Top Story Lending Related

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation published in this morning's Federal Register a Notice of renewal of the agency's Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion. The Committee will continue to review various issues that may include, but not be limited to, basic retail financial services such as low-cost, sustainable transaction accounts, savings accounts, small dollar lending, prepaid cards, money orders, remittances, and other services to promote asset accumulation and financial stability.

OFAC has published a General License authorizing certain transactions and activities to liquidate and wind down Banco Continental, S.A. Those transactions and activities would otherwise be prohibited under the Kingpin Act. Banco Continental, S.A. was sanctioned in October 2015. See our OFAC Update for addition information.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government officials as the Government of the DRC continues to suppress political opposition and delay political progress in the country, often through violent means. As a result of OFAC’s actions, all of the designated individuals’ assets within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. For additional information, see our OFAC Update.

The FFIEC has posted the 2017 CRA edits and file specifications.

• CRA edits
• CRA file specifications

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced the successful implementation of Release 1 of the Common Securitization Platform (CSP). This means that Freddie Mac is now using the CSP for Data Acceptance, Issuance Support, and Bond Administration activities related to current single-class, fixed-rate, mortgage-backed securities. The implementation demonstrates that the system, operations, and controls of the CSP and Common Securitization Solutions (CSS), a joint venture owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises), are functional.

The October 2017 G.19 Consumer Credit Report has been released by the Federal Reserve. Consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5-1/4 percent. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 3 percent, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 6 percent.

The FDIC has posted links to the Third Quarter 2016 State Profiles which provide a quarterly data sheet summation of banking and economic conditions in each state.

The CFPB has issued consent orders to three reverse mortgage companies — American Advisors Group, Reverse Mortgage Solutions, and Aegean Financial — for deceptive advertisements, including claiming that consumers could not lose their homes. The orders require the companies to cease deceptive advertising practices, implement systems to ensure they are complying with all laws, and pay penalties totaling $790,000. See "Reverse mortgage lenders pay for deceptive ads," in our Penalties pages, for additional information.

HUD has introduced a new online tool that generates a snapshot of HUD’s investment at the community level. The Community Assessment Reporting Tool (CART), uses geospatial technology to show the wide variety of HUD investments by city, state, county, metropolitan area, or congressional district. It also provides an interactive mapping interface that allows users to explore HUD investments within their community and see property- and grant-level detail at a variety of geographies

The Federal Reserve Board has issued a consent order to cease and desist and assessed a civil money penalty against Customers Bank of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The order addresses the participation of the bank and its agent, Higher One, Inc. of New Haven, Connecticut, in deceptive practices in violation of of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Higher One provided institutions of higher education with financial aid disbursement services for students through, among other things, a deposit account and debit card product known as the "OneAccount." The deceptive practices employed by Higher One, under Customers Bank's oversight for approximately four months earned the bank a $960,000 penalty. For more information, see our December 6, 2016, penalty page.