Top Story Compliance Related

The OCC will host two workshops in Miami, Florida, on February 7-8, for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the OCC. The Risk Governance workshop will be offered on February 7 and the Compliance Risk workshop on February 8.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has announced that it has updated its proposed first-in-the-nation cybersecurity regulation to protect New York State from the ever-growing threat of cyber-attacks. The proposed regulation, which will be effective March 1, 2017, will require banks, insurance companies, and other financial services institutions regulated by DFS to establish and maintain a cybersecurity program designed to protect consumers and ensure the safety and soundness of New York State’s financial services industry. The updated proposed regulation, which was submitted to the New York State Register on December 15, and published on December 28, will be finalized following a 30-day notice and public comment period.

• Earlier story

OFAC has announced it has taken action in response to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - United Nations (UN) Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) findings that the Syrian regime used industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people. OFAC is designating 18 senior regime officials connected to Syria’s weapons of mass destruction program and identifying five Syrian military branches as part of the Government of Syria. Any property or interest in property of the identified persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked. Additionally, transactions by U.S. persons involving these persons are generally prohibited. See our OFAC Update for more information.

OFAC has announced the publication of guidance on the provision of certain services relating to the requirements of U.S. sanctions laws (the “Compliance Services Guidance”). The Compliance Services Guidance does not reflect a change in OFAC’s policy with respect to the provision of these types of legal and compliance services. The Compliance Services Guidance responds to numerous inquiries received by OFAC, many from foreign companies at outreach events, relating to whether U.S. persons, including U.S. attorneys and compliance personnel, may provide certain services described in that guidance. OFAC is also publishing a number of new Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the Compliance Services Guidance.

The video of the December 15, 2016, open meeting of the NCUA Board is now available on the agency’s website.

The NCUA has announced that a 90-minute webinar on NCUA's new field-of-membership rule, which takes effect on February 6, will begin at 2 p.m. ET on February 1.

• The rule
• Comparison chart, current and new provisions

The OCC has released the 2017 schedule of workshops for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations. The agency will offer five workshops at a cost of $99 each:

• Building Blocks for Directors
• Risk Governance
• Compliance Risk
• Credit Risk
• Operational Risk

Each workshop is limited to 35 participants.

In an early morning news release coordinated with its Debt Collection forum today in Washington, the CFPB released two documents and a copy of remarks to be delivered at the forum by Bureau Director Cordray. Consumer Experiences with Debt Collection, "provides an in-depth analysis of consumers’ encounters with the debt collection industry," according to the press release. It reports that over 40 percent of consumers who said they were approached about a debt in collection requested that a creditor or collector stop contacting them. Of these consumers, three in four report that debt collectors did not honor their request to cease contact.

The second document, Market Snapshot: Online Debt Sales, was described as "a study of potential risks in the online debt marketplace, where consumer debts and personal information are for sale for fractions of pennies on the dollar."

The Bureau also announced the start of a series of personal debt collection stories from consumers as part of an ongoing effort to highlight issues in the debt collection marketplace and inform consumers of their rights.

The CFPB has published at 82 FR 3601 in today's Federal Register a final rule adjusting for inflation the maximum amount of each civil penalty within the Bureau's jurisdiction. These adjustments are required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (the Inflation Adjustment Act), as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and further amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. The amendments will be made to the Bureau's Adminstrative regulation, "Civil Penalty Adjustments," at 12 CFR Part 1083. The rule is effective January 15, 2017.

The OCC has issued notices of charges for prohibition and notices of assessment of civil money penalty against Richard Usher, former Head of G10 Spot Trading at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and Rohan Ramchandani, former Head of European Spot Trading at Citibank, N.A. The OCC also fined Usher and Ramchandani $5 million each for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, engaging in unsafe or unsound practices, and breaching their fiduciary duties related to their conduct in the foreign exchange (FOREX) market. Concurrent with the OCC’s enforcement action, the Department of Justice also issued indictments against Usher and Ramchandani for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In addition, the Federal Reserve announced enforcement actions against another trader in the Cartel chat room. Usher and Ramchandani may request a hearing challenging their respective notice of charges for prohibition and notice of assessment of civil money penalties. For additional details, see our Penalty page concerning the OCC's announcement.