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In separate actions, the Federal Trade Commission has banned a debt collection company’s former vice president from the debt collection business, and the operators of an alleged mortgage relief scam that preyed upon distressed homeowners.

The U.S.Treasury Department has announced its Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has awarded 32 organizations nearly $91.5 million in grants for the development of affordable housing and community facilities in low-income communities. The awards were made through the fiscal year 2016 round of the Capital Magnet Fund and will support financing for the preservation, rehabilitation, development or purchase of affordable housing for low-income communities as well as related economic development and community service facilities such as day care centers, workforce development centers and health care clinics.

In an appearance before the House Committee on Financial Services, Treasury Secretary Lew discussed the 2016 annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). He noted the Council, which recently released its sixth annual report, convenes regularly to monitor market developments and to take action when needed to protect the American people from potential risks to the financial system. The current report focused on 12 themes that warrant continued attention and, in many cases, further action from the Council members and member agencies:

• cybersecurity;
• risks associated with asset management products and activities;
• capital, liquidity, and resolution;
• central counterparties;
• reforms of wholesale funding markets;
• reforms relating to reference rates;
• data quality, collection, and sharing;
• housing finance reform;
• risk management in an environment of low interest rates and rising asset price volatility;
• changes in financial market structure and implications for financial stability;
• financial innovation and migration of activities; and
• global economic and financial developments.

Lew concluded, “The Council has proven itself as an important forum for the financial regulatory community to come together, identify risks, and work collaboratively to respond to emerging threats to financial stability. It would be a mistake to roll back the clock on these protections or to constrain the ability of the Council or its member agencies to address new risks as they arise, including the Council’s nonbank financial company designations authority.“

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reported it has filed a Notice of Charges against five title lenders operating in Arizona — Auto Cash Leasing, LLC; Interstate Lending, LLC; Oasis Title Loans, LLC; Phoenix Title Loans, LLC; and Presto Auto Loans, Inc. — for failing to disclose the annual percentage rate in online advertisements about title loans. The Bureau alleges that the companies advertised a periodic interest rate for their loans without listing the corresponding annual percentage rate. A Notice of Charges initiates proceedings in an administrative forum, and is similar to a complaint filed in federal court. The case will be tried by an Administrative Law Judge from the Bureau’s Office of Administrative Adjudication, an independent office within the Bureau.

The Federal Reserve Board has released the September Federal Open Market Committee statement. Information received since July indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and growth of economic activity has picked up from the modest pace seen in the first half of this year. Although the unemployment rate is little changed in recent months, job gains have been solid, on average. Household spending has been growing strongly but business fixed investment has remained soft. Inflation has continued to run below the Committee's 2 percent longer-run objective, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices and in prices of non-energy imports. Market-based measures of inflation compensation remain low; most survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed, on balance, in recent months. The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1/4 to 1/2 percent. An Implementation Note was also released.

HUD and the Census Bureau have jointly announced new residential construction statistics for August 2016—

• BUILDING PERMITS: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,139,000, 0.4 percent below the revised July rate, and 2.3 percent below the August 2015 estimate. Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 737,000, 3.7 percent below the revised July figure. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 370,000 in August.
• HOUSING STARTS: Privately owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,142,000, 5.8 percent below the revised July estimate, but 0.9 percent above the August 2015. Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 722,000, 6.0 percent below the revised July figure. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 403,000.
• HOUSING COMPLETIONS: Privately owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,043,000, 3.4 percent below the revised July estimate, and 8.3 percent above the August 2015 rate. Single-family housing completions in August were at a rate of 752,000, 0.3 percent below the revised July rate. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 283,000.

HUD has announced the publication of a final rule, "Equal Access in Accordance With an Individual's Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs," to ensure that all individuals have equal access to many of the Department’s core shelter programs in accordance with their gender identity. The new rule will require a recipient, subrecipient, or provider to establish, amend, or maintain program admissions, occupancy, and operating policies and procedures (including policies and procedures to protect individuals' privacy and security), so that equal access is provided to individuals based on their gender identity. This requirement includes tenant selection and admission preferences.

In written and oral testimony yesterday before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Comptroller Curry discussed supervision leading up to the recent enforcement actions against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., for unsafe and unsound sales practices. In his written presentation, Curry said he strongly supports interagency work to complete work on a final rule on incentive-based compensation. The OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, SEC, FHFA and NCUA issued a proposed rule (see our Top Story), published on June 10, 2016.

CFPB Director Cordray presented written testimony to the Committee. He discussed what the agency’s investigation found about the sales practices at Wells Fargo; what it is seeking to achieve by its Order; and some initial thoughts about what further steps need to be taken to improve the culture and practices of the banking industry.

The Federal Reserve Board has released the September 2016 mortgage debt outstanding report, with data as of June 30, 2016.

Treasury has released the July 2016 Treasury International Capital (TIC) data. The sum total in July of all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, short-term U.S. securities, and banking flows was a monthly net TIC inflow of $140.6 billion. Of this, net foreign private inflows were $162.7 billion, and net foreign official outflows were $22.1 billion. Foreign residents increased their holdings of long-term U.S. securities in July; net purchases were $72.6 billion. Net purchases by private foreign investors were $90.5 billion, while net sales by foreign official institutions were $17.9 billion. U.S. residents decreased their holdings of long-term foreign securities, with net sales of $31.3 billion.