Top Story Technology Related

The Federal Reserve System will host a one-hour Outlook Live webinar, "Keeping Fintech Fair: Thinking About Fair Lending and UDAP Risks," on Monday, June 25, at 2 p.m. EDT. Carol Evans and Katrina Blodgett of the Federal Reserve Board will discuss fair lending and unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP) risks that may arise as financial institutions adopt new technologies to serve their customers, and offer some general guideposts for evaluating those risks, with a focus on alternative data. The presentation is a companion to the article "Keeping Fintech Fair: Thinking About Fair Lending and UDAP Risks," which was published in Consumer Compliance Outlook.

UPDATE: This webinar has been rescheduled to Monday, July 16, 2018.

The OCC has announced it will hold Innovation Office Hours, August 7 and August 9, in Denver. The Office Hours are one-on-one meetings with OCC officials to discuss financial technology, new products or services, partnering with a bank or fintech company, or other matters related to responsible innovation in the federal banking system. OCC staff will provide feedback and respond to questions. Interested parties should request an Office Hours session by June 18, 2018, and are asked to provide information on why they are interested in a meeting. Specific meeting times and arrangements will be determined after the OCC receives and accepts the request.

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission has published [83 FR 26284] a notice requesting comment on issues related to interpretation and implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) following the recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in ACA International v. FCC:

• what constitutes an "automatic telephone dialing system";
• how to treat calls to reassigned wireless numbers; and
• how a called party may revoke prior express consent to receive robocalls under the TCPA.

The Commission's prior interpretations on those three issues were voided by the Court. The notice is a summary of the Commission's Public Notice released on May 14, 2018. Comments are due on June 13, and reply comments by June 28, 2018.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it has filed a complaint and obtained a court order halting an ongoing fraud involving an initial coin offering (ICO) that raised as much as $21 million from investors in and outside the U.S. The court also approved an emergency asset freeze and the appointment of a receiver for Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services Inc., the firm behind the alleged scheme.

The OCC has issued its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2018. Highlights include:

• Competition for quality loans is strong, as examiners note evidence of eased underwriting. The accommodating credit environment warrants a continued focus on underwriting practices to monitor and assess credit risk and lender complacency.
• Operational risk is elevated as banks adapt business models, transform technology and operating processes, and respond to evolving cyber threats.
• Compliance risk is elevated as banks manage money laundering risks and implement changes to policies and procedures to comply with amended Bank Secrecy Act and consumer protection requirements.
• The continued increase in market interest rates may eventually lead to higher funding costs for banks, as economic growth increases loan demand and competition for funding pressures banks to raise deposit yields.

The OCC has announced it will hold Innovation Office Hours, July 17–19, in San Francisco to promote responsible innovation in the federal banking system. Office Hours are one-on-one meetings with OCC officials to discuss financial technology (fintech), new products or services, partnering with a bank or fintech company, or other matters related to responsible innovation in the federal banking system. OCC staff will provide feedback and respond to questions. Interested parties should request an Office Hours session by June 1, and are asked to provide information on why they are interested in meeting with the OCC.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard spoke on "Cryptocurrencies, Digital Currencies, and Distributed Ledger Technologies: What Are We Learning?" at yesterday's session of the Decoding Digital Currency Conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

FinCEN has circulated a reminder on May 8 that "Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) will no longer be accepted in ACSII format effective June 1, 2018. Financial institutions that batch file must file using the new XML format. If a financial institution is unable, then it must revert to the discrete option to file its reports until it is able to file using the new XML format."

The OCC has announced it will host an Operational Risk workshop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 2018, for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the Agency. The workshop focuses on the key components of operational risk and also covers governance, third-party risk, vendor management, internal fraud, and cybersecurity.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced the launch of an additional online search feature that enables investors to research whether the individual trying to sell investments has a judgment or order entered against them in an enforcement action. The SEC Action Lookup for Individuals – or SALI – is intended to assist the public in making informed investment decisions and avoiding financial fraud.