On September 17, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("Notice") to obtain public comments on proposed enhancements to anti-money laundering ("AML")...more
On July 22, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published an Interpretive Letter (the “Letter”) declaring that national banks and federal savings associations (collectively, “national banks”) may...more
7/27/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
International Banks ,
OCC ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On June 24, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services (the "NYDFS") announced it is considering a proposal to issue conditional licenses (a "Conditional License") for companies to begin virtual currency activities...more
On March 17, 2020, the governor of Hawaii announced a program between the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, the Division of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) and the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation....more
On December 11, 2019, the New York State Department of Financial Services ("DFS") issued two proposed changes to the regime that is in place in New York for the regulation and licensing of virtual currency ("VC") businesses....more
12/13/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Comment Period ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Licensing Rules ,
NYDFS ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Virtual Currency
On January 7, 2019, the New York State Department of Financial Services (the "DFS") issued new guidance on whistleblowing programs ("WP") to all entities regulated by the DFS regardless of industry, size or number of...more
On May 23, Congress passed a bill to revise Dodd-Frank to reduce regulatory burdens on banks. Just as with the original Dodd-Frank Act, the real work will have to be done by the banking agencies and thus months will have to...more
The FFIEC has updated its BSA/AML manual effective May 5, 2018, to add a section on the new legal entity due diligence requirements and to update the section of the manual on customer due diligence generally. The Fed...more
5/17/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Examination Procedures ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
As you are aware, FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence rules are effective in two days. In a nutshell, these rules require banks to obtain and verify the identity of the beneficial owners of new business customers. The rules are...more
On March 5, 2018, the Fed’s new Vice Chairman for Supervision, Randal Quarles, spoke at the Institute of International Bankers annual conference. He wanted to express his thoughts on the appropriate regulatory environment for...more
On February 2, 2018, the Fed announced that it issued a consent Cease and Desist order with Wells Fargo—the bank holding company. The Fed’s press release noted that Wells is replacing 4 directors within this year (out of 17...more
2/6/2018
/ Bank Holding Company ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Board of Directors ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Regulation YY ,
Risk Management ,
Senior Managers ,
Wells Fargo
For the first time in my memory, the Congress passed a joint resolution to disapprove a final regulation of a federal agency—in this case the CFPB and the rule was related to arbitration clauses in contracts for consumer...more
12/8/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
CRA ,
Credit Unions ,
Cuba ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
FDIC ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
NCUA ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Qualified Financial Contracts (QFC) ,
RESPA ,
Sanctions ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
Last week, the DFS announced an enforcement action and charges against the NY Branch of Habib Bank, a Pakistani bank that had been doing business in NY for almost 40 years....more
9/2/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banks ,
Cease and Desist ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Department of Financial Services ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Banks ,
NYDFS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pakistan ,
Terrorist Financing
With a straight face, President Trump has issued an executive order on June 20th that would expand Apprenticeship opportunities in the US in order to expand jobs. The CFTC has adopted some final rules on records...more
8/10/2017
/ Appraisal ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Burma ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Unions ,
Creditors ,
Executive Orders ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Interest Rates ,
Mergers ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
NCUA ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
RESPA ,
Trump Administration
Yesterday the Fed published a proposed guidance document for its expectations for board of directors of banks. The release only applies to the boards of banks with over $50 billion in consolidated assets, but the intent of...more
At the end of last week, the Fed and the other banking agencies issued an interpretation that applied to investments in certain foreign funds by foreign banking organizations that are subject to the Volcker rule. Such banks...more