Editor's Note
The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency, specifically focusing on: (1) the source of the development (regulator, legislative body, etc.), (2) the subject matter (consumer lending, money transmission, capital markets, etc.), and (3) the general issue covered.
If you were forwarded this email and would like more Financial Services communications from us, subscribe here.
Regulatory Developments
- Financial Stability Oversight Council. Safety and Soundness and Nonbank Determinations. FSOC unanimously voted to issue final versions of a new analytic framework for financial stability risks and updated guidance on the Council's process for determining whether to subject a nonbank financial company to prudential standards and supervision by the Federal Reserve. The analytic framework is effective as of November 14, 2023 and the updated guidance on nonbank financial company determinations will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
- Federal Reserve Board. Bank Activities and Interchange Fees. FRB Gov. Bowman participated in several events, discussing recent economic data and monetary policy, capital requirements reform, the interagency Community Reinvestment Act final rule, the interchange fee cap proposal, and climate guidance.
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Safety and Soundness. FDIC updated Section 16.1, Report of Examination Instructions of the Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies to update and clarify instructions on uninsured deposits and certain commercial real estate concentrations.
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Commercial Lenders. OCC published a bulletin to inform banks about policy guidance that applies to commercial loans to early-, expansion-, and late-stage companies referred to as "venture loans."
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). OCC issued revised interagency examination procedures to reflect amendments to the TCPA that became effective on October 25, 2021.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fintech and Payments. CFPB proposed a rule to define a market for general-use digital consumer payment applications and subject larger participants of this market to the agency's supervisory authority. The deadline for comments is the later of January 8, 2024, or 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
- National Credit Union Administration. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Credit Unions. NCUA Chairman Harper delivered remarks at the agency's 2023 DEI Summit. Separately, the agency released a research note on social attributes of credit union mortgages.
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Beneficial Ownership. FinCEN issued a final rule, effective January 1, 2024, that specifies the circumstances in which a reporting company may report an entity's FinCEN identifier in lieu of information about an individual beneficial owner.
- Treasury Department. Insurance and Climate-Related Financial Risk. Treasury's Federal Insurance Office took steps to proceed with its first-ever data collection from insurers to assess climate-related financial risk to consumers across the United States. The deadline for comments is 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
- Federal Housing Administration. Mortgage Lenders. FHA requested industry feedback on proposed updates to its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) assignment claims eligibility policy. The deadline for comments is December 11, 2023.
- California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Money Transmission and Agent of Payee. CA DFPI published a response to an anonymous request for an interpretative opinion finding that a company's proposal to partner with a Philippines-based company to provide a bill payment service that enables customers located in the United States to provide payment to the U.S. Company for amounts owed to billers located in the Philippines for their utility, tuition, mortgage and other related transactions does not require registration as a money transmitter under the agent of payee exemption.
- Nevada Financial Institutions Division. Earned Wage Access. NV FID held a meeting on November 3, 2023, to solicit comments on proposed regulations regarding Earned Wage Access products.
Enforcement and Litigation
- Federal Trade Commission. Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) & UDAAP. FTC announced that a federal court issued summary judgment against a merchant cash advance (MCA) company and an individual regarding allegations that they violated 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) (FTC Act Sec. 5) in deceiving small businesses and other organizations by misrepresenting the terms of MCAs the business provided and then used unfair collection practices, including threatened physical violence, to compel consumers to pay.
- Federal Trade Commission and Florida. UDAAP and Operators of Credit Card Systems. FTC and FL reached a settlement with a credit card chargeback company and its owners to resolve allegations that they enabled fraudulent merchants to evade or delay the chargeback process for consumers disputing credit card charges in violation of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), and the FL Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Ch. 501, Pt. 2, FL Stat., by using multiple unfair techniques to prevent consumers from successfully winning chargeback disputes.
- Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Lenders & UDAAP. FTC filed and settled a complaint with a personal finance app provider regarding allegations of false promises that targeted consumers living paycheck to paycheck for failing to deliver cash advances as advertised.
- Federal Trade Commission. Fintech & Mortgage Lenders. FTC finalized a consent order that resolved alleged antitrust concerns focused on an acquisition in the mortgage origination industry.
- Office of Foreign Assets Control. Pre-Paid Card Programs and Sanctions. OFAC announced a settlement with a company that manages prepaid reward card programs to settle its potential civil liability for alleged violations of sanctions on Crimea, Iran, Syria, and Cuba
Research and Analysis
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). CFPB published a new report on state CRA laws.
- Federal Housing Finance Agency. Mortgage Lenders. FHFA published a report on the "FHLBank System at 100: Focusing on the Future initiative," the Agency's comprehensive review of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) System in anticipation of the System's centennial in 2032
Michael Buckalew is a regulatory analyst with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.