Top Story Compliance Related

Credit unions with questions about complying with customer due diligence requirements in the Bank Secrecy Act can get valuable information during a National Credit Union Administration webinar scheduled for April 25, 2018. The 60-minute BSA Compliance - Customer Due Diligence webinar will begin at 2 p.m. ET.

The FDIC has published a proposed rule at 83 FR 15327 in today's Federal Register that would rescind and remove from the Code of Federal Regulations the part entitled Fiduciary Powers of State Savings Associations (subpart J of 12 CFR part 390) and amend current FDIC regulations (12 CFR parts 303 and 330) regarding consent to exercise trust powers to reflect the applicability of these parts to both state savings associations and state nonmember banks. Comments will be accepted through June 11, 2018.

A mutual evaluation report of an assessment of Iceland’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system recently conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) indicates the country needs better internal cooperation and coordination to effectively tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. The assessment found Icelandic authorities have a fragmented understanding of AML/CFT risks that is not used for further policy development. Although supervisors are beginning to identify areas of risk relevant to their sectors, they need to further enhance their supervisory roles and their use of the risk-based approach. The report said that Iceland should also explore the specific risks associated with legal persons and arrangements and improve the availability of beneficial ownership information. With the exception of the three large commercial banks in Iceland, the financial sector and non-financial businesses and professions have a poor understanding of the money laundering or terrorist financing risks to which they are exposed. These private sector entities have limited awareness of their AML/CFT obligations and report very few suspicious transactions in light of the risks present.

The SEC has announced that three investment advisers have settled charges for breaching fiduciary duties to clients and generating millions of dollars of improper fees in the process. SEC Orders indicate PNC Investments LLC, Securities America Advisors Inc., and Geneos Wealth Management Inc. failed to disclose conflicts of interest and violated their duty to seek best execution by investing advisory clients in higher-cost mutual fund shares when lower-cost shares of the same funds were available. Collectively, the firms will pay almost $15 million, with more than $12 million going to harmed clients.

The Treasury Department has published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would, if finalized, streamline Treasury's regulations by removing one regulation that is no longer necessary because it does not have any current or future applicability, and by amending one regulation to remove portions that no longer have any current or future applicability. The rule would eliminate § 30.16 of 31 CFR part 30, dealing with the Office of the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation (which no longer has any employees) and all of 31 CFR part 32, Payments in Lieu of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which covered a program that expired December 31, 2011. Comments on the proposal are due by June 8, 2018.

Also on Friday, OFAC designated two individuals acting on behalf of Mexican drug cartels for their roles facilitating money laundering and an international prostitution ring. OFAC designated Mexican music promoter Jesus Perez Alvear as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act for laundering money on behalf of the powerful Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (Los Cuinis DTO). OFAC also designated Venezuelan-Italian fashion photographer Miguel Jose Leone Martinez, who helps lead an international prostitution ring associated with the Los Cuinis DTO. For identification information on Perez Alvear and Leone Martinez, see our OFAC Update

HUD reports it has charged Linda and Gene Baker, the owner and manager of a trailer park in Belden, Mississippi, with violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to rent a lot to an interracial married couple with two children. HUD's Charge of Discrimination alleges that the property manager, upon learning that the husband is African American, told the wife that the family had to move out of the trailer park.

The FDIC has released a list of state nonmember banks to which the agency assigned CRA evaluation ratings in January 2018. Each month, the agency identifies CRA ratings assigned three months earlier. Of the 77 institutions listed, two (both in Pensacola, Florida) received "needs to improve" ratings, and one (in Cambridge, Massachusetts) received an "outstanding" rating. The remaining 74 institutions received ratings of "satisfactory."

The CFPB has posted information on its email course for consumers - Get a Handle on Debt Boot Camp, which provides consumers information on how to create a budget, tracking spending, and strategies for paying down debt.

On Wednesday, the OCC released 24 CRA evaluations for national banks and federal savings associations. Of the listed institutions, 20 are rated satisfactory and four are rated outstanding.