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  • Sports Marketing Executive Pleads Guilty in FIFA Investigation

    Federal Issues

    On October 20, the DOJ announced that a former president of a soccer event management company pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges. His guilty plea came in response to allegations that, as the company’s former president, he negotiated and made bribe payments totaling more than $14 million on behalf of the company to a high ranking soccer official in exchange for media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments and matches. As part of the plea, the company's former president agreed to forfeit approximately half a million dollars and could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years for each count.

    The guilty plea came as part of the U.S. government’s investigation into corruption in international soccer. It follows guilty pleas from the soccer event management company itself, its international parent company, and the parent company’s owner, in connection with related charges brought by the DOJ.

    Previous FCPA Scorecard coverage of the FIFA investigation can be found here.

    Federal Issues Criminal Enforcement FCPA International DOJ

  • HUD OIG: Mortgage Servicing Issues Cost FHA $2.23 Billion

    Federal Issues

    On October 14, the HUD Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) published a report on HUD’s monitoring and payment of conveyance claims upon termination of FHA-insured mortgages. According to the report, mortgage servicers’ failure to foreclose on properties or meet conveyance deadlines may have cost the FHA an estimated $2.23 billion in unreasonable and unnecessary holding costs. HUD-OIG concluded that deficiencies in 24 CFR Part 203 did not “enable HUD to provide effective oversight and HUD monitored only a small percentage of servicers after the claim had been paid.” As a result of its findings, HUD-OIG recommended that HUD (i) amend 24 CFR Part 203 to include “a maximum period for filing insurance claims and disallowance of expenses incurred beyond established timelines”; (ii) develop an IT plan that that ensures significant operational changes to how HUD monitors single-family conveyance claims; and (iii) establish and implement controls to identify noncompliance with 24 CFR 203.402.

    Federal Issues Mortgages Foreclosure Mortgage Servicing HUD FHA OIG

  • OFAC Amends Cuban Assets Controls Regulations

    Federal Issues

    OFAC took an additional step toward further implementation of President Obama’s new policy direction toward Cuba on October 17, with the publication of a final rule amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 CFR Part 515 (CACR). Of those most relevant to financial institutions, OFAC updated the CACR by, among other things, amending paragraphs (c) and (f) of section 515.584, which relates to certain financial transactions involving Cuba. Section 515.584(c), as outlined in OFAC’s set of updated FAQs, “authorizes all transactions incident to the processing and payment of credit and debit card transactions for third-country nationals traveling to, from, or within Cuba.” FAQ number 49 further explains that “[a]ny person subject to U.S. jurisdiction, including U.S. financial institutions and their foreign branches, may conduct transactions authorized by [section 515.584(c)].” Section 515.584(f), as explained by FAQ 73, permits:  Any banking institution …that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction is authorized to provide financing for exports or reexports of items, other than agricultural commodities, authorized pursuant to § 515.533, including issuing, advising, negotiating, paying, or confirming letters of credit (including letters of credit issued by a financial institution that is a national of Cuba), accepting collateral for issuing or confirming letters of credit, and processing documentary collections. OFAC’s amendments to the CACR are effective immediately.

    Federal Issues International OFAC Obama Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Cuba

  • OFAC Authorizes Belarus-Related General License

    Federal Issues

    On October 18, OFAC granted General License No. 2B renewing the authorization regarding nine Belarusian entities to enter into transactions otherwise prohibited by Executive Order 13405. General License No. 2B replaces and supersedes in its entirety General License No. 2A, which was set to expire later this month, and authorizes transactions with any entities that are owned 50 percent or more by the nine named entities. All property and interests in property of these entities, if blocked, remain blocked. U.S. persons must report authorized transactions or any series of transactions exceeding $50,000 to the U.S. Department of State no later than 30 days after execution. The authorization expires on April 30, 2017, unless otherwise extended or revoked.

    Federal Issues International OFAC Department of State Belarus Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Executive Order

  • California AG Harris Launches New Consumer Privacy Tool

    State Issues

    On October 14, California AG Harris released an online complaint form designed to help consumers report potential violations of the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). Pursuant to the CalOPPA, commercial websites and online services collecting consumer information are required to post privacy policies that include “the categories of information collected, the types of the third parties with whom the operator may share that information, instructions regarding how the consumer can review and request changes to his or her information, and the [policy’s] effective date.” As part of AG Harris’s “multi-pronged” effort to improve online privacy for consumers, the form will allow consumers to “crowdsource” privacy policy violations, thus “exponentially increasing the California Department of Justice’s ability to identify and notify those in violation of CalOPPA.”

    State Issues State Attorney General Data Collection / Aggregation Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Vendor Management

  • ABA and CBA Lend Perspective on CFPB's Proposed TRID Revisions

    Lending

    On October 18, the American Banking Association (ABA) and Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) submitted a joint comment letter responding to a recent proposal by the CFPB seeking to codify informal guidance and clarifications to the Know Before Your Owe TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. Of particular concern among lenders and investors was the lack of clarity about liability for unintentional mistakes and technical noncompliance with TRID. To help address these concerns, the Associations urged the CFPB to, among other things, (i) publish the specific statutory provisions it relied upon for each disclosure item or requirement identified in the recent proposal; (ii) grant a “safe harbor” for model forms issued by the bureau; (iii) grant an extension of the “good faith” compliance examination policy pending the CFPB’s proscribed deadlines for the proposed rules; and (iv) develop a formal process to address ongoing compliance and legal issues related to TRID.

    The Associations also expressed appreciation for “the numerous amendments offered in th[e] proposal,” including those allowing corrected closing disclosures to reset applicable good faith tolerances for creditors. The Associations further explained that their “preliminary analysis reflects that this proposed rule will resolve multiple ambiguities that banks deem significant” and “urged that the bureau . . . allow for the correction of previous non-compliance caused by the interpretive ambiguity that the bureau is now fixing” (emphasis added).

    Mortgages CFPB TILA RESPA Miscellany TRID Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

  • Federal Banking Agencies Consider Joint ANPR to Address Cybersecurity Standards

    Federal Issues

    On October 19, the FDIC, the OCC, and the Federal Reserve, issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to further the “development of enhanced cyber risk management standards for the largest and most interconnected entities under their respective supervisory jurisdictions, and those entities’ service providers.” These standards, according to the ANPR, are intended to “increase the operational resilience” of supervised entities and their service providers and, based on the interconnectedness of these entities, “reduce the impact on the financial system in case of a cyber event experienced by one of these entities.” The ANPR proposes organizing enhanced cyber standards into the following categories: (i) cyber risk governance; (ii) cyber risk management; (iii) internal dependency management; (iv) external dependency management; and (v) incident response. The ANPR further explains that the banking agencies “are considering implementing the enhanced standards in a tiered manner, imposing more stringent standards on the systems of those entities that are critical to the functioning of the financial sector.” Comments on the ANPR, which would not apply to community banks, are due January 17, 2017.

    Federal Issues FDIC Banking Federal Reserve OCC Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Vendor Management

  • FTC Unveils Agenda for Upcoming FinTech Forum

    Federal Issues

    On October 17, the FTC released the agenda for its upcoming FinTech forum, which is the second in an ongoing event series. The FTC’s half day event will take place on October 26 in Washington, DC from 1:00 to 4:30 pm. The event will consist of panel discussions relating to (i) peer-to-peer payment systems, which allow consumers to exchange money electronically; and (ii) crowdfunding, which is the use of online platforms to fund a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people.

    Federal Issues Digital Commerce FTC Payments Fintech Marketplace Lending

  • FFIEC Releases FAQs on Cybersecurity Assessment Tool

    Federal Issues

    On October 17, the FFIEC published a Frequently Asked Questions guide related to the Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (Assessment) that was released in Summer 2015. Developed to assist financial institutions identify risks and to assess cybersecurity preparedness, use of the Assessment is voluntary. The FAQs guide explains that management may use the Assessment to determine an institution’s cybersecurity maturity level within five different domains: (i) Cybersecurity Risk Management and Oversight; (ii) Threat Intelligence and Collaboration; (iii) Cybersecurity Controls; (iv) External Dependency Management; and (v) Cyber Incident Management and Resilience. The FAQs guide clarifies that “the Assessment is not designed to identify an overall cybersecurity maturity level.” Regarding third-party oversight, FAQ number 10 explains that the Assessment may be used as a resource for management’s “oversight of third parties as part of the institution’s comprehensive third-party management program.” Additional topics addressed in the FAQs include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) how the Assessment aligns with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework; (ii) whether an automated version of the Assessment will be released; (iii) the Assessment’s ability to determine an institution’s Inherent Risk Profile; and (iv) the expectations for Inherent Risk Profile levels to align with an institution’s Cybersecurity Maturity.

    Federal Issues FFIEC Bank Supervision NIST Risk Management Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

  • CFPB Orders Credit Union to Pay $28.5 Million Over Debt Collection Practices

    Federal Issues

    On October 11, the CFPB issued a consent order to a Virginia-based federal credit union to resolve allegations that its debt collection activities were unfair and deceptive in violation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. According to the CFPB’s consent order, the credit union failed to implement adequate compliance controls and employee training on debt collection communications. The credit union’s actions involved employees who sent letters to “hundreds of thousands” of consumers containing various misrepresentations regarding the handling of consumer debt. The consent order alleged that these debt collection letters falsely threatened legal action, wage garnishment, and contacting servicemembers’ commanding officers for failure to remit payments. The consent order also noted that the same threats were made via telephone. The CFPB further contends that the credit union (i) sent approximately 68,000 letters misrepresenting the credit consequences of falling behind on a loan, alleging that members would “find it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain additional credit because of [their] present unsatisfactory credit rating” (internal quotations omitted); and (ii) restricted consumers’ electronic account access and electronic accounts services – without providing adequate notice – once their accounts became delinquent. Pursuant to the consent order, the credit union must (i) pay $23 million in consumer redress; (ii) pay a $5.5 million civil money penalty; and (iii) establish a comprehensive compliance plan regarding its policies and procedures on consumer debt collection communications and electronic account restrictions.

    Federal Issues Consumer Finance CFPB Dodd-Frank UDAAP Debt Collection

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