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Federal Reserve Financial Services has issued updates to previous authorizations for early U.S. Savings Bond redemptions for counties in North Carolina and Florida affected by severe weather. Each of the notices includes updates to the list of counties affected.

On Friday, October 28, the FDIC released a list of 14 administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in September. The list consisted of three consent orders; one combined civil money penalty and removal and prohibition order; five Section 19 orders; one voluntary termination of deposit insurance order; and four terminations of consent orders or cease and desist orders.

The Order of Prohibition from Further Participation and to Pay a $5,000 Civil Money Penalty was imposed on a former institution-affiliated party of a Utah bank who "has engaged or participated in violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. § 2607, and its implementing regulation, Regulation X, 12 C.F.R. Part 1024, and/or has engaged or participated in, unsafe or unsound banking practices, and/or breaches of fiduciary duty as an institution-affiliated party of [the bank] by agreeing to pay fees for the referral of mortgage loan business."

The Order of Termination of Insurance was issued in the Matter of Mid America Bank, Janesville, Wisconsin, which the FDIC determined "is not engaged in the business of receiving deposits, other than trust funds."

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released a new list of enforcement actions taken against national banks, federal savings associations, and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with national banks and federal savings associations. There were three Cease and Desist (C&D) Orders, seven Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Orders, one Formal Agreement, four Removal/Prohibition Orders, and two Orders for Restitution, including:

• The $20 million CMP and C&D Orders relating to violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act issued to Wells Fargo Bank, announced earlier
• A $2 million CMP issued to First Niagara Bank, for deceptive disclosures relating to overdraft fees
• A consent order banning a former Minnesota bank director from the industry and assessing a $20,000 CMP
• An order banning a former California banker from the industry, and assessing a CMP of $25,000
• Orders banning two former New Mexico bankers and ordering a total of $17,500 in CMPs
• An Order that a former Texas bank director pay a $5,000 CMP for Regulation O violations

The Department of Labor announced yesterday it has published the first in a series of FAQs to be published concerning its "Conflict of Interest" rules regarding retirement investment advice.

The CFPB has issued warning letters to 44 mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers. The Bureau has information that appears to show the lenders and brokers may be required to collect, record, and report data about their housing-related lending activity, and that they may be in violation of those requirements. The CFPB identified the 44 companies by reviewing available bank and nonbank mortgage data. The warning letters warned that entities that meet certain requirements are required to collect, record, and report mortgage lending data, and suggested that recipients review their practices to ensure they comply with all relevant laws. The companies are encouraged to respond to the Bureau to advise if they have taken, or will take, steps to ensure compliance with the law. They can also tell the Bureau if they think the law does not apply to them. The CFPB, in sending these letters, made no determination that a legal violation did, in fact, occur.

The NCUA Board met on October 27, 2016, and announced that it unanimously approved five items:

• A proposed rule to provide further field-of-membership community charter options for federal credit unions.
• A final rule modernizing existing field-of-membership definitions for federal credit unions to improve consumer access to affordable credit.
• A final rule re-naming NCUA’s consumer office as the Office of Consumer Financial Protection and Access to clarify its function and role in promoting consumer access to affordable financial services.
• A final rule adjusting civil monetary penalties for inflation, as required by Congress.
• An interagency proposed rule to implement the private flood insurance requirements for loans in special flood hazard areas contained in a 2012 statute.

The OCC has posted a notice on its website that several of the search functions on the site will be down for scheduled maintenance from 8 pm. ET today until 6 am. ET on Monday.

The OCC will host two workshops in Philadelphia at the Sheraton Suites Philadelphia Airport, December 6-7, for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the OCC. The Risk Governance workshop on December 6 combines lectures, discussion, and exercises to provide practical information for directors to effectively measure and manage risks. The workshop also focuses on the OCC’s approach to risk-based supervision and major risks in the financial industry. The Compliance Risk workshop on December 7 combines lectures, discussion, and exercises on the critical elements of an effective compliance risk management program. The workshop also focuses on major compliance risks and critical regulations. Topics of discussion include the Bank Secrecy Act, Community Reinvestment Act, and the Truth-in-Lending (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) Integrated Disclosures Rule, also known as TRID.

Treasury has announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned nine Mexican individuals linked to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and its close ally, the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), which were initially sanctioned on April 8, 2015. The nine individuals are designated as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for providing material assistance to the drug trafficking activities of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (a.k.a. “Mencho”) and his brother-in-law, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, the respective leaders of CJNG and the Los Cuinis DTO. As a result of today’s action, any assets these individuals may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. See our OFAC Update for further details.

The OCC will establish an office dedicated to responsible innovation and implement a formal framework to improve the agency’s ability to identify, understand, and respond to financial innovation affecting the federal banking system. The Office of Innovation will be headed by a Chief Innovation Officer assigned to OCC Headquarters with a small staff located in Washington, New York, and San Francisco. The office will be the central point of contact and a clearinghouse for requests and information related to innovation. It will also implement other aspects of the OCC’s framework for responsible innovation, which include

• establishing an outreach and technical assistance program for banks and nonbanks,
• conducting awareness and training activities for OCC staff,
• encouraging coordination and facilitation,
• establishing an innovation research function, and
• promoting interagency collaboration.

The OCC expects the office to begin operations in the first quarter of 2017.

• OCC press release