Financial Services Weekly News - May 2018 #4

Goodwin

Editor's Note
 

Regulatory Relief Becomes A Reality. On May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, by a vote of 258 to 159 with 225 Republicans and 33 Democrats supporting the bill. As discussed in the March 21 edition of the Roundup, the bill is focused on providing regulatory relief to community banks and credit unions. Among other things, the bill would:

  • raise the threshold for applying enhanced prudential standards from $50 billion to $250 billion of total consolidated assets;
  • end mandated stress tests for banks with under $100 billion in total consolidated assets;
  • permit federal savings associations with less than $20 billion in total consolidated assets to elect to operate with the same powers and duties as national banks without being required to convert their charters;
  • deem certain mortgage loans that are originated and retained in portfolio by an insured depository institution or an insured credit union with less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets to be qualified mortgages under the Truth in Lending Act;
  • simplify capital calculations for community banks under $10 billion in total consolidated assets with a to-be-determined leverage ratio in excess of 8% or 10%;
  • apply the 18-month examination cycle to banks under $3 billion in total consolidated assets;
  • exempt from the Volcker Rule banks and bank holding companies with less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets and trading assets and liabilities comprising not more than 5% of total assets;
  • provide for the tailoring of regulation based on the size and risk profile of the applicable institution; and
  • provide additional regulatory relief from appraisal requirements, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting, and financial reporting.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law later this week. While members of the House of Representatives have stated their intention to pass additional financial regulatory relief on which there is bipartisan agreement, the fate of any such legislation in the Senate is less clear. However, if Jelena McWilliams, the pending nominee to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), is confirmed later this week as expected, the pace of financial regulatory reforms adopted through rulemaking, regulatory guidance, and policy changes could accelerate significantly with Republicans leading all three federal banking agencies and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Federal banking regulators have signaled that Community Reinvestment Act modernization is on their radar.

Please note that the Roundup will be on hiatus next week due to the Memorial Day holiday. We will resume publication on June 6.

Regulatory Developments

FinCEN Provides 90-Day Exceptive Relief From Beneficial Ownership Requirements for Certain Products and Services With Automatic Rollovers or Renewals

On May 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an administrative ruling providing 90-day exceptive relief from the Beneficial Ownership Rule for financial institutions with respect to certain financial products and services, established before May 11, 2018, that automatically rollover or renew. The 90-day exception is retroactively effective on May 11, 2018, and will expire on August 9, 2018. Prior to this exceptive ruling, representatives of covered financial institutions had expressed concerns to FinCEN about their ability to collect the required information for such products. FinCEN stated that such concerns are appropriate and granted the 90-day exceptive relief to allow for further consideration.

OCC Urges Banks to Meet Consumers’ Short-Term, Small-Dollar Credit Needs

On May 23, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued OCC Bulletin 2018-14 (Bulletin), in which the OCC encouraged national banks and federal savings associations to offer responsible short-term, small-dollar installment lending to help meet the credit needs of their customers. In the Bulletin, the OCC stated that it “encourages banks to offer responsible short-term, small-dollar installment loans, typically two to 12 months in duration with equal amortizing payments, to help meet the credit needs of consumers.” The Bulletin sets forth three core lending principles that banks should consider when offering short-term, small-dollar installment lending products and six “reasonable policies and practices” specific to short-term, small-dollar installment lending. The Bulletin will allow national banks and federal savings associations to compete directly with payday lenders for short-term, small dollar installment credits.

The Bulletin represents another step in a significant policy change for the OCC. In October 2017, the OCC rescinded its guidance, issued during the Obama administration, which discouraged the offering of deposit advance products on the grounds that continuing the guidance would have subjected banks to potentially inconsistent regulatory direction and undue burden as they prepared to comply with the CFPB’s final rule titled “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans” (Payday Rule). The Payday Rule’s underwriting requirements, which have a compliance date in August 2019, generally apply to consumer loans with maturities shorter than 45 days or longer-term loans that involve balloon payments. In the Bulletin, the OCC stated that it intends to work with the CFPB as it reconsiders the Payday Rule to ensure that OCC-supervised banks can responsibly engage in consumer lending, including lending products covered by the Payday Rule.

Comment Period Extended for Enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio Proposal

On May 18, the OCC and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced that they have extended the public comment period for proposed modifications to the standards for U.S. top-tier bank holding companies identified as global systemically important bank holding companies and certain of their insured depository institution subsidiaries. The proposed modifications were published in the Federal Register on April 19, 2018, and we described them in the April 18 edition of the Roundup. The original deadline was extended by approximately one month from May 18 to June 25.

CFPB Issues Updated Guides to TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rules

The CFPB issued updated versions of the small entity compliance guides and the guides to the loan estimate and closing disclosure (Guides) for the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosure rule. The Guides were updated for both the 2018 TILA-RESPA Rule (2018 Rule) as well as the 2017 TILA-RESPA Rule (2017 Rule). The 2018 Rule removes the requirement that in order for a creditor to use the Closing Disclosure to reset tolerances, there must be fewer than four business days between the time the creditor is required to provide the Closing Disclosure reflecting the revised estimate and consummation. The new rule allows creditors to reset tolerances using the Closing Disclosure without regard to four business days, so long as the creditor provides the consumer with the Closing Disclosure reflecting the revised estimate within three business days of receiving the information sufficient to establish that the changed circumstance or triggering event has occurred. The 2018 Rule becomes effective 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register. In addition, the CFPB updated the Guides to include the 2017 Rule. The 2017 Rule made a number of amendments, including but not limited to, the application of escrow closing notices and partial payment disclosure requirements, clarification of partial exemptions for certain housing assistance loans, and clarification of the application of good faith to third-party, non-affiliate settlement service charges and for tolerances in integrated disclosures. The 2017 Rule was made effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register and compliance was made optional until October 1, 2018, when it becomes mandatory for any application received on or after that date. The updated Guides, quick reference materials, and other resources related to the 2018 and 2017 Rules can be found on the CFPB’s website

Enforcement & Litigation

SEC and FINRA Announce Related Settlements Based on Anti-Money Laundering Deficiencies and Violations

On May 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the settlement of charges against two broker-dealers, Chardan Capital Markets LLC (Chardan) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services LLC (ICBCFS), for failing to report suspicious sales of billions of penny stock shares, and against the anti-money laundering (AML) officer of Chardan for aiding and abetting those violations. The SEC alleged violations of the Exchange Act and an SEC financial recordkeeping and reporting rule, and the settlements with Chardan, ICBCFS and the AML officer involved monetary fines ($1 million, $860,000, and $15,000 respectively), censures, and cease-and-desist  agreements. Additionally, the AML officer agreed to industry and penny-stock bars for a minimum of three years. On the same day, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as part of a broader inquiry into ICBCFS’s AML program, announced that ICBCFS had consented to an entry of findings against it for systemic AML compliance failures, including its failure to have in place a reasonable AML program to monitor and detect suspicious transactions, in addition to other violations. As part of this settlement, FINRA fined ICBCFS $5.3 million.

FTC Obtains Preliminary Injunction Against Mortgage Relief Operation

On May 8, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted its request to preliminarily enjoin affiliated California-based debt relief companies from continuing operations, and to freeze their assets. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the companies violated Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), by deceiving consumers and falsely promising they could help consumers avoid foreclosure and lower mortgage payments. The FTC alleged that the companies would sell consumers their loan modification services by telling consumers they had a “99% success rate” and guaranteeing results regardless of the consumers’ individual situations. View the Enforcement Watch blog post.

Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of TCPA Fax Claim Against Third Parties

On May 8, the Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claim against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer. As the Sixth Circuit noted at the start of its opinion in Health One Medical Center, Eastpointe P.L.L.C. v. Mohawk, Inc. et al., “[s]ome questions seem to arise only in class-action lawsuits.” Here, the key question was whether third parties Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer had “sent” the faxes challenged by the plaintiff even though they had no knowledge of the faxes and played no role in sending them. The Sixth Circuit’s analysis of the statutory text of the TCPA and the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) guidance instructs companies facing potential derivative liability for the acts of agents and others. View the LenderLaw Watch blog post.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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