Top Story Compliance Related

OFAC has updated one of its Kingpin Act Panama-related General Licenses and added two more, and updated its related FAQs. See our OFAC Update for details.

On May 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Libyan Speaker and President of the House of Representatives Agila Saleh Issa pursuant to Executive Order 13726, which imposes sanctions against individuals or entities that, among other things, threaten the peace, security, or stability of Libya or obstruct or undermine the Libyan Government of National Accord. See BankersOnline's OFAC Update for additional information.

The CFPB has announced a collaboration with Meals on Wheels America to celebrate May as Older Americans Month. During May, Meals on Wheels America and their nationwide network of volunteers will begin distribution of a new CFPB consumer protection placemat to isolated older adults who might also require assistance with daily living or are struggling with cognitive impairments.

The CFPB has added to its offering of blank model disclosure forms for compliance with the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule a Loan Estimate and a Closing Disclosure, each annotated with citations to the disclosure provisions in the Truth in Lending Act that are referenced in the TRID final rule. The additions can be found on the implementation webpage for the rule.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced the launch of its official Spanish-language Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The CFPB published its fourth Fair Lending Report to Congress [81 FR 29533] in this morning's Federal Register, describing the Bureau's fair lending activities in prioritization, supervision, enforcement, rulemaking, research, interagency coordination, and outreach for calendar year 2015.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released its mid-cycle report on key actions completed to date to execute its annual Committee on Bank Supervision’s operating plan and on priority objectives for the remainder of 2016. According to the plan, supervisory priorities for the remainder of the fiscal year include:

• Compliance,
• Operational Resiliency,
• Credit Risk Management,
• Stress Testing,
• Strategic Planning and Execution,
• Corporate Governance, and
• Interest Rate Risk.

The Federal Trade Commission has created and posted on its website new guidance giving employment background screening companies information on how to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The guidance helps companies understand when their work defines them as a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. Consumer reporting agencies must meet a number of obligations outlined in the FCRA, including investigating consumer disputes and correcting inaccurate information. The guidance also outlines the requirements that employment background screening companies face under FCRA, including their requirements in dealing with their clients and how they interact with consumers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that Greeg R. Mulholland, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen and secret owner of Legacy Global Markets S.A. (Legacy), an offshore broker-dealer and investment management company based in Panama City, Panama, and Belize City, Belize, has pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering conspiracy for fraudulently manipulating the stocks of more than 40 U.S. publicly-traded companies and then laundering more than $250 million in profits through at least five offshore law firms. Mulholland agreed to forfeit, among other things, a Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 aircraft, a Range Rover Defender vehicle, two real estate properties in British Columbia, and funds and securities on deposit at more than a dozen bank and brokerage accounts.

FinCEN has presented its second annual Law Enforcement Awards. The awards are presented to law enforcement agencies that use Bank Secrecy Act reporting provided by financial institutions in their criminal investigations. There are two primary goals of the program. First, to recognize law enforcement agencies that made effective use of financial institution reporting to obtain a successful prosecution. And second, to demonstrate to the financial industry the value of their reporting to law enforcement. The industry’s continued commitment to provide prompt and accurate reporting is vital to the successful partnership with law enforcement to fight financial crime. The program includes six award categories recognizing achievements in combating significant threats to the integrity of the financial system and the safety of communities. The program is open to all Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.