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OFAC has released the first video in its "OFAC Basics" video series. The OFAC Basics: Sanctions List Search YouTube video provides viewers with a brief tutorial on how to use OFAC’s Sanctions List Search Tool and recommended steps for assessing a potential match to one of OFAC’s published sanctions lists.

The “OFAC Basics” series serves as a companion series to the “Introduction to OFAC” series, also available on YouTube.

The FDIC on Friday announced it has issued letters demanding five entities and certain associated parties cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about FDIC deposit insurance. The FDIC is demanding that Atmos Financial, PBC (Atmos); BybitcoinEx, Inc. (BybitcoinEx); ORGANO Payments, Inc. and its subsidiary OGPay (OGPay); Horizon Globex GmbH (Horizon), which operates Upstream Exchange; and Zil Money Corporation (Zil) take immediate corrective action to address these false or misleading statements.

Based upon evidence collected by the FDIC, the companies and certain associated parties made false representations by: (1) stating or suggesting that these entities are FDIC-insured or that certain uninsured financial products are insured by the FDIC; (2) misusing the FDIC name or logo; (3) misrepresenting the nature or extent of deposit insurance; and/or (4) failing to clearly identify the insured depository institutions with which they have a relationship for the placement of customer deposits and into which funds may be deposited. The FDIC said these material misrepresentations and omissions are false and misleading, and have the potential to harm consumers.

On December 20, 2023, the FDIC Board of Directors adopted a final rule to amend part 328 of its regulations, which updates the FDIC’s regulations regarding false advertising, misrepresentations of deposit insurance coverage, and misuse of the FDIC’s name and logo. For example, the final rule clarifies that FDIC–associated terms or images may not be used in marketing and advertising materials to inaccurately imply or represent that any uninsured financial product or non–bank entity is insured or guaranteed by the FDIC.

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced it has issued an enforcement action against Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and its New York branch for their unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential supervisory information (CSI). The consent order requires the bank to pay a civil money penalty of $2,431,956 and to submit a written plan to enhance the effectiveness of the branch's internal controls and compliance functions regarding the identification, monitoring, and control of CSI.

Confidential supervisory information includes reports of bank examinations and other confidential communications by banking regulators. It is illegal to disclose confidential supervisory information without prior approval of the appropriate banking regulator.

The Board's action was taken in conjunction with an action by the New York Department of Financial Services, the state supervisor of the bank's New York branch. The penalties announced by the Board and the Department of Financial Services total approximately $32.4 million.

The CFPB has announced it has joined seven state attorneys general in suing Strategic Financial Solutions (SFS) and its web of shell companies for running an illegal debt-relief enterprise. The CFPB and state attorneys general also sued the chief architects of the illegal enterprise, Ryan Sasson and Jason Blust. The CFPB and attorneys general allege the enterprise has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in exorbitant, illegal fees from vulnerable consumers. The CFPB and attorneys general filed the suit under seal on January 10, 2024. They are requesting the court to order a stop to the enterprise’s illegal actions, order redress for consumers, and impose a civil money penalty. The seven states joining with the CFPB are Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

The Bureau's announcement says Strategic Financial Solutions markets itself as providing debt relief services. It has offices in New York City and Buffalo, New York. Ryan Sasson is the chief executive officer of SFS. SFS sits at the top of a web of shell companies and façade law firms, which are controlled by Sasson and fellow scheme architect Jason Blust. SFS runs an alleged scheme, involving dozens of entities, to dupe consumers and regulators. The company uses third parties to target financially vulnerable consumers with advertisements. The advertisements lead consumers to believe they may qualify for loans to help pay down debts. SFS employees then discuss these loans with consumers over the phone. Though SFS tells most, if not all, consumers that they do not qualify for the advertised loans, SFS encourages consumers to enroll in its debt-relief services. SFS promises that its network of law firms and lawyers will negotiate lower debt amounts.

In reality, say the CFPB and attorneys general, SFS provides little, if any, debt-relief service. SFS requires customers to make immediate payments into an escrow account. Long before it settles any debts, however, SFS collects the fees from the escrow account. While the illegal fees and false claims of legal assistance leave consumers worse off, Sasson and Blust pad their pockets through their web of shell companies that siphon the fees from the escrow accounts.

The CFPB and seven state attorneys general allege the actions of SFS violate the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The lawsuit also alleges violations of New York and Wisconsin state laws. Specifically, the complaint alleges that SFS harms consumers by charging illegal advance fees before any of a consumer's debts have been settled, and by falsely claiming that contracted law firms will negotiate lower payoff amounts.

• Complaint

On Thursday, January 18, 2024, the National Credit Union Administration Board held its first open meeting of the year and unanimously approved the agency’s 2024 Annual Performance Plan and received a briefing on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Strategic Plan, 2024–2026. The performance plan, which provides specific direction and guidance toward achieving the mission, was approved on a 3-0 vote.

“As I have often said, if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. That’s what makes this plan so important,” Chairman Todd M. Harper said. “The NCUA in 2024 will continue to address consumer financial protection on equal footing with safety and soundness, including by increasing the number of fair lending exams. Also, the NCUA will continue to focus on the rising and continuing challenges within the credit union system. Those risks include liquidity, interest rate, credit, and compliance risk, as well as the omnipresent cybersecurity risk.”

On Thursday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC took its first oil price cap enforcement action of 2024, targeting a shipping company linked to a price cap violation.

United Arab Emirates-based shipping company Hennesea Holdings Limited (Hennesea) is the ultimate owner of 18 vessels, including the HS Atlantica, which OFAC previously identified as having engaged in the transport of crude oil of Russian Federation origin priced above the $60 per barrel price cap while using a covered U.S.-based provider after the price cap policy came into effect. On December 1, 2023, OFAC identified the HS Atlantica as property in which Hennesea’s subsidiary, U.S.-designated HS Atlantica Limited, has an interest. OFAC additionally re-identified the HS Atlantica as property in which Hennesea has an interest. OFAC also designated 17 other vessels in which Hennesea has an interest.

For identification information on Hennesea and the designated vessels, see this January 18, 2024, BankersOnline OFAC Update.

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve Board reported it has issued a consent prohibition order against Andrew M. Ellison, formerly the Graves County market president at Community Financial Services Bank, Benton, Kentucky, after a finding that Ellison had, in or around May 2020 and September 2021, applied for and obtained an SBA economic injury disaster loan (EIDL) of $500,000 for a business in which he was the sole proprietor and used the funds for unauthorized expenses under the terms of the EIDL program. According to the order, Ellison repaid the loan to the SBA in full, with interest.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) yesterday released enforcement actions taken against national banks and federal savings associations (banks), and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with banks the OCC supervises.

• The previously announced $15 million civil money penalty against U.S. Bank, N.A., for violations of law relating to the bank’s administration of a prepaid card program to distribute public unemployment insurance benefit payments
• Notices of Charges seeking Cease and Desist Orders against three subsidiary banks of Industry Bancshares, Inc., Industry, Texas: The First National Bank of Shiner, Shiner, Texas; Bank of Brenham, N.A., Brenham, Texas; and The First National Bank of Bellville, Bellville, Texas. The Notices of Charges allege, among other things, that each bank engaged in unsafe or unsound practices relating to an investment strategy concentrated in long-term securities that exposed each bank to excessive interest rate risk without sufficient sources of contingency funding and contingency capital, and that each bank failed to timely mitigate such risk.
• A Formal Agreement against EH National Bank, Beverly Hills, California, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to inadequate capital and strategic planning, inadequate interest rate risk management, and failure to maintain adequate levels of liquidity and satisfactory liquidity management practices.
• A Formal Agreement against Jackson Federal Savings and Loan Association, Jackson Minnesota, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to inadequate strategic planning, dereliction of the obligation to maintain adequate levels of liquidity and satisfactory liquidity management practices, and lack of appropriate succession planning.
• A Formal Agreement against North Side Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to Board and management oversight, earnings, information technology management, sensitivity to market risk, consumer compliance, and violation of law, rule or regulation, including those relating to the Truth in Lending Act and the Flood Disaster Protection Act.

The FDIC and Federal Reserve Board have jointly reported that they are extending the resolution plan submission deadline for certain large financial institutions. These companies will be required to submit their resolution plans by March 31, 2025, instead of July 1, 2024.

In August of last year, the agencies invited public comment on proposed guidance for how the resolution plans of certain large financial institutions could address key challenges in resolution. The agencies indicated that they were considering providing an extension of the next resolution plan submission date to provide reasonable time for the proposed guidance, once finalized, to be reflected in the plan submissions. The public comment period closed November 30, 2023, and the agencies continue to develop the final guidance.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC had sanctioned former Guatemalan Minister of Energy and Mining Alberto Pimentel Mata for his role in exploiting the Guatemalan mining sector through widespread bribery schemes, including schemes related to government contracts and mining licenses. Pimentel was designated under the authority of Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. Yesterday’s action follows the Department of State’s October 2023 announcement of visa restriction on Pimentel and other individuals for their involvement in significant corruption.

As a result of yesterday’s action, all property and interests in property of Pimentel that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

For identification information on Pimentel, see the January 17, 2024, BankersOnline OFAC Update.