Top Story Compliance Related

The CFPB has announced the release of the findings of its first five-year assessment of the Remittance Rule. The Bureau used both its own research and external sources to conduct its assessment and prepare its report. The Bureau expects that the report will help inform the Bureau’s future policy decisions concerning remittance transfers, including whether to commence a Rulemaking proceeding to make the Remittance Rule more effective in protecting consumers, less burdensome to industry, or both.

• Remittance Rule Assessment Report

The Bureau has posted a public statement announcing its intent to issue proposed rules in January 2019 that will reconsider the Bureau's rule regarding Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans and address the rule's compliance date. The Bureau currently plans to propose revisiting only the ability-to-repay provisions and not the payments provisions, in significant part because the ability-to-repay provisions have much greater consequences for both consumers and industry than the payment provisions.

HUD has announced it has charged the owner of a mobile home park in Lexington, Tennessee, with discrimination for allegedly pressuring two female tenants, a same-sex couple, to perform sexual favors for him instead of paying rent.

The NCUA will host a HMDA and Consumer Compliance Update webinar on November 14 to provide credit unions information about recent changes to HMDA and other federal consumer financial protection laws and regulations. The webinar is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST.

The Federal Reserve Board has announced the execution of a written agreement with AllNations Bank, Calumet, Oklahoma.

OFAC has announced the designations of three Singapore-based targets–two entities and one individual—for laundering money in support of North Korea. In a related action, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed criminal charges against the same individual, Tan Wee Beng. The action highlights North Korea’s continued illicit use of the financial system to circumvent sanctions, as well as the U.S. Government’s commitment to safeguard the international financial system and implement existing UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. For identity information on the added designations, as well as two updates to existing listings, see our OFAC Update.

HUD has announced that it has charged Melinda S. Moore Housing, Inc., owner of a Christiansburg, Virginia-based low-income housing provider, Metropolitan Property Management, Inc. of Washington, NC, and three managers with discrimination on the basis of disability. HUD’s Charge of Discrimination alleges that the housing providers discriminated against a resident with disabilities when they unreasonably delayed her request to install an automatic door opener to make it easier to use her wheelchair and then evicted her after refusing to allow her extra time, because of illness, to complete the development’s annual income and family composition certification.

An open board meeting of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System will be held at 10:30 a.m. on October 31, 2018. Matter to be considered: Prudential standards for large bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and state member banks. The meeting may be viewed via webcast from a link available on the Board's public website. A link to the meeting documentation will also be available approximately 20 minutes before the start of the meeting.

In a presentation to the attendees of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions’ Annual Conference in Clearwater, Florida, NCUA Chairman McWatters announced the awarding of $2 million in Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) grants to 203 low-income credit unions. These funds will be used for digital services and security programs, outreach to underserved areas, and leadership development and training for credit union staff. McWatters also noted there continues to be strong and consistent demand for short-term, small dollar loans. The Chairman stated, “A viable short-term loan program provided by credit unions could be an alternative to high-priced payday loans and a way to break the cycle of debt that traps millions of consumers. Additionally, such a loan program could be a first step in bringing the millions of unbanked and underserved populations into the credit union system.

Yesterday, the seven member nations of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) took actions to expose and disrupt Taliban actors and their Iranian sponsors that seek to undermine the security of the Afghan Government. The TFTC Member States—the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—designated nine individuals associated with the Taliban, including those facilitating Iranian support to bolster the terrorist group. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated these key Taliban members and their Iranian regime sponsors in partnership with the other TFTC Member States. For identification of the designated individuals, see our OFAC Update.

• Treasury Department press release