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The Federal Trade Commission has sent to the CFPB a summary and the full text of its report of 2016 work on debt collection practices for inclusion in the CFPB’s annual report to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The FTC and the CFPB share FDCPA enforcement responsibilities. In 2016, the Commission:

• filed or resolved 12 cases against 61 defendants, and obtained nearly $70 million in judgments
• banned 44 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated violations of law from ever working in debt collection again
• secured successful summary judgment decisions in three litigated matters, resulting in orders banning defendants from the debt collection industry

The FDIC has issued FIL-9-2017 announcing steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and to facilitate recovery in areas of Louisiana affected by severe weather.

FinCEN has published at 82 FR 9109 in the Federal Register a notice and request for comments on a proposed update and revisions to the collection of information filings by financial institutions required to file such reports under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”). This notice does not propose any new regulatory requirements or changes to the requirements related to suspicious activity reporting. The data fields reflect the filing requirement for all filers of SARs under the BSA. Most of the proposed changes would alter the "checklist" of violations in Part II of the filings, including the addition of several fields related to cyber events. Comments are due by April 3, 2017.

OFAC has designated Venezuelan national Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (El Aissami) as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker (SDNT) pursuant to the Kingpin Act for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking. El Aissami is the Executive Vice President of Venezuela. El Aissami's primary frontman, Venezuelan national Samark Jose Lopez Bello (Lopez Bello), was also designated. OFAC further designated or identified as blocked property 13 companies owned or controlled by Lopez Bello or other designated parties that comprise an international network spanning the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela. Five of those entities are LLCs registered in Florida. See our OFAC Update for additional information.

The NCUA has announced that federally insured low-income credit unions can now apply for certification as community development financial institutions through the streamlined application process developed by the regulator and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The NCUA will host three streamlined CDFI-certification application rounds in 2017, the first beginning today and running through March 17. The second round runs from May 1 through May 26, and the third round runs from August 7 through September 1.

HUD has announced it will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Louisiana and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to severe storms, tornadoes, and straight-line winds.

The Federal Trade Commission has provided the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with an annual summary of its activities enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

The Treasury Department's final rule adjusting maximum civil money penalties for inflation (see "OFAC CMP caps adjusted for inflation") also included adjustments to maximum CMP amounts for Bank Secrecy Act violations. The new maximum penalties are found in revised Table 1 of § 1010.821 of FinCEN's regulations at 31 CFR Part 1010, amended on publication, and applicable retroactively to penalty assessments since January 15, 2017.

The Treasury Department has published, in today's Federal Ledger, a final rule to adjust OFAC-enforced civil monetary penalties (“CMPs”) for inflation as mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (collectively referred to herein as “the Act”). This rule adjusts CMPs within the jurisdiction of OFAC to the maximum amount required by the Act. The rule is effective upon publication, and can be applied retroactively to violations since January 15, 2017.

As of January 15, the applicable statutory maximum civil penalty per violation for each statute enforced by OFAC is as follows:

• International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — greater of $289,238 or twice the amount of the underlying transaction;
• Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) — $85,236;
• Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (FNKDA) — $1,437,153;
• Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) — greater of $76,351 or twice the amount of which a financial institution was required to retain possession or control; and
• Clean Diamond Trade Act (CDTA) — $13,066.

The Federal Reserve System has released December 2016 G.19 Consumer Credit data. Consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6 percent during the fourth quarter. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 6-3/4 percent, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 5-3/4 percent. In December, consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 4-1/2 percent.