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FinCEN has issued Paycheck Protection Program FAQs to re-publish a series of FAQs issued by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

FinCEN has updated its FAQs on Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting. New or updated information dated January 12, 2024, can be found in these sections:

• C (Reporting Company)
• D (Beneficial Owner)
• E (Company Applicant)
• F (Reporting Requirements)
• L (Reporting Company Exemptions)
• M (FinCEN Identifier)

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has published [89 FR 2225] a Notice in the January 12, 2024, Federal Register that it has adjusted the cap on average total assets that is used in determining whether a Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) member qualifies as a “community financial institution” (CFI) to $1,461,000,000, based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI–U), as published by the Department of Labor (DOL). These changes are effective as of January 1, 2024.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) confers upon insured depository institutions that meet the statutory definition of a CFI certain advantages over non-CFI insured depository institutions in qualifying for Bank membership, and in the purposes for which they may receive long-term advances and the collateral they may pledge to secure advances.

On Thursday, the CFPB announced guidance to consumer reporting companies to address inaccurate background check reports, as well as “sloppy credit file sharing practices.” The two advisory opinions seek to ensure that the consumer reporting system produces accurate and reliable information and does not keep people from accessing their personal data.

• An advisory opinion on Fair Credit Reporting; Background Screening highlights that those reports must be complete, accurate, and free of information that is duplicative, outdated, expunged, sealed, or otherwise legally restricted from public access.
• An advisory opinion on Fair Credit Reporting; File Disclosure highlights that people are entitled to receive all information contained in their consumer file at the time they request it, along with the source or sources of the information contained within, including both the original and any intermediary or vendor source.

The advisory opinions will become effective on publication in the Federal Register.

Publication update: The advisory opinions were published at 89 FR 4171 (Background Screening) and 89 FR 4167 (File Disclosure) in the January 23, 2023, Federal Register.

The FDIC has updated its Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies (RMS Manual). The RMS Manual provides FDIC examiners information relating to examination activities and supervisory practices and promotes consistency in examination activities, which center on evaluating an institution’s capital, assets, management, earnings, liquidity, sensitivity to market risk, and adherence to laws and regulations.

The January 2024 update reorganized section 3.1 (Asset Quality) to separate FDIC-only explanatory instructions from the specific Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System (UFIRS) Asset Quality component rating language.

The U.S. Senate yesterday failed to override President Biden's veto of a Congressional Review Act resolution that would have nullified the CFPB's Small Business Lending reporting rule (mandated by section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act). The president's veto could have been overridden by two-thirds votes in both the House and the Senate. The Senate vote failed with a 54-45 vote.

The CFPB rule remains in limbo, however, pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the Bureau's funding mechanism.

The Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, and OCC have issued an overview video on the final rule issued on October 24, 2023, to strengthen and modernize their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act.

The nearly one-hour video on the regulators' YouTube channels provides an overview of the new CRA rule and its objectives. Additional topics in the recording include assessment areas, community development, evaluation framework, performance tests, ratings, data collection and reporting, and applicability dates.

The OCC will host a public hearing of the FFIEC Appraisal Subcommittee on appraisal bias on February 13, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET, at its headquarters, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee panel will include a representative from each of the five Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) regulatory agencies, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Witnesses will include representatives from the Appraisal Foundation, state appraiser licensing and regulatory organizations, and active appraisers.

The meeting is open to the public, but in-person and virtual attendees must register to attend no later than February 9. Registration for in-person attendance may close sooner if maximum capacity is reached.

Yesterday, OCC Bulletin 2024-1 announced the publication of answers to frequently asked questions about the State Small Business Credit Initiative 2.0 (SSBCI) based on the facts and circumstances presented in the questions.

The FAQs do not introduce new policy or guidance and are based on previously communicated policy, guidance, and interpretations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced its adoption of a final rule to adjust for inflation the maximum amount of each civil penalty within the CFPB’s jurisdiction. The adjustments are required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Inflation Adjustment Act), as amended.

The changes are effective January 15, 2024. The inflation multiplier used this year was 1.03241. The Bureau's notice has been published at 89 FR 1787 in the January 11, 2023, Federal Register.