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Fed Outlines How Banks May Seek "Illiquid Funds" Extension Under Volcker Rule
On December 12, the Fed announced additional details addressing the way in which banking entities may seek an extension of the July 21, 2017 deadline by which they are to divest assets that are not permitted by the Volcker Rule. According to the Fed, illiquid legacy investments are expected to generally qualify for deadline extensions of up to five years, as long as the company has made appropriate efforts to deal with those investments, has an adequate compliance program, and the Fed is not concerned that the company is attempting to evade the deadline. The Fed has also made available both a Supervision and Regulation Letter (SR 16-18) and a statement of policy that describe its expectations when an application for an extension is submitted.
Fed Seeks Comments on Rating System for SLHCs
On December 13, nearly five and a half years after assuming supervisory responsibility for savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs), the Fed is seeking comments on a proposal to fully apply the same supervisory rating system to savings and loan holding companies as currently applies to bank holding companies—a rating system commonly referred to as the “RFI rating system.” The RFI rating system generally grades a holding company’s risk management (R), financial condition (F), and impact (I) of non-depository entities on subsidiary depository institutions. Although the proposal would fully apply the rating system to most SLHCs supervised by the Fed, it would not apply to SLHCs engaged in significant insurance or commercial activities. These firms would instead continue to receive indicative ratings. Comments on the proposal must be received by Feb. 13, 2017.
Shaw v. United States - Supreme Court Holds That Fraud Against Customer Can Be Fraud Against Bank
In Shaw v. United States, No. 15-5991 (Dec. 12, 2016), the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that Lawrence Eugene Shaw had defrauded a national bank when he used a customer’s personal details to transfer more than $275,000 from that bank’s customer’s account to his own PayPal account. In an opinion written by Justice Breyer, the Court rejected Shaw’s arguments that the conviction was inappropriate because prosecutors could not prove that Shaw intended to defraud the bank. The Court held, among other things, that: (i) the bank had a property interest in the customer’s deposits; (ii) the defendant’s ignorance of the application of property laws to bank deposits was not a defense; and (iii) the bank fraud statute does not require the government to prove that the defendant intended that the bank would suffer a loss; rather, his knowledge that the bank likely would suffer a loss was sufficient.
Despite this finding, the Supreme Court ultimately vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision affirming the conviction and remanded it to the appellate court for consideration of whether a claimed defect in the jury instructions was properly preserved for appeal, whether the instructions were defective, and whether any resulting error was harmless.
CFPB Releases Student Banking Report Examining Credit Card Marketing Deals Targeting College Students
On December 14, the CFPB released a student banking report analyzing roughly 500 marketing agreements between colleges, universities and affiliated organizations, and large banks in an effort to identify trends in the school-sponsored credit card market. The report found in part that while credit cards offered in conjunction with educational institutions have declined since the CARD Act was enacted in 2009, many similar offers and deals still exist and may include features that lead students to rack up hundreds of dollars in fees. As explained by CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman, “Colleges across the country continue to make deals with banks to promote products that have high fees, despite the availability of safer and more affordable products.” According to Mr. Frotman, “Students shouldn’t get stuck with the bill when their school inks a deal for an account that’s not in their best interest.”
In conjunction with the publication of this report, the Bureau also published a new compliance bulletin to assist colleges in understanding their obligations under the CARD Act and Regulation Z related to college credit card agreements. This bulletin noted, among other items, that many of the largest colleges and universities do not publish credit card agreements on their websites or make them available to students and the public upon request, creating increased risks of non-compliance. The complete set of credit card agreement data collected by the Bureau in accordance with its obligations under the Credit CARD Act of 2009 can be accessed here.
Fed Raises Rates for Only Second Time Since Financial Crisis
On December 14, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that it had voted unanimously to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.5 to 0.75 percent – marking only the second rate hike since the financial crisis. According to a statement released by the FOMC, Committee members attributed the increase to consistent economic growth, in particular strong job gains, throughout 2016. Projections released yesterday include accelerated growth over the next few years, which suggest a series of additional rate hikes throughout 2017. The Committee continued to stress, however, that future rate hikes will “depend on the economic outlook as informed by incoming data.” A transcript of Fed Chair Yellen’s press conference opening remarks can be found here.
As part of implementing the rate hike, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, effective December 15, will conduct overnight reverse repurchase operations at an offering rate of 0.50 percent, with a per-counterparty limit of $30 billion per day. The regional bank’s Open Market Trading Desk estimates approximately $2 trillion of Treasury securities in its account will be available for these operations.
OFR Releases 2016 Annual Report to Congress; Reveals Credit Extended Through "Shadow Banking" Exceeds That of Traditional Banks
On December 13, the Office of Financial Research (OFR) announced the release of both its 2016 Annual Report to Congress and its 2016 Financial Stability Report. The reports met the reporting requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act, including an analysis of: (i) threats to U.S. financial stability; (ii) key findings and insights from the OFR’s research; and (iii) the status of OFR efforts in meeting its mission. Among other things, the report noted the increasingly prominent role of shadow banking — “the extension of credit by nonbank companies, or credit funded by liabilities susceptible to runs because they are payable on demand and lack a government backstop.” According to the OFR, credit provided by the so-called shadow banking sector is presently higher than that of established banks. Indeed, OFR research indicates that credit from nonbank companies reached about $15.1 trillion as of the first quarter of 2016, thus making it "the major source of credit to U.S. businesses and households" — providing 38 percent of credit compared with banks' 32 percent.
OCC Releases Schedule of Fees and Assessments for 2017
On December 1, the OCC issued Bulletin 2016-43, which informs all national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks of the fees and assessments the OCC will charge for calendar year 2017. The rates for all asset categories have been adjusted for inflation. The bulletin becomes effective January 1, 2017.
OCC Issues Q1 2017 CRA Evaluation Schedule
On December 2, the OCC posted its schedule of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluations to be conducted in the first quarter of 2017. In a press release accompanying the 2017 schedule, the OCC encouraged public comment on the national banks and federal savings associations scheduled to be evaluated, and suggested that “comments be submitted to the institutions themselves at the mailing addresses listed on the schedule, or to the appropriate OCC supervisory office prior to—or as early as possible during—the month in which the evaluation is scheduled.” The OCC will consider all public comments received prior to the close of the CRA evaluation.
FINRA Fines Credit Suisse over Anti-Money Laundering Policies
In a December 5 press release, FINRA announced that it has fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC $16.5 million for anti-money laundering (AML), supervision and other violations. FINRA’s determination and penalty were based primarily on two deficiencies in the investment bank’s suspicious activity monitoring program. First, Credit Suisse relied too heavily on its registered representatives “to identify and escalate potentially suspicious trading, when, in practice, such high-risk activity was not always escalated and investigated, as required.” And, second, FINRA found that the firm failed to properly implement its automated surveillance system to monitor for potentially suspicious money movements.
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.