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OFAC has announced it has sanctioned Dominican Republic Senator Felix Ramon Bautista Rosario (Bautista) for engaging in corrupt acts, including in relation to reconstruction efforts in Haiti, and Cambodian General Hing Bun Hieng (Bun Hieng) for being the leader of an entity involved in serious human rights abuse, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which targets perpetrators of corruption and serious human rights abuse and corruption. OFAC also designated five entities owned or controlled by Bautista. See our OFAC Update for identification information on the individuals and entities targeted by these designations.

The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC have published [83 FR 27371] a notice that they have rescinded the FFIEC's policy statement on "Interagency Coordination of Formal Corrective Action by the Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies" dated February 20, 1997, and issued a "Policy Statement on Interagency Notification of Formal Enforcement Actions" to promote notification of, and coordination on, formal enforcement actions among the federal banking agencies (FBAs) at the earliest practicable date. According to OCC Bulletin 2018-16, announcing the agencies' actions, the new interagency policy statement states that

• when one of the federal banking agencies determines that it expects to take a formal enforcement action against any federally insured depository institution, depository institution holding company, nonbank affiliate, or institution-affiliated party, it will notify the other federal banking agencies that have an interest in the enforcement action.
• notification should be provided at the earlier of the federal banking agency’s written notification to the federally insured depository institution, depository institution holding company, nonbank affiliate, or institution-affiliated party that it is considering an enforcement action against it or when the appropriate responsible federal banking agency official or group of officials determines that formal enforcement action is expected to be taken.
• if two or more federal banking agencies consider bringing complementary actions, those federal banking agencies should coordinate the preparation, processing, presentation, potential penalties, service, and follow-up of the enforcement actions.

The new policy statement became applicable on June 12, 2018.

On Monday, OFAC announced it had designated five Russian entities and three Russian individuals under Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, “Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities” and Section 224 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). One of the designated entities is owned by and has provided support to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), while the other two have supported the FSB. OFAC also designated several entities and individuals for being owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, the three entities that have enabled the FSB.

OFAC also announced on Monday it had, concurrently with the U.N., sanctioned six individuals for threatening the peace, security, or stability of Libya through their involvement in the smuggling of migrants.

For identification of the entities and individuals designated by OFAC's actions, see our OFAC Update.

The Federal Reserve System will host a one-hour Outlook Live webinar, "Keeping Fintech Fair: Thinking About Fair Lending and UDAP Risks," on Monday, June 25, at 2 p.m. EDT. Carol Evans and Katrina Blodgett of the Federal Reserve Board will discuss fair lending and unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP) risks that may arise as financial institutions adopt new technologies to serve their customers, and offer some general guideposts for evaluating those risks, with a focus on alternative data. The presentation is a companion to the article "Keeping Fintech Fair: Thinking About Fair Lending and UDAP Risks," which was published in Consumer Compliance Outlook.

UPDATE: This webinar has been rescheduled to Monday, July 16, 2018.

FDIC FIL-32-2018 announces the formation of the new Money Smart Advance Team (MSAT). Banks that engage in financial education activities, or plan to do so, and who join the MSAT will get an early look at the updated instructor-led Money Smart for Adults curriculum, scheduled for release in September, and other benefits.

The Federal Reserve Board has posted a notice of an open meeting of the Board of Governors to be held at 2:30 p.m. on June 14, 2018. On the agenda is a final rule to establish single-counterparty credit limits for large U.S. bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations and a related regulatory reporting proposal.

OFAC has announced a $145,893 settlement agreement with Ericsson, Inc. of Plano, Texas and Ericsson, AB of Stockholm, Sweden. The companies agreed to settle their potential civil liability for an apparent violation of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations. The apparent violation involved employees of the companies conspiring together and with employees of a third company to export and reexport a satellite hub from the United States to Sudan and to export and reexport satellite-related services from the United States to Sudan in violation of the regulations. OFAC determined that the companies voluntarily self-disclosed the apparent violation, and that the apparent violation constitutes an egregious case.

The Bureau has announced in a blog post that is acting to transition "from former modes of outreach to a new strategy to increase high quality feedback." After public comment on its request for information on external engagements, the Bureau is shifting to to expand external engagements in the form of regional town halls focusing on consumers in underserved communities, roundtable discussions regionally and at Bureau headquarters, and regular national calls. As part of the shift, the Bureau will reconstitute its current Consumer Advisory Board and its Community Bank and Credit Union Councils with new and smaller memberships.

The first of the town hall meetings under the new external engagements regime is scheduled for June 8, in Topeka, Kansas. The topic will be "Fighting Elder Financial Exploitation in your Community." The session will be co-hosted with the Kansas Attorney General.

Five federal regulators have announced their approval of the previously-announced joint proposal that would simplify and tailor compliance requirements relating to the "Volcker Rule." The proposal should be published shortly, to be followed by a 60-day comment period.

Treasury has announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has identified on Tuesday the Rincon Castillo drug trafficking organization (Rincon Castillo DTO), Colombian drug trafficker Pedro Rincon Castillo (a.k.a. “Pedro Orejas”), and a key Colombian criminal associate, Horacio de Jesus Triana Romero, as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). Seven additional Colombian individuals were designated for providing material support to or acting on behalf of the Rincon Castillo DTO. OFAC also designated seven Colombian companies that are owned or controlled by the designated individuals or the Rincon Castillo DTO.

As a result of yesterday’s action, any assets in which these persons have an interest in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons. For identification of the targeted individuals and entities, see our OFAC Update.

Treasury's press release reports that penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1,466,485 per violation to more severe criminal penalties. Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million. Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.