regulatory Relief Bills, Including TRID Safe Harbor
On October 7, the U.S. House of Representatives (U.S. House) passed several pieces of bipartisan legislation aimed at providing regulatory relief to lenders and strengthening consumer protection. This legislation included H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act, which was approved by a 303-121 vote, which seeks to provide a formal four-month safe harbor for lenders who in “good faith” work to comply with the CFPB’s new TRID Rule, which went into effect on October 3. The U.S. House also unanimously approved H.R. 1553, the Small Bank Exam Cycle Reform Act, and H.R. 1839, the Reforming Access for Investments in Startup Enterprises (RAISE) Act. The Small Bank Exam Cycle Reform Act would allow well-managed banks with assets under $1 billion to qualify for an 18-month examination cycle, rather than the current 12-month cycle. The RAISE Act is intended to promote a liquid secondary market for shareholders seeking to sell private securities and encourage startups and private companies to raise capital to grow their businesses. This legislation will now go to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
Federal Banking Regulators Schedule EGRPRA Outreach Meeting in Chicago
On September 28, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC announced that the latest outreach meeting under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (EGRPRA) will be held on October 10 in Chicago, Illinois. The meeting will feature panel presentations from industry insiders and consumer advocates. Senior officials from the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC are also scheduled to attend. This meeting will be the fifth of six outreach meetings focused on identifying outdated or burdensome regulatory requirements imposed on financial institutions. The sixth and final meeting is expected to take place on December 2 in Washington, D.C. Previous InfoBytes coverage on EGRPRA can be found here.
Special Alert: CFPB Launches First Monthly Complaint Report Providing Snapshot of Consumer Trends
On July 16, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) launched the first in a new series of monthly complaint reports highlighting key trends from consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB. Importantly, its monthly report provides significant detail on the complaints the CFPB has received, including the names of the companies that received the largest number of complaints.
Currently, the most-complained-about companies are also the largest bank and nonbank financial institutions in the country. Since these institutions have the highest numbers of customers, it is only natural that they have received the highest number of complaints. On the same day as the monthly report’s release, CFPB Director Richard Cordray provided remarks at an Americans for Financial Reform event in Washington, D.C. Director Cordray noted that in future monthly reports, the CFPB hopes to “normalize” its consumer complaint data by accounting for financial institutions’ respective size and volume. To that end, the CFPB issued a Request for Information seeking input on ways to enable the public to more easily understand company-level complaint information and make comparisons. The comment period closes August 31, 2015.
The report also provides data on complaint volume, state and local complaint information, and trends relating to specific consumer financial products or services. In June 2015, for example, debt collection was the most-complained-about product or service with the 32% of complaints filed with the Bureau, while complaints relating to mortgages and credit reporting were next in line.
Going forward, each monthly report will spotlight a particular financial product and geographic area. In the first report, the CFPB closely examines debt collection complaints and complaints from consumers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The CFPB began accepting complaints in July 2011 and launched its Consumer Complaint Database in June 2012, which is the nation’s largest public collection of consumer financial complaints. As of July 1, 2015, the CFPB has handled 650,700 complaints.
In its press release for the monthly report, the Bureau issued a reminder that it expects companies to respond to CFPB complaints within 15 days. The Bureau also expects companies to describe the steps they have taken or intend to take to resolve each consumer complaint. In fact, in its monthly report, the Bureau provided statistics on how often certain debt collection companies were “untimely” in responding to complaints.
Notably, the CFPB stressed that complaints inform the Bureau’s work and can directly feed into its supervision and enforcement prioritization process. “Consumer complaints are the CFPB’s compass and play a central role in everything we do. They help us identify and prioritize problems for potential action,” said CFPB Director Cordray. The publication of this monthly report, together with continuing consumer complaint initiatives from the CFPB, highlights the critical importance of developing an effective complaint management program.
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Questions regarding the matters discussed in this Alert may be directed to any of our lawyers listed below, or to any other BuckleySandler attorney with whom you have consulted in the past.
- Clinton R. Rockwell, (310) 424-3901
- Jeffrey P. Naimon, (202) 349-8030
- John P. Kromer, (202) 349-8040
- Joseph M. Kolar, (202) 349-8020
FFIEC Releases Cybersecurity Assessment Tool
As previously covered in InfoBytes, on June 30, the FFIEC released a Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (Assessment) to provide a “repeatable and measurable process” for financial institutions to measure their cybersecurity readiness. The Assessment aims to help financial institutions determine their cybersecurity preparedness and make informed decisions regarding their risk management practices. In addition to the Assessment, the FFIEC also released an executive overview, a user’s guide, a pre-recorded webinar, a glossary of terms, and appendices to assist financial institutions in understanding supervisory expectations, increasing awareness of cybersecurity risks, and assessing and mitigating the threats facing their institutions. As an interagency body representing the Fed, FDIC, OCC, CFPB, and the NCUA, the FFIEC prescribes uniform principles, standards, and reporting forms for the federal examination of financial institutions, and makes recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions.