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The Department of the Treasury announced yesterday afternoon that FinCEN has issued a final rule under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act that severs Bank of Dandong, a Chinese bank that acts as a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity, from the U.S. financial system. FinCEN also issued an advisory to further alert financial institutions to schemes commonly used by North Korea to evade U.S. and United Nations (UN) sanctions, launder funds, and finance the North Korean regime’s weapons programs. The rule severing Bank of Dandong's access to the U.S. financial system will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

UPDATE: FinCEN scheduled the rule for publication on November 8, 2017, which will make the rule's effective date Friday, December 8.

Teh Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released a report on auto loans that found a sharp increase in riskier longer-tem loans. The Bureau's press release said that 42 percent of auto loans made in the past year were for terms of six years or longer up from 26 percent in 2009, while five-year loans declined over the same period.

The CRA ratings received by eighteen national banks and federal savings associations in October have been released by the OCC. There were two outstanding and 16 satisfactory ratings. Both outstanding ratings were earned by small banks, one in Kansas and the other in Wyoming.

The Federal Reserve Board has released the statement issued by the Federal Open Market Committee following its November 1 meeting.

The annual NMLS renewal period for 2018 began on November 1, 2017, and ends Sunday, December 31, 2017. Individuals and businesses are encouraged to renew their licenses or registrations early, so there is no impact to their business in 2018. More information can be found on the NMLS Annual Renewal Information webpage.

FinCEN has issued Advisory FIN-2017-A007 to warn financial institutions about the potential for fraudulent transactions in the wake of disasters, including recent hurricanes and wildfires. The advisory includes descriptions of potential disaster-related frauds, including benefits fraud, charities fraud and cyber-related fraud. FinCEN also requested that any financial institution submitting a suspicious activity report of fraud that is disaster-related include the keyword "Disaster-related Fraud" in both the narrative and in field 31z (Fraud-Other) of the report.

The CFPB has announced the launch of a new Mortgage Performance Trends tool that tracks delinquency rates nationwide. Information newly available through this tool shows that mortgage delinquency rates nationally are at their lowest point since the financial crisis. In addition to national data, the online tool features interactive charts and graphs with data on mortgage delinquency rates for 50 states and the District of Columbia at the county and metro-area level.

The CFPB has announcing the release of a state-by-state snapshot of the complaints it has received from student loan borrowers.

An advisory on how to respond to spam or phishing emails that may appear to be from NMLS has been posted on the NMLS Resource Center.

HUD has announced a package of 19 regulatory and administrative waivers aimed at helping communities to accelerate their recovery from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. While HUD granted a number of individual waivers following disasters in the past, today’s announcement represents one of the largest collections of regulatory and administrative waivers ever issued by the Department at one time. The action includes the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program, and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program.