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The FDIC has issued FIL-1-2016 to announce steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and to facilitate recovery in areas of Mississippi affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has announced the termination of mortgage servicing-related consent orders issued in 2011 against JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JPMorgan), and EverBank (the agency had determined the banks currently comply with those orders), and assessed civil money penalties against the banks for previous violations of the orders. A $48 million civil money penalty was assessed against JPMorgan for violating its consent order from October 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, and a $1 million civil money penalty was assessed against EverBank, for violating its consent order by improperly charging fees related to mortgage electronic registration system assignments, property inspections, and late fees to approximately 47,000 borrowers between January 2011 and March 2015. EverBank has begun making $1.6 million in remediation payments to affected borrowers.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has published in the Federal Register regulations to implement Executive Order 1394 issued on April 1, 2015 (“Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities”). OFAC intends to supplement the new regulations at 31 CFR part 578 with a more comprehensive set of regulations, which may include additional interpretive and definitional guidance and additional general licenses and statements of licensing policy. The regulations became effective upon publication, on December 31, 2015.

• 31 CFR part 578, 80 FR 81752

The FFIEC has announced the HMDA and CRA data entry data software for 2016 is now available.

The Federal Reserve System has updated its FRB/US model package as of December 30, 2015. The main FRB/US model package is a self-contained set of equations, data, programs and documentation that enables various types of simulations and provides information about the model's structure.

The OCC has issued a reminder to national banks and federal savings associations of guidance to assist financial institutions and customers affected by extreme weather, such as the recent flooding along the Mississippi River. In addition, the OCC issued a proclamation allowing national banks and federal savings associations at their discretion to close offices located in the Midwest and Southern United States and affected by the recent severe weather.

The NCUA has announced the liquidation of First Hawaiian Homes Federal Credit Union of Hoolehua, Hawaii. Molokai Community Federal Credit Union of Kaunakakai, Hawaii, immediately assumed First Hawaiian Homes’ assets, member shares and most loans. First Hawaiian Homes Federal Credit Union is the eleventh federally insured credit union liquidation in 2015. The closed credit union served 1,379 members and had assets of nearly $3.2 million as of its most recent call report. It was chartered in 1937 to serve residents of Molokai, Hawaii.

The Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has announced its assessment of a $200,000 civil money penalty against a Los Angeles precious metals business, as well as its owner and compliance officer. B.A.K. Precious Metals, Inc., its sole owner and its designated compliance officer have admitted to willfully violating federal anti-money laundering (AML) laws, commonly known as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). For details, see our Penalty Page entry on FinCEN's announcement.

The FTC announced its agenda for PrivacyCon, a first-of-its-kind event, featuring 19 presentations of original research on important consumer privacy and security issues by leading academics from universities and think tanks from around the world. The conference, which will take place in Washington on January 14, 2016, will also include discussion sessions about the policy implications of the research being conducted with thought leaders from academia, research, consumer advocacy, and industry. The event will also be available via live webcast.

The Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act), signed into law on December 18 as Division Q of the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, contains several pension- and benefits-related provisions, including permanent extensions of temporary tax provisions that had been routinely extended by Congress on a one- or two-year basis, and some provisions designed to reduce tax refund fraud. Although we are still wading through the verbiage of the law, some of the provisions include:

• Nontaxable IRA transfers to eligible charities made permanent, beginning with tax years starting after December 31, 2014.
• Rollovers are allowed from retirement plans to SIMPLE accounts.
• The waiver of 10% early withdrawal tax for distributions made to public safety employees was expanded to include additional categories of federal employees.
• Extension through tax year 2016 of the treatment of mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residence interest.
• Beginning with reporting for tax year 2016, W-2s and certain reports of non-employee compensation must be filed by the payer on or before January 31 of the year following the calendar year to which they relate.
• Beginning with credits or refunds made after December 31, 2016, certain tax refunds for overpayments will not be permitted before February 15 of the following year.