Top Story Compliance Related

The Federal Reserve has posted an update of its main FRB/US model package, a self-contained set of equations, data, programs and documentation that enables various types of simulations and provides information about the model's structure.

An Atlanta, Georgia, Bank received a Federal Reserve Bank order to pay $1,501,000 as a civil money penalty for a pattern or practice of violating the National Flood Insurance Act and § 208.25 of Federal Reserve Board Regulation H. No further information on the bank's violation was given. See our Penalty page for further information.

The NCUA has announced that 25 federally insured credit unions subject to civil monetary penalties for filing late Call Reports in the fourth quarter of 2016 have consented to penalties totaling $10,365. Individual penalties ranged from $151 to $2,509. The Federal Credit Union Act requires NCUA to send any funds received through civil monetary penalties to the U.S. Treasury.

OFAC has announced it has identified Mexican national Jose Luis Ruelas Torres and the Ruelas Torres Drug Trafficking Organization (Ruelas Torres DTO) as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). Jose Luis Ruelas Torres is the leader of the Ruelas Torres DTO, a family-based, independent opium and heroin production and distribution organization that smuggles multi-kilogram heroin quantities into the United States. OFAC is also designating ten key Ruelas Torres DTO associates as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Kingpin Act for their role in the organization. For identification information see our OFAC Update.

As a result of this action, all assets of those designated that are based in the United States or that are in the control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1,437,153 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties. Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million. Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to the Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency published a final rule in the May 25, 2017, Federal Register identifying communities to be suspended on June 7, 2017, from the National Flood Insurance Program for noncompliance with the program's floodplain management requirements.

• Arkansas—Portions of Jackson County
• Illinois—City of Decatur
• North Dakota—City of New Rockford and portions of Stutsman County
• Pennsylvania—Portions of Erie County
• Texas—Town of Fairview

The Supreme Court has made the practice of "patent trolling" more difficult with its May 22, 2017, decision on how to interpret the patent venue laws. In TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Branch LLC, the justices held that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which handles all patent appeals, has been using the wrong standard since 1990 to decide in which court jurisdiction a patent lawsuit can be brought. Get the details in our Courtwatch article.

The CFPB Blog has announced an update of the Bureau's "Your Money, Your Goals" webpages, with new resources for organizations to use when having conversations about money with their clients.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will host an all-day conference today, May 24, 2017, from 9 am to 4 pm ET, to take a comprehensive look at how identity theft has evolved over the last decade and what can be done to address this challenge in the future. The conference will be webcast.

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Florida, a federal court has issued a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt a massive phony debt relief operation that bilked tens of millions of dollars from financially strapped consumers, including the elderly and disabled. According to the complaint filed by the FTC and the State of Florida, the defendants, through 11 companies, got people to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars a month by falsely promising they would pay, settle, or obtain dismissals of consumers' debts and improve their credit. Over time, victims found their debts unpaid, their accounts in default, and their credit scores severely damaged. Some were sued by their creditors, and some were forced into bankruptcy.

Acting Comptroller Noreika has announced the naming of Michael Sullivan as senior deputy comptroller for economics effective June 11, 2017.