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FFIEC issues new policy statement on examination reports
On March 6, the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (FFIEC) announced it adopted a Policy Statement on the Report of Examination, which documents the findings and conclusions of an examination conducted by a FFIEC member agency. The Policy Statement is a principles-based approach for completing the report of examination (ROE) in order to promote consistency among the FFIEC members while allowing flexibility for individual supervisors to document exam assessments of financial institutions of different sizes, risk profiles, and other conditions. The policy provides a short outline that instructs all ROEs to, among other things: (i) include identifying information; (ii) convey that the ROEs contain confidential supervisory information; (iii) present conclusions and issues in order of importance; and (iv) document the institution’s risk profile and discuss the institution’s risk management practices. The new policy statement rescinds an interagency policy statement from 1993.
Senate Democrats: CFPB already has authority to supervise for MLA
On March 5, U.S. Senate Democrats issued a letter urging CFPB Director, Kathy Kraninger, to resume reviews for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA) during routine lender examinations. The Senators argue that the existing statutory authorities for the Bureau “are more than sufficient to justify including MLA compliance in routine examinations,” in an apparent response to Kraninger’s January request to Congress to grant the Bureau “clear authority” to conduct the examinations. (Covered by InfoBytes here.) The Senators cite to Section 1024(b)(1)(C) of the Dodd-Frank Act, which states that the Bureau “shall require reports and conduct examinations on a periodic basis . . . for purposes of . . . detecting and assessing risks to consumers and to markets for consumer financial products and services,” and asserts that charging servicemembers and their families more than 36 percent in violation of the MLA is “clearly a risk” to consumers. Concluding that the CFPB has all the authority it needs to include the MLA in routine examinations, the Senators request the Bureau provide a full justification of the leadership’s decision to not review for compliance with the MLA by March 8.
CFPB updates Supervision and Examinations Manual
In February, the CFPB released an updated version of the Supervision and Examination Manual, which includes changes to the examination and targeted reviews section of the manual. The Bureau noted that the purpose of a risk-focused review is to direct Bureau resources toward the areas with higher risk. The updated manual section covers the review process from start to finish, beginning with the pre-review planning and concluding with the transmission of the final report or letter. The February updates also include the release of new examination report and supervisory letter templates.
FDIC releases interagency exam procedures for CFPB’s Prepaid Rule
On February 22, the FDIC issued FIL-9-2019, which announces revisions to interagency examination procedures for evaluating compliance with the CFPB’s Prepaid Accounts Rule. The Rule was originally finalized in October 2016 and expands coverage under Regulation E to provide consumers, among other things, additional federal protections on prepaid financial products, person-to-person payment products, and other electronic accounts with the ability to store funds. (Covered by InfoBytes here.) In January 2018, the CFPB finalized updates to the Rule and delayed the effective date until April 1, 2019. (Covered by InfoBytes here.) The FIL contains a link to the interagency procedures listed in the FDIC Compliance Examination Manual and confirms that after April 1 the examination staff will begin supervising institutions for compliance with the rule.
FINRA provides 2019 risk monitoring and examination guidance
On January 22, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued new guidance on areas member firms should consider when seeking to improve their compliance, supervisory, and risk management programs. The 2019 FINRA Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter (2019 Priorities Letter) examines both new priorities as well as areas of ongoing concern, including the adequacy of firms’ cybersecurity programs. FINRA notes, however, that the 2019 Priorities Letter does not repeat topics previously addressed in prior letters, and advises member firms that it will continue to review ongoing obligations for compliance. Topics FINRA plans to focus on in the coming year include:
- Firms’ use of regulatory technology to help compliance efforts become “more efficient, effective, and risk-based.” FINRA will work with firms to understand risks and concerns related to supervision and governance systems, third party vendor management, and safeguarding customer data;
- Supervision of digital assets, including coordinating with the SEC to review how firms determine whether a given digital asset is a security and whether firms are implementing adequate controls and supervisions related to digital assets, such as complying with anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act rules and regulations;
- Assessment of firms’ compliance with FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence rule, which requires firms to identify beneficial owners of legal entity customers (as previously covered by InfoBytes here); and
- Financial risks, including credit risks, funding and liquidity planning.
OCC announces adoption of 18-month examination cycle final rule
On January 17, the OCC announced, together with the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC, the final rule amending regulations governing eligibility for the 18-month on-site examination cycle, pursuant to the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The final rule was published without change from the interim rule issued in August 2018 (covered by InfoBytes here). The final rule allows for qualifying insured depository institutions with less than $3 billion in total assets (which is an increase from the previous threshold of $1 billion) to be eligible for an 18-month on-site examination cycle. The agencies reserve the right to adopt a more frequent schedule than 18 months for qualifying institutions if deemed “necessary or appropriate.” The final rule is effective January 28.
Agencies issue guidance on 37 key data fields for HMDA examinations
On December 7, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the OCC issued guidance regarding the HMDA key data fields that Federal Reserve examiners use to evaluate the accuracy of HMDA data collected since January 1 pursuant to the CFPB’s October 2015 and August 2017 amendments and the May 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Act) exemptions (all of which have been previously covered by InfoBytes here, here, and here).
The guidance cites to the October 2017 list of 37 key data fields identified by the agencies and notes that “[o]nce examiners have selected a random sample of entries from an institution’s HMDA Loan Application Register (HMDA LAR) and have received the corresponding loan files, they would verify the accuracy of the applicable HMDA key data fields in the entries in the HMDA LAR sample(s) against information in the loan files.” Additionally, for institutions eligible for the partial exemption granted by the Act, and covered by the Bureau’s August interpretive and procedural rule (InfoBytes coverage here), the guidance notes that these institutions are responsible for collecting, recording, and reporting only 21 of the 37 designated HMDA key data fields, as the exemption covers the other 16 fields.
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council members are currently developing a set of revised interagency HMDA examination procedures regarding HMDA requirements relating to data collected from January 1, 2018 onward.
FFIEC issues second Examination Modernization Project update
On November 27, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued the second update on the status of its Examination Modernization Project. The project’s objective is to identify and assess measures to improve the community bank safety and soundness examination process, pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act’s review of regulations. As previously covered by InfoBytes, in March, the FFIEC released the first update, which identified four areas with potential for the most “meaningful supervisory burden reduction.” The second update focuses on tailoring examination plans and procedures based on risk in order to reduce burden. Specifically, after a review of risk-based procedures and processes, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, the NCUA, the OCC, and the State Liaison Committee have committed to issue reinforcing and clarifying examiner guidance to their examination staffs on risk-focused examination principles for community financial institutions, if necessary. The guidance covers, among other things, the following practices (i) consideration of the unique risk profile, complexity, and business model of the institution when developing the exam plan; (ii) tailoring of the document request list based on the financial institution’s business model, complexity, risk profile and planned scope of review; and (iii) applying examination procedures in a way that reduces the level of review of low risk institutions or low risk areas.
The FFIEC noted it may take further action to improve the examination process as the project progresses.
Bipartisan state Attorneys General coalition urge CFPB to examine for MLA compliance
On October 23, a bipartisan coalition of 33 state Attorneys General sent a letter to acting Director of the CFPB, Mick Mulvaney, expressing concern over reports that the Bureau is no longer supervising financial institutions for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA). The Attorneys General wrote that the Bureau would be “failing to abide by its statutorily mandated duty to enforce the MLA” by interpreting its authority to preclude the examination of lenders for compliance with the act. Specifically, the Attorneys General point to recent amendments to the MLA providing that the statute “shall be enforced” by the Bureau (among other agencies) “under any . . . applicable authorities available to the [Bureau].” This includes the authority to examine lenders “to ‘detect[] and assess[] risks to consumers.” According to the Attorneys General, the origination of non-MLA compliant loans to servicemembers constitutes such a risk.
FFIEC releases updated BSA/AML InfoBase website
On October 18, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released a newly updated Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) InfoBase website, which provides examiners and financial institutions access to BSA/AML examination procedures and resources, including the BSA/AML Examination Manual. According to the FFIEC, the InfoBase will “provide just-in-time training for new regulations and for other topics of specific concern to examiners within the FFIEC's member agencies.”