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The Department of Labor announced yesterday it has published the first in a series of FAQs to be published concerning its "Conflict of Interest" rules regarding retirement investment advice.

The CFPB has issued warning letters to 44 mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers. The Bureau has information that appears to show the lenders and brokers may be required to collect, record, and report data about their housing-related lending activity, and that they may be in violation of those requirements. The CFPB identified the 44 companies by reviewing available bank and nonbank mortgage data. The warning letters warned that entities that meet certain requirements are required to collect, record, and report mortgage lending data, and suggested that recipients review their practices to ensure they comply with all relevant laws. The companies are encouraged to respond to the Bureau to advise if they have taken, or will take, steps to ensure compliance with the law. They can also tell the Bureau if they think the law does not apply to them. The CFPB, in sending these letters, made no determination that a legal violation did, in fact, occur.

The NCUA Board met on October 27, 2016, and announced that it unanimously approved five items:

• A proposed rule to provide further field-of-membership community charter options for federal credit unions.
• A final rule modernizing existing field-of-membership definitions for federal credit unions to improve consumer access to affordable credit.
• A final rule re-naming NCUA’s consumer office as the Office of Consumer Financial Protection and Access to clarify its function and role in promoting consumer access to affordable financial services.
• A final rule adjusting civil monetary penalties for inflation, as required by Congress.
• An interagency proposed rule to implement the private flood insurance requirements for loans in special flood hazard areas contained in a 2012 statute.

The OCC has posted a notice on its website that several of the search functions on the site will be down for scheduled maintenance from 8 pm. ET today until 6 am. ET on Monday.

The OCC will host two workshops in Philadelphia at the Sheraton Suites Philadelphia Airport, December 6-7, for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the OCC. The Risk Governance workshop on December 6 combines lectures, discussion, and exercises to provide practical information for directors to effectively measure and manage risks. The workshop also focuses on the OCC’s approach to risk-based supervision and major risks in the financial industry. The Compliance Risk workshop on December 7 combines lectures, discussion, and exercises on the critical elements of an effective compliance risk management program. The workshop also focuses on major compliance risks and critical regulations. Topics of discussion include the Bank Secrecy Act, Community Reinvestment Act, and the Truth-in-Lending (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) Integrated Disclosures Rule, also known as TRID.

Treasury has announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned nine Mexican individuals linked to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and its close ally, the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), which were initially sanctioned on April 8, 2015. The nine individuals are designated as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for providing material assistance to the drug trafficking activities of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (a.k.a. “Mencho”) and his brother-in-law, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, the respective leaders of CJNG and the Los Cuinis DTO. As a result of today’s action, any assets these individuals may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. See our OFAC Update for further details.

The OCC will establish an office dedicated to responsible innovation and implement a formal framework to improve the agency’s ability to identify, understand, and respond to financial innovation affecting the federal banking system. The Office of Innovation will be headed by a Chief Innovation Officer assigned to OCC Headquarters with a small staff located in Washington, New York, and San Francisco. The office will be the central point of contact and a clearinghouse for requests and information related to innovation. It will also implement other aspects of the OCC’s framework for responsible innovation, which include

• establishing an outreach and technical assistance program for banks and nonbanks,
• conducting awareness and training activities for OCC staff,
• encouraging coordination and facilitation,
• establishing an innovation research function, and
• promoting interagency collaboration.

The OCC expects the office to begin operations in the first quarter of 2017.

• OCC press release

The October CFPB complaint spotlight focuses on consumer complaints about prepaid products. The report shows that consumers continue to experience issues trying to manage their accounts and access funds. This month’s report also highlights trends seen in complaints coming from North Carolina.

FDIC FIL-71-2016, issued October 25, announces the launch of an FDIC program that provides insured depository institutions subject to Part 363 of the FDIC's regulations the option to electronically file the annual reports and other reports and notices required under Part 363, using the FDIC's secure website, FDICconnect (FCX), rather than in paper form. Institutions are encouraged to file their Part 363 Annual Reports and other required reports and notices electronically using FCX-SBC. The results of the program will be evaluated to determine whether to propose amendments to Part 363 to mandate electronic filing with the FDIC.

In remarks at an event for bank regulators related to accounting and auditing of regulated financial institutions, Comptroller Curry discussed the importance of interagency collaboration for the supervision and regulation of the financial services industry.