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  • Massachusetts AG Settles with Auto Lender Over Alleged "Excessive" Interest Rate Charges

    Consumer Finance

    On November 5, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey announced a settlement with a national auto lender to resolve allegations that the lender charged excessive interest rates on subprime auto loans. The company agreed to provide over $5 million – approximately $11,000 per consumer – in relief to those affected by its alleged practice of charging consumers excessive interest rates as a result of including fees from an add-on GAP insurance product. Under the terms of the assurance and discontinuance, the company will (i) eliminate the alleged excessive interest on certain loans as a result of the GAP fee; and (ii) forgive outstanding interest on loans. In addition, the company must pay $150,000 to Massachusetts and perform supervised audits of its existing loan portfolio to ensure that no additional consumers were overcharged because of GAP fees.

    State Attorney General Auto Finance Enforcement

  • Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Delivers Semi-Annual Report on Supervision and Regulation

    Consumer Finance

    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.”

    Federal Reserve Community Banks Bank Supervision Risk Management

  • Bank Settles with DOJ for $81.6 Million for Failing to Timely File Payment Change Notices for Homeowners in Bankruptcy

    Lending

    On November 5, the DOJ announced a proposed settlement with a bank for allegedly violating bankruptcy rules by not providing homeowners with required notices that would have allowed them to challenge the accuracy of increased mortgage rates. According to the DOJ, the bank acknowledged that, from December 1, 2011 to March 31, 2015, it failed to (i) file payment change notices (PCNs) 21 days before adjusting a debtor’s monthly mortgage payment, as required by federal regulations; and (ii) perform timely escrow analyses. Under the settlement, the bank will be required to pay over $80 million in restitution to homeowners in bankruptcy that were affected by its actions and will be required to update its internal procedures to prevent further violations, including improving its employee training and its quality control processes to ensure that PCNs are filed within the appropriate timeframe. The settlement was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland and is subject to court approval.

    DOJ Escrow

  • Federal Reserve and New York DFS Announce $258 Million Penalty Against Global Bank

    Federal Issues

    On November 4, the Federal Reserve and the New York DFS announced a combined $258 million penalty against a global bank for “violations in connection with transactions on behalf of countries and entities subject to U.S. sanctions.” According to the Fed’s cease and desist order, the bank failed to implement adequate risk management and compliance policies and procedures to “ensure that activities conducted at offices outside the United States complied with applicable OFAC Regulations and were timely reported in response to inquiries by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” Specifically, the Fed alleged that, from November 2001 to January 2006, foreign offices of the bank processed funds transfers with parties subject to OFAC Regulations through the bank’s New York-based subsidiary and other unaffiliated U.S. financial institutions without having the information necessary to determine that the transactions were consistent with U.S. law. The Fed’s order requires the bank to develop a compliance program that establishes (i) policies and procedures to ensure compliance with applicable OFAC regulations; (ii) an OFAC compliance reporting system; and (iii) requirements for employee training in OFAC-related issues. Under the terms of the DFS consent order, the bank agreed to hire an independent monitor to conduct a comprehensive review of its BSA/AML and OFAC sanctions compliance program, policies, and procedures.

    Federal Reserve Enforcement Sanctions OFAC NYDFS

  • Texas Department of Banking Issues Supervisory Memorandum to Money Services Business License Holders

    Fintech

    On October 29, the Texas Department of Banking (the Department) issued a supervisory memorandum to Money Services Business (MSB) license holders. The purpose of the memorandum “is to provide license holders with industry best practices regarding the documentation of [authorized delegate] and agent compliance monitoring efforts.” According to the Department, agents and Authorized Delegates (AD) pose substantial compliance risks to MSBs, with agent and AD file review comprising “a significant component of the examination process for assessing compliance with AML Program requirements and Texas law.” The memorandum provides MSBs with industry guidance on how to meet regulators’ expectations for maintaining documentation in compliance with agent and AD oversight. The Department identifies various documents that support effective agent and AD on-boarding due diligence, including: (i) agent and AD BSA policies and procedures; (ii) approval by foreign regulators to conduct money transmission; (iii) evidence of initial AML/BSA training; and (iv) credit review and approval documents, such as financials and credit reports. Moreover, the memorandum indicates that on-going due diligence requires MSBs to maintain, among other things, evidence to support (i) periodic BSA training; (ii) agent compliance with independent AML review requirements; and (iii) the license holder’s review of updated BSA/AML Program policies and procedures.

    Anti-Money Laundering Bank Secrecy Act Money Service / Money Transmitters

  • FTC Partners with Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies to Announce Nationwide "Crackdown" on Abusive Debt Collection

    Consumer Finance

    On November 4, the FTC announced the first coordinated federal, state, and local initiative to combat alleged abusive and deceptive debt collection practices, Operation Collection Protection. This announcement included authorities listing 30 new actions, including five enforcement actions by the FTC. These actions targeted the following practices: (i) extracting payments from consumers by using intimidation and inaccurate representations; (ii) impersonating servers or attorneys and threatening arrest or litigation; and (iii) collecting on debts that never existed or had already been paid. These cases bring the total number of actions taken under the Operation Collection Protection initiative this year to 115 and the total number of participating law enforcement partners to 70.

    FTC State Attorney General Debt Collection Enforcement

  • FFIEC Issues Joint Statement Regarding Cyber Attacks Involving Extortion

    Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

    On November 3, the FFIEC issued a statement notifying financial institutions of the increasing frequency and severity of cyber attacks involving extortion. The joint statement urges financial institutions to take steps to ensure effective risk management programs, including but not limited to the following: (i) conducting ongoing information security risk assessments; (ii) performing security monitoring, prevention, and risk mitigation; (iii) implementing and regularly testing controls around critical systems; and (iv) participating in industry information-sharing forums. The statement identifies resources financial institutions can refer to for assistance in mitigating cyber attacks involving extortion.

    The OCC also published a bulletin alerting all OCC-supervised institutions of the FFIEC’s joint statement.

    OCC FFIEC Risk Management Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

  • FTC Announces Agenda for Cross-Device Tracking Workshop

    Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

    On November 3, the FTC announced the agenda for its Cross-Device Tracking workshop, which is scheduled to take place on November 16 in Washington, D.C. FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will deliver opening remarks, with FTC Office of Technology, Research and Investigation Policy Director Justin Brookman introducing two panel discussions. The first panel will examine the technology used for cross-device tracking, including how it has evolved, privacy concerns, and how the technology benefits consumers and businesses alike. The second panel will focus on the policy implications of cross-device tracking, such as: (i) the type of data being collected about consumers; (ii) consumer awareness of this type of tracking; (iii) notice to consumers of cross-device tracking and consumers’ ability to give consent; and (iv) industry self-regulation efforts.

    FTC Data Collection / Aggregation Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

  • National Labor Relations Board Issues Guidance Regarding Electronic Signatures

    Fintech

    On October 26, the National Labor Relations Board issued revised guidance regarding its acceptance of electronic signatures to support a showing of interest. The revised guidance requires electronic signatures to contain the following information: (i) the signer’s name; (ii) the signer’s e-mail address or other known contact information, such as a social media account; (iii) the signer’s telephone number; (iv) the language to which the signer has agreed; (v) the electronic submission date; and (vi) the name of the employee’s employer. If the electronic signature technology used does not support digital signatures that can be independently verified by a third party, then “the submitting party must submit evidence that, after the electronic signature was obtained, the submitting party promptly transmitted a communication stating and confirming” the required information. Electronic submissions should not include personal identifiable information, such as the signer’s date of birth and social security number. Finally, a declaration must be submitted with an electronic signature to: (i) identify the technology used and explain how its controls ensure the authenticity of the signature; and (ii) show that the electronically transmitted information explaining what and when the employees signed is the same information that the employees saw and agreed to.

    Electronic Signatures

  • CFPB Releases Supervisory Highlights Report

    Consumer Finance

    On November 3, the CFPB released its latest Supervisory Highlights report, which covers examination findings from May 2015 to August 2015. According to the report, which summarizes supervisory observations in the areas of consumer reporting, debt collection, mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, student loan servicing, and fair lending, recent non-public CFPB supervisory actions resulted in $107 million in restitution to more than 238,000 consumers. The report recognizes that certain efforts were made by institutions to improve compliance, including (i) mortgage servicers making improvements to their compliance audits and conducting information technology reviews; and (ii) student loan servicers alerting borrowers of unpaid balances remaining after borrowers attempt to pay off their loans but fall short. The report also discusses the CFPB’s revised exam appeals process, which includes changes to the supervisory appeals process originally outlined in Bulletin 2012-07. Among other things, the revised exam appeals process extends the expected time to issue a written decision on appeals from 45 to 60 days, and “[p]revents an institution from appealing adverse findings or an unsatisfactory rating related to a recommended or pending investigation or public enforcement action until the enforcement investigation or action has been resolved.”

    CFPB Examination Mortgage Origination

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