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The National Credit Union Administration has published a final rule to adjust the maximum amount of each civil monetary penalty (CMP) within its jurisdiction to account for inflation. The rule became effective on January 15, 2018.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has issued a report that identifies the most common methods of recruitment used by terrorist organizations and terrorist cells, and the costs associated with these different methods and techniques of terrorist recruitment. Using input collected from authorities within the FATF Global Network, the report increases understanding of terrorist organizations' funding needs to recruit members and supporters. In some cases, these funding needs are minimal.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has announced the publication of its 2017 annual report. The report describes significant financial market and regulatory developments, potential emerging threats to U.S. financial stability, recommendations to promote financial stability, and the activities of the FSOC. The report was developed collaboratively by the members of the FSOC and their agencies and respective staff and was approved unanimously by voting members of the FSOC. The report notes that the U.S. financial regulatory system should promote economic growth by preventing financial crises and also minimizing regulations that increase costs without commensurate benefits.

Additional recommendations in the annual report include:

• The FSOC supports the creation of a private sector council of senior executives to collaborate with regulators and focus on the ways that cyber incidents could impact businesses.
• Financial regulators should ensure that financial institutions have sufficient capital and liquidity to reduce their vulnerability to economic and financial shocks. Additionally, regulators should continue to monitor and assess the impact of rules on financial institutions and markets.
• Regulators should continue to evaluate whether existing rules and standards for central counterparties and their clearing members are sufficiently robust to mitigate potential threats to financial stability.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission should monitor and assess the effectiveness of money market mutual fund reforms that were implemented last year.
• Regulators and market participants should complete work on alternative reference rates, and take appropriate steps to mitigate disruptions associated with the transition to a new reference rate.
• Regulators and market participants should continue work to improve the coverage, quality, and accessibility of financial data, as well as data sharing between and among relevant agencies.

The Federal Reserve Board has announced it has issued to Goldmann Sachs Bank USA, of New York, an order to pay a $90,000 civil money penalty for a pattern or practice of violations of the National Flood Insurance Act. See our Penalty Page for more information.

The Department of the Treasury has announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated on Friday fourteen individuals and entities in connection with serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran, and support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators. The actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which targets serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran; E.O. 13606, which targets grave human rights abuses by the Governments of Iran and Syria via information technology; E.O. 13628, which targets, among other things, censorship or other activities that prohibit, limit, or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by citizens of Iran, or that limit access to print or broadcast media; and E.O. 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

For identification of the individuals and entities designated, see our OFAC Update.

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the termination of enforcement actions related to residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing issued in 2011 and 2012 against 10 banking organizations. The Board also announced civil money penalties totaling $35.1 million against five of these 10 organizations that had not yet been fined for their mortgage servicing deficiencies related to those enforcement actions. With the penalties announced today, the Board has now assessed penalties totaling approximately $1.1 billion against all Federal Reserve supervised firms under mortgage servicing enforcement actions.

The 10 banking organizations are: Ally Financial Inc.; Bank of America Corporation; CIT Group, Inc. (as successor to IMB HoldCo LLC); The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; HSBC North America Holdings, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Morgan Stanley; The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; SunTrust Banks, Inc.; and U.S. Bancorp. The termination of the actions was based on evidence of sustainable improvements in the firms' oversight and mortgage servicing practices.

The civil money penalties announced today are: $14 million against Goldman Sachs; $8 million against Morgan Stanley; $5.2 million against CIT (as successor to IMB); $4.4 million against U.S. Bancorp; and $3.5 million against PNC.

Also on Friday, the Board announced the termination by the Board and other federal financial regulatory agencies of joint enforcement actions issued in 2011 against Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), which was succeeded by ServiceLink Holdings, LLC, and against MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., formerly known as MERSCORP, Inc. (MERS). These enforcement actions addressed deficiencies in the foreclosure-related services LPS and MERS each provided to entities regulated by the agencies. The termination of the actions was based on evidence of sustainable improvements in the foreclosure-related practices of LPS and MERS.

The CFPB has announced it will start offering an email course, "Get a Handle on Debt Boot Camp," to help consumers create a budget, track spending, and learn strategies for paying down debt. The course is scheduled to begin in February.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published in the January 12, 2017, Federal Register a final rule adjusting for inflation the maximum amount of each civil penalty within the Bureau’s jurisdiction. These adjustments are required by the Inflation Adjustment Act. The inflation adjustments mandated by the Inflation Adjustment Act serve to maintain the deterrent effect of civil penalties and to promote compliance with the law. The rule is effective January 15, 2017.

As examples of the inflation adjustments, the $50 per violation statutory civil money penalty for failure to provide an annual escrow statement under RESPA will be increased to $92, with an annual cap, originally $100,000, increased to $184,767. Intentional failures to provide the statement can result in penalties up to $185 per violation with no annual cap, an increase from the statutory amount of $100. The statutory maximum penalty of $10,000 per day for a first violation of the appraisal independence requirements under the Truth in Lending Act will be increased to $11,279.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has published in the January 12, 2018, Federal Register a notice of inflation adjustments to civil money penalty amounts.

The FDIC published in the January 12, 2018, Federat Register a final rule making civil money penalty inflation adjustments for violations of statutes, rules and orders within its jurisdiction. The rule amends § 308.116 of the FDIC's Rule and Regulations at 12 CFR Part 308. The amendment affects penalties assessed after January 15, 2018, for violations that occurred on or after November 2, 2015.