InfoBytes Blog
Filter
Subscribe to our InfoBytes Blog weekly newsletter and other publications for news affecting the financial services industry.
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.
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.
Legislators Appeal to CFPB Regarding Payday Loan Proposal
In a letter sent to CFPB Director Richard Cordray on December 1, a group of Republican members of Congress expressed concern about the Bureau’s proposal regarding payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans. The letter observes that CFPB’s proposal “attempts to further regulate an industry that is already highly regulated by nearly a dozen federal laws including the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.” Specifically, the letter contends that the CFPB’s framework will effectively preempt existing statutory and regulatory frameworks and/or eliminate regulated small dollar credit products from the market, thereby leaving consumers without access to credit or forcing them to seek “riskier, illegal” forms of credit.
Fed Forms Fintech Working Group
On December 2, Fed Governor Lael Brainard announced, at the Conference on Financial Innovation in Washington DC, that the Fed has formed a Fintech working group. The move comes as the OCC takes steps toward launching a fintech bank charter. According to Ms. Brainard, the group will incorporate personnel with a broad array of expertise and will be tasked with “facilitat[ing] innovation where it has the potential to yield broad social benefit, while ensuring that risks are thoroughly managed.” While Ms. Brainard highlighted several benefits from the growth of Fintech, the Fed Governor also raised certain concerns innovations relying on data sharing could create security, privacy, and data-ownership risks, despite increased convenience to consumers. Specifically, Ms. Brainard explained, the Fed must “be attentive to the potential social benefits of these new technologies, prepared to make the necessary regulatory adjustments if their safety and integrity are proven and . . . vigilant to ensure risks are well understood and managed.”
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.
NYDFS to Oppose Any Effort to Federalize Regulation of FinTech Companies
On December 2, NYDFS Superintendent Maria T. Vullo issued a public statement stating the NYDFS’ opposition to “any effort to federalize” regulation of Fintech companies, such as that proposed recently by the OCC in its announcement on Fintech charters. According to Superintendent Vullo, state regulators have “long-standing expertise in this arena” and are therefore best positioned to balance innovation with a tailored regulatory regime.”
NYDFS Unveils Consumer Bill of Rights for Mortgage Foreclosures; Announces New Regulations for "Zombie Properties"
On December 7, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the publication of the NYDFS Residential Foreclosure Actions Consumer Bill of Rights – intended to offer guidance to homeowners facing foreclosure in New York. Concurrently, the New York Governor also announced new NYDFS regulations intended to curb the threat to communities posed by vacant and abandoned properties (“zombie properties”) by “expediting foreclosure proceedings, improving the efficiency and integrity of the mandatory settlement conferences, and obligating banks and mortgage servicers to secure, protect and maintain vacant and abandoned properties before and during foreclosure proceedings.”
The Consumer Bill of Rights acts as guidance for homeowners facing foreclosure, and specifies that homeowners have certain rights and obligations, including, among others: (i) the right to stay in the home unless and until a court orders the homeowner to vacate the property; (ii) the right to be represented by an attorney; (iii) the right to be free from harassment and foreclosure scams; (iv) the right to avoid foreclosure by making a full or negotiated payment prior to foreclosure sale; (v) the right to be notified at least 90 days prior to a foreclosure suit being filed; (vi) the right to explore loss mitigation options; and (vii) the right to receive a copy of legal papers in a lawsuit. The Consumer Bill of Rights also outlines various obligations of a homeowner, including to respond to complaints, appearing at court, and negotiating in good faith. Under the law, the court must provide homeowners a copy of the Consumer Bill of Rights at the initial mandatory settlement conference.
With respect to vacant and abandoned properties, the new regulations target blight caused by such zombie properties by, among other things, requiring that bank and mortgage servicers: (i) complete an inspection of a property subject to delinquency within 90 days; (ii) secure and maintain the property where the bank or servicer has a reasonable basis to believe that the property is vacant and abandoned; (iii) report all such vacant and abandoned properties to NYDFS; and (iv) submit quarterly reports detailing both their efforts to secure and maintain the properties and the status of any foreclosure proceedings. The NYDFS Superintendent is authorized under the new regulations to issue civil penalties of $500 per day per property for violations of the new regulations.
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.
Jury Finds Mortgage Company and CEO Liable for Fraud; Awards $92 Million in Damages
A federal jury has ordered two Texas-based home mortgage entities and their chief executive to pay nearly $93 million for defrauding the U.S. government into insuring thousands of risky loans, the Department of Justice announced on November 30.
The mortgage companies and their former CEO were found liable for violating the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) by, among other things, failing to maintain an adequate quality control program; and submitting false annual certifications regarding quality control requirements. Specifically, the government contended that defendants operated over 100 “shadow” branch offices that originated FHA-insured mortgage loans without obtaining the necessary HUD approval, and which were therefore not subject to HUD oversight.
Ultimately, the jury awarded $92,982,775 in total damages, including $7,370,132 against the CEO specifically—a sum that is subject to mandatory tripling. Further penalties relating to the FIRREA violations are expected, which U.S. District Judge George Hanks will set at a later date.
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.