Top Story Lending Related

The CFPB has announced it is now accepting complaints from consumers encountering problems with loans from online marketplace lenders. The agency also release a consumer bulletin that provides an overview of online marketplace lending and outlines tips for consumers who are considering taking out loans from these types of lenders.

The FDIC has issued a list of sixty state nonmember banks recently evaluated for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Two received an outstanding rating, 57 were rated satisfactory, and one bank garnered a "needs to improve" evaluation.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has announced a proposed rule to address the risk associated with excessive credit exposures of large banking organizations to a single counterparty. As demonstrated during the financial crisis, large credit exposures, particularly between financial institutions, can spread financial distress and undermine financial stability. The proposal would apply single-counterparty credit limits for bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more. The proposed limits are tailored to increase in stringency as the systemic footprint of a firm increases:

• A global systemically important bank, or G-SIB, would be restricted to a credit exposure of no more than 15 percent of the bank's tier 1 capital to another systemically important financial firm, and up to 25 percent of the bank's tier 1 capital to another counterparty;
• A bank holding company with $250 billion or more in total consolidated assets, or $10 billion or more in on-balance-sheet foreign exposure, would be restricted to a credit exposure of no more than 25 percent of the bank's tier 1 capital to a counterparty;
• A bank holding company with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets would be restricted to a credit exposure of no more than 25 percent of the bank's total regulatory capital to another counterparty;
• And bank holding companies with less than $50 billion in total consolidated assets, including community banks, would not be subject to the proposal.

Comments are invited until June 3, 2016. A statement from Board Chair Yellen regarding the proposal was also released.

The Federal Reserve Board, FDIC and OCC have issued guidance to clarify their expectations for the use of property evaluations by banking institutions. The guidance responds to questions raised during outreach meetings held by the agencies last year pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (EGPRA). It also addresses the use of alternative valuation approaches, methods, and other information that financial institutions may use to develop an evaluation in areas with few, if any, recent comparable property sales in reasonable proximity to the subject property. Regardless of the approach or method used to estimate the market value of real property, an evaluation report should contain sufficient information and analysis to support the value conclusion and the institution's decision to engage in the transaction.

Agency releases:

• Board
• FDIC
• OCC

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has issued a 2015 Scorecard Progress Report summarizing the 2015 activities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Government Sponsored Enterprises, or GSEs) took in furtherance of FHFA’s three strategic objectives as conservator: Maintain, Reduce, and Build. The scorecard details efforts taken to counter the restrained access to credit for creditworthy borrowers, help financially struggling borrowers and hardest-hit communities avoid or mitigate the impact of foreclosures, and support affordable multifamily lending. It also describes the GSEs' credit risk transfer programs and other activities to increase the role of private capital in the secondary mortgage market, as well as their ongoing work to develop the Common Securitization Platform and a Single Security. In addition, the report describes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s actions to promote diversity and inclusion in furtherance of the strategic goals of their conservatorships.

The Federal Reserve Board has published the January 13, 2016, issue of the Beige Book, which contains anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its Districts through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources.

The CFPB has announced an application process for requests that areas not currently deemed “rural” receive that designation under federal consumer financial law. Under this process, those now outside rural counties or census blocks can apply to be designated as rural and may be eligible for specific exemptions and provisions for certain mortgage lenders. Applications will be accepted starting March 31, 2016. A notice of the process was published in this morning's Federal Register at 81 FR 11099.

FDIC FIL-14-2016 has been issued to clarify supervisory expectations in existing guidance for institutions' risk-management practices involving decisions to discontinue foreclosure proceedings after initiating such actions, commonly referred to as abandoned foreclosures. Institutions should have appropriate policies and practices pertaining to decisions to discontinue foreclosure actions.

The Federal Trade Coimmission has announced the release of the 2015 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, the annual summary of consumer complaints received by the Commission. Debt collection, identity theft and imposter scams were the most common categories of consumer complaints.

The OCC has released the ratings received by 14 national banks and federal savings associations recently evaluated for compliance with CRA. Three were rated outstanding and 11 earned satisfactory ratings.