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The FDIC has released a list of orders of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in August 2017. There were a total of 22 orders, four notices, including one notice issued in May, and one adjudicated decision. The administrative enforcement actions in those orders consisted of two consent orders; three removal and prohibition orders; seven Section 19 orders; one civil money penalty; one termination of insurance; eight terminations of consent orders; four notices; and one adjudicated decision.

Under the adjudicated decision, the FDIC Board issued an order removing a board member and former president of an Amarillo, Texas, bank, prohibiting him from participation in the banking industry, and assessing a $200,000 civil money penalty for violations of Regulation O, engaging in unsafe and unsound banking practices, and breaching his fiduciary duties. See our Penalty page for details. There was also an order assessing a $21,000 penalty against a California bank for engaging in a pattern or practice of violations of flood insurance requirements. The three removal/prohibition orders were issued against individuals formerly affiliated with banks in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Medota, Illinois, and Fort Pierce, Florida.

Notices of charges and hearing are preliminary notices of penalties for which the respondent individual or bank has a right to request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The May 2017 notice was issued to a Louisiana bank alleged to have engaged in an extensive pattern or practice of flood insurance-related violations. The three notices issued in August involve pending removal/prohibition orders issued against two individuals affiliated with a Laredo, Texas, bank, and one individual affiliated with a bank in Everett, Massachusetts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is providing regulatory relief to publicly traded companies, investment companies, accountants, transfer agents, municipal advisors and others affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The loss of property, power, transportation, and mail delivery due to the hurricanes poses challenges for some individuals that are required to provide information to the SEC and shareholders.

The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced today they have extended the next resolution plan filing deadline for eight large domestic banks by one year to July 1, 2019. The extension will provide the time needed for firms to remediate any weaknesses identified in their July 2017 submissions and to prepare and improve their next resolution plan submissions. The resolution plans describe an institution's strategy for rapid and orderly resolution under bankruptcy if under material financial distress or failing. The eight domestic firms granted the extension are Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street Corporation, and Wells Fargo.

The agencies are also extending by one year, to December 31, 2018, the next resolution plan submission deadline for 82 foreign banks with limited U.S. operations.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released its bank supervision operating plan for fiscal year 2018. Strategies for the year will focus on:

• Cybersecurity and operational resiliency
• Commercial and retail credit loan underwriting, concentration risk management, and the allowance for loan and lease losses
• Business model sustainability and viability and strategy changes
• Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) compliance management
• Change management to address new regulatory requirements

A final rule on qualified financial contracts has been adopted by the FDIC to enhance the resilience and safety and soundness of state savings associations and banks supervised by the FDIC that are affiliated with systemically important U.S. and foreign banking organizations ("covered FDIC-supervised institutions"). The rule will be effective January 1, 2018.

• FDIC's press release

The OCC, FDIC and Board of Governors have issued a joint press release announcing a proposed rule intended to reduce regulatory burden by simplifying several requirements in the agencies' regulatory capital rule. Most aspects of the proposed rule would apply only to banking organizations that are not subject to the "advanced approaches" in the capital rule, which are generally firms with less than $250 billion in total consolidated assets and less than $10 billion in total foreign exposure. The proposal would simplify and clarify a number of the more complex aspects of the existing capital rule. Comments will be accepted for 60 days following publication.

• Notice of proposed rulemaking
• Community bank summary
• Capital Simplifications NPR estimation tool

OFAC has announced actions taken Tuesday to further disrupt North Korea’s access to the international financial system. OFAC designated eight North Korean banks and 26 individuals linked to North Korean financial networks. The individuals sanctioned are North Korean nationals operating in China, Russia, Libya and the United Arab Emirates who act as representatives of North Korean banks. OFAC also identified two banks as part of the Government of North Korea. As a result of today’s action, any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked.

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

The Bureau Blog features stories received from servicemembers about problems with debt collections practices and complaints.

OCC Bulletin 2017-28, issued Friday, is a reminder of the earlier announcement by the OCC, FRB, and FDIC seeking comment on a proposed rule that would revise their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act. The proposed rule would amend the CRA regulations' definitions of "home mortgage loan" and "consumer loan" to conform to recent changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The proposed rule would also amend the CRA public file content requirements for consistency with Regulation C, make technical amendments to remove cross references related to the proposed amended definitions, and remove an obsolete reference to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Comments on the proposal are due by October 27, 2017.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved interpretive guidance to assist companies in their efforts to comply with the pay ratio disclosure requirement mandated by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection. Under the SEC's Pay Ratio rule, registrants must provide pay ratio disclosure for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2017, which means that registrants will begin making pay ratio disclosures in early 2018. In general the rule requires registrants to disclose the ratio of the compensation of its principal executive officer (PEO) to the median employee's compensation.