Top Story Compliance Related

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced yesterday that it has sued Navient Corporation and its subsidiaries, alleging that Navient has failed to provide the most basic functions of adequate student loan servicing at every stage of repayment for both private and federal loans. The Bureau stated that Navient provided bad information in writing and over the phone, processed payments incorrectly, and failed to act when borrowers complained about problems, and that Navient's actions systematically made it harder for borrowers to obtain the important right to pay according to what they can afford. These illegal practices made paying back student loans more difficult and costly for certain borrowers, according to the Bureau's press release.

Formerly part of Sallie Mae, Inc., Navient is the largest student loan servicer in the United States. It services the loans of more than 12 million borrowers, including more than 6 million accounts under its contract with the Department of Education. Altogether, it services more than $300 billion in federal and private student loans. Named in today’s lawsuit are Navient Corporation and two of its subsidiaries: Navient Solutions is a division responsible for loan servicing operations; Pioneer Credit Recovery specializes in the collection of defaulted student loans.

The suit alleges that Naviant:

• fails to correctly apply or allocate borrower payments to their accounts
• steers struggling borrowers toward paying more than they have to on loans
• obscured information consumers needed to maintain their lower payments
• deceived dprivate student loan borrowers about requirements to release their cosigners from a loan
• harmed the credit of disabled borrowers, including severely injured veterans
• made illegal misrepresentations concerning the federal loan rehabilitation program available to defaulted borrowers

The suit alleges violations of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. The suit seeks redress for consumers harmed by Navient’s illegal practices. The CFPB is also seeking to keep Navient from continuing the illegal conduct described in the complaint, and to prevent new borrowers from being harmed.

• Complaint

The Federal Reserve Board has announced that it has finalized a rule adjusting the Board's maximum civil money penalties, as required by law. In November 2015, a law was passed that requires all federal agencies to adjust their maximum civil money penalty limits annually for inflation, rather than every four years as previously required. The maximum civil money penalty limits depend on several factors, including the severity and type of violation. Additionally, the law dictates the annual adjustment formula for federal agencies. The new penalty amounts apply as of January 15, 2017.

The CFPB published in the January 18 Federal Register its November 28, 2016, Compliance Bulletin 2016-03, "Detecting and Preventing Consumer Harm from Production Incentives." The bulletin compiles guidance that has previously been given by the CFPB in other contexts and highlights examples from the CFPB's supervisory and enforcement experience in which incentives contributed to substantial consumer harm. It also describes compliance management steps supervised entities should take to mitigate risks posed by incentives.

• 82 FR 55412

The OCC has announced the launch of the agency’s Central Application Tracking System (CATS), which is the OCC’s new web-based system for banks to file licensing and public welfare investment applications and notices. CATS replaces e-Corp and CD-1 Invest, the current OCC electronic filing systems. See OCC Bulletin 2016-37 for details.

The OCC has issued a proclamation allowing national banks and federal savings associations in the District of Columbia to close at their discretion for the Presidential Inauguration. Inauguration Day is a federal holiday within the District.

OFAC has designated Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, one of two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. Specifically, Dodik was designated for his role in defying the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in violation of the rule of law, thereby actively obstructing the Dayton Accords; he was also designated for conduct that poses a significant risk of actively obstructing the same. See our OFAC Update for additional information.

The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC have announced the extension through February 17, 2017, of the comment period for their advance notice of proposed rulemaking on enhanced cyber risk management standards for large and interconnected entities under their supervision and those entities’ service providers. The agencies are considering five categories of cyber standards: cyber risk governance, cyber risk management, internal dependency management, external dependency management, and incident response, cyber resilience, and situational awareness. This announcement extends the comment period by one month.

OFAC has announced that Toronto-Dominion Bank (“TD Bank”), a financial institution headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, has agreed to remit $516,105 to settle its potential civil liability for 167 apparent violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), and of the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (ITSR). OFAC also has issued a Finding of Violation to TD Bank, the parent company of wholly owned subsidiaries Internaxx Bank SA and TD Waterhouse Investment Services for 3,491 violations of the CACR and ITSR.

HUD has announced awards totaling approximately $15 million to select owners of HUD-assisted senior housing developments to help their low-income senior tenants to age in their own homes and delay or avoid the need for nursing home care. HUD will cover costs related to hiring a full-time Enhanced Service Coordinator and a part-time Wellness Nurse to connect the elderly with the supportive services they need to maintain independent living and age-in-place.

The Department of Labor has posted a second set of FAQs on its Fiduciary Conflict of Interest rule. This group of questions focuses particularly on technical questions raised by financial service providers, generally limited to investment advice concerning ERISA-covered plans, IRAs, and other plans covered by section 4975(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.