Top Story Compliance Related

The CFPB has posted an article with information for eligible borrowers who were overcharged by Provident Funding Associates. As part of a settlement agreement with the CFPB and the Department of Justice, Provident Funding Associates, L.P. agreed to pay $9 million in relief to minority borrowers whom Provident overcharged between 2006 and 2011. Over the next few days, African-American and Hispanic borrowers harmed by these actions will receive packets with instructions on how to participate in the settlement.

The OCC has issued Bulletin 2016-29 to announce the revision of the “Charters” booklet of the Comptroller’s Licensing Manual (last revised in February 2009).

In testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services, Federal Reserve Board Chair Yellen discussed the Federal Reserve’s supervision of financial institutions. She said, ”One of the Federal Reserve's fundamental goals is to make sure that our regulatory and supervisory program is tailored to the risk that different financial institutions pose to the system as a whole. As we saw in 2007-08, the failure of systemically important financial institutions can destabilize the financial system and undermine the real economy. The largest, most complicated firms must therefore be subject to prudential standards that are more stringent than the standards that apply to other firms. Small and medium-sized banking organizations--whose failure would generally pose much less risk to the system--should be subject to standards that are materially less stringent.” Yellen reviewed the Federal Reserve’s efforts to strengthen the regulation and supervision of the largest financial institutions, large and regional banking organizations, and community bank supervision, She also remarked about the current state of the firms the Federal Reserve regulates. She concluded, “our post-crisis approach to regulation and supervision is both forward-looking and tailored to the level of risk that firms pose to financial stability and the broader economy. Standards for the largest, most complex banking organizations are now significantly more stringent than standards for small and medium-sized banks, which is appropriate given the impact that the failure or distress of those firms could have on the economy…. We must carefully monitor the impact of the regulatory changes we have made and remain vigilant regarding the potential emergence of new risks to financial stability. We must stand ready to adjust our regulatory approach where changes are warranted. The work we do to ensure the financial system remains strong and stable is designed to protect and support the real economy that sustains the businesses and jobs on which American households rely.”

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has published a final rule and guidelines establishing standards for recovery planning by insured national banks, insured Federal savings associations, and insured Federal branches of foreign banks with average total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more (Final Guidelines). The OCC is issuing the Final Guidelines as an appendix to its safety and soundness standards regulations, and the Final Guidelines will be enforceable by the terms of the Federal statute that authorizes the OCC to prescribe operational and managerial standards for national banks and Federal savings associations. The guidelines become effective January 1, 2017, with phased-in compliance dates over 18 months from that date, with the largest banks (total assets of $750 billion or more) required to comply by July 1, 2017.

• Final Rule and Guidelines (81 FR 66791)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published a final rule in this morning's Federal Register identifying unincorporated areas of Louisa County, Virginia, as a community where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that is scheduled for suspension on October 31, 2016, for noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned two individuals following increasing indications that the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to suppress political opposition in the country, often through violent means. OFAC also added a Moroccan operating in Syria as a specially designated global terrorist. All of the designated individuals’ assets within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

For more information on OFAC's actions, see our September 28, 2016, OFAC Update.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published at 81 FR 66930 in this morning's Federal Register a Notice of Bureau Official Approval under ECOA concerning the new Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) and the collection of expanded HMDA information about ethnicity and race in 2017. Under Part III of the Notice, the Bureau approved (but does not require) the collection of such information for applications received during calendar year 2017, even though Regulation C doesn't mandate the collection of the expanded data until January 1, 2018. The Notice says the Bureau believes the option to begin collecting the expanded data may provide creditors extra time to implement the changes needed to comply with the updated HMDA rules by January 1, 2018.

For reporting 2017 data on applications on which final action is taken during 2017, only the aggregate categories and codes in the filing instructions for data collected in 2017 will be used, even if applicants have self-identified using the expanded "disaggregated" categories. For applications taken in 2017 on which final action is taken on or after January 1, 2018, institutions can optionally submit data using disaggregated categories if provided by applicants instead of using the transition rule for those submissions.

The CFPB complaint snapshot this month spotlights money transfer complaints. The report shows that consumers continue to experience issues when attempting to resolve problems with disputed transactions. The report also highlights trends seen in complaints coming from Pennsylvania.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released its mutual evaluation report on Singapore’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing activities.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced it will return almost $20 million to more than 145,000 consumers across the country who were victimized by One Technologies LP and its two partner companies in an online scheme that lured consumers with “free” access to their credit scores and then billed them a recurring $29.95 monthly fee for credit monitoring they never ordered. The company marketed their credit monitoring programs, MyCreditHealth and ScoreSense, through at least 50 websites, including FreeScore360.com, FreeScoreOnline.com, and ScoreSense.com. The FTC alleged that the defendants violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA), which prohibits charging consumers for goods or services sold online via a negative option unless the seller clearly discloses all material terms before obtaining the consumer’s billing information, obtains the consumer’s express informed consent before making the charge, and provides a simple way to stop recurring charges.