News By Edition

As federal regulators continue to insist they are ready and willing to give financial companies the flexibility they need to innovate without fear of regulatory reprisal, the industry has remained largely skeptical.

Regulators from three federal agencies explained how they are working to help facilitate a flexible regulatory environment that accounts for companies’ need to adapt to the modern marketplace during the Consumer Bankers Association’s (CBA) 2019 annual conference.

Find out what insight the regulators shared to a room filled with bankers and technology providers.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) voted Thursday to approve its draft declaratory rule that would enable telephone companies to block unwanted phone calls.

Numerous trade groups expressed concerns that the proposal would result in the blocking of lawful calls, as well as illegal ones, in a letter to FCC ahead of the vote. The trades urged FCC to seek public comment on the proposal “to avoid such unintended consequences.”

Find out more details about the proposal.

Record profit levels and zero bank failures defined 2018 for institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the trend continued through the first quarter of 2019.

Banks and savings institutions saw $60.7 billion in first-quarter profits, an increase of $4.9 billion from the industry’s earnings a year before, and the second-highest profits dating to 1985, according to FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile.

Find out more insight contained in the report.

A mortgage servicer’s inadequate data recording system and oversight practices led to consumer harm and will cost it $236,500 in fines and restitution to settle charges brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The bureau cited the company’s failure to review loan information and its use of a non-automated data recording system as contributing factors to multiple statutory violations. 

Find out more details about the settlement.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is in the process of finalizing six rules and has just as many in the proposal stage in the agency’s Unified Agenda for Spring 2019.

Among the items noted in the agenda are the agency’s final rule on payday alternative loans (PALs) and an expected proposed rule regarding the interest rate cap on loans issued by federal credit unions (FCUs).

Find out what else was included in the agenda.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is facing staunch criticism over its newly proposed rule which would permit federally-insured credit unions (FCUs) to receive up to half of their deposits come from other credit unions and government entities, a significant uptick from the current 20 percent cap.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) called the proposal “deeply troubling,” given that the cap was put in place to stem issues with oversight that led to taxpayer-funded losses.

Find out more details about the proposal. 

Numerous trade groups support the Department of Labor’s proposal to set the threshold for an employee to be exempted from federal overtime and minimum wage requirements more than 25 percent lower than a similar rule proposed during the Obama administration.

The trades also suggested certain revisions to standards for highly compensated employees, acting on behalf of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity.

Find out more details about what the trade groups support and what revisions they recommend.

Reducing the number of Americans who are “unbanked” or “underbanked” has been a recurring topic of discussion among advocates for both financial trade associations and consumer protection groups for several years.

The Federal Reserve’s annual report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households indicated that there is progress being made in that respect.

Learn more about the agency’s findings in this latest report on consumers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) first Unified Agenda released under Director Kathy Kraninger shows that the agency is planning to issue two long-awaited final rules in June and is moving forward with certain rulemaking activities suggested by former acting director Mick Mulvaney.

The bureau’s statutorily-required business lending data collection rulemaking, which has been pushed back multiple times, has been moved up in the latest agenda. Rulemaking to clarify the meaning of “abusive” as it relates to the bureau’s UDAAP authority has been added to the bureau’s “long-term” rulemaking agenda.

Learn more about what to expect from the bureau from the agenda.

The House voted 231-191 along party lines to pass the Consumers First Act, which proposes several actions to undo various organizational and policy changes enacted at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under former acting director Mick Mulvaney.

Given that the legislation has garnered only Democratic support, it is unlikely to be passed or even taken up for a vote by the Republican-led Senate. All amendments proposed by Republicans were rejected, including those proposing to but the bureau under appropriations, as Mulvaney called for on multiple occasions.

Find out more details about what the bill proposes.

Banks and credit unions have thrown support behind legislation proposing that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) put the brakes on implementation of its current expected credit loss (CECL) accounting standard and to conduct a quantitative study of its impact to capital and the economy.

Senate Banking Committee Member Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), introduced the “Stop and Study” bill, also known as the Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act (S. 1564) in response to concerns expressed by various industry professionals.

Find out more details about the bill and the industry’s support for its passage.

With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Senate passed legislation that would boost the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) enforcement authority over violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and require voice service providers to authenticate and block illegal robocalls.

The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, S. 151, passed by a 97-1 vote.

Find out more details about the proposal and what additional measures the industry wants to see.

Explaining how the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) regulations apply to money transmission involving convertible virtual currencies, the agency’s new guidance is intended to consolidate existing regulations, administrative rulings and guidance rather than impose new ones.

The guidance specifically addresses the applicability of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulations enforced by FinCEN relating to money services businesses (MSBs) apply to certain business models involving money transmission denominated in value that substitutes for currency, specifically, convertible virtual currencies (CVCs).

Find out more details about the topic.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced the expansion of its three-year-old “Misadventures in Money Management” financial education tool geared to help active-duty servicemembers.

In a blog post, the CFPB explained that its goal with the expansion was to make the topic of responsible financial management “fun” for its target audience by incorporating the educational elements into a “graphic novel”-style game. 

Learn more about the program’s expansion.

NewDay USA, the country’s eighth largest lender of mortgages backed by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), recently renewed its warehouse facility with BankUnited for $100 million. With the renewal, the company has $400 million in warehouse commitments, including Texas Capital Bank and People's United Bank, according to a press release.

Calyx Software, which specializes in loan origination technology, recently revealed a new brand identity, website and enhanced service options for customers. The company wide visual transformation was designed to embody its mission and unify behind a single brand: Calyx.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will consider whether its rules published within the last 10 years should be amended or rescinded to minimize economic impacts to small entities, as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA).

The first rule the bureau specified that it plans to assess is its rule regulating overdraft fees banks may charge.

Find out more details about the bureau’s review obligations under the RFA.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing a New York law firm for allegedly misleading consumers about the amount of meaningful attorney involvement in debt collection suits. The bureau also asserted that the firm often sued for debts consumers did not actually owe or to collect on amounts exceeding what actually was owed.

A former employee of the firm attested to how little time the firm’s licensed attorneys spent reviewing collection suits before they were filed.

Learn more about the charges levied against the firm.

After eight years with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Kristen Donoghue reportedly is stepping down as the agency’s head of enforcement.

Donoghue was among the executive CFPB officials hired by former Director Richard Cordray beginning in 2011.

Learn more about Donoghue’s decision to resign.   

The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recent assessment of policies and procedures federal banking examiners have followed since 2009 in supervising depository institutions and for identifying and communicating supervisory concerns largely have been effective despite inconsistencies in certain respects.

Although GAO found that regulators generally have seen positive results from implementing post-crisis supervisory practices, there are similar issues among all three agencies pertaining to communicating and tracking deficiencies.

Learn more details about GAO’s recommendations.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) has hired a longtime policy director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to oversee its policy advocacy efforts pertaining to credit and debit cards.

Dan Smith, who established the CFPB’s Office of Financial Institutions and Business Liaison in 2013 and has served as its first executive director since, will become the director of ABA’s Card Policy Council, effective June 10.

Find out more details about Smith and his new role.

JPMorgan Chase has begun accepting electronic promissory notes (eNotes) as collateral to fund warehouse lending transactions, making it the second top-five bank by asset size to make a major announcement on the eNote front since October of last year.

Dodd Frank Update talked to Thanh Roettele, head of the CCBSI Mortgage group, to get input about the company’s new eNote capabilities, including certain efficiencies associated with using eNotes in warehouse lending.

Find out more information about the bank’s involvement in eNotes.

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspects of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) recent proposed updates to its lender certification requirements relate to the defect taxonomy, which FHA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) referenced when directing lenders to buy back faulty loans during the financial crisis or filing suit against them.

Per the proposal, the nine current categories would comprise four “Severity Tiers” used in assessing individual loans with Tier 1 representing the most serious defects.

Find out more details about the proposed revisions.

After months of controversy in the wake of his appointment as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) head of supervision, enforcement and fair lending policy (SEFL), Eric Blankenstein recently announced his resignation from the bureau, according to published reports.

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger was non-committal when asked about Blankenstein’s future at the bureau during her initial interviews with the press after taking office in January, noting that the matter was subject to ongoing review.

Learn more about the circumstances surrounding his resignation.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger’s revelation that student loan servicers have been refusing to cooperate with the CFPB, citing policy guidance issued by the Department of Education, is not sitting well with Democrats. The guidance stipulates that servicers can withhold certain student loan information to protect the privacy of the borrowers, and Kraninger says they have.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and a host of other Democrats called the news “disturbing” in a letter to top executives at three such student loan servicers.

Find out more details about the situation.

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting said he has no plans of publishing documents pertaining to his agency’s review of Wells Fargo’s search for a new CEO during a recent hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. He also offered updates on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) rulemaking and supervisory goals for the rest of the year.

Otting’s prepared oral statement and written testimony focused on the health of the banking system, operational risks and OCC’s plans for collaborating with other banking regulators on various regulations.

Find out more details about what was discussing during the hearing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will rename its annual award for members who have demonstrated outstanding state and local association leadership for retiring Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association (OMBA) Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Marianne Collins at year’s end.

Given that she won MBA’s inaugural award for outstanding state and local leadership, MBA said it was fitting that the award will bear her name.

Find out more information about Collins and her career.  

It seems only a matter of time before a company listing technology as its top priority becomes the first to add depository services to its roster of offerings.

Ongoing discussions continue to take place between federal regulators and fintech executives and charter applications continue to find their way to officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – albeit at a fairly slow pace with many being withdrawn within months of submission.

Learn more about the big-picture view of the ever-evolving industry dynamic between fintechs and financial institutions.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger recently named Brian Johnson to be the bureau’s new deputy director, allowing him to drop the term “acting” from a title he has held since July 2018. The bureau also announced multiple changes within its executive leadership ranks.

Johnson joined the CFPB in December 2017 as a political appointee, serving as senior advisor to former acting director Mick Mulvaney and was named principal policy director in April 2018. His role at the CFPB is the second time Johnson has followed Richard Cordray in a job office.

Learn more about the leadership changes.

Legislation proposing to cap the annual percentage rates lenders can charge consumers on loans at 15 percent met with swift pushback from the financial industry. Trade advocates and business experts have said the plan would hurt consumers, as well as banks.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed the two-page bill, dubbed the “Loan Shark Prevention Act,” as a means of curtailing predatory lending practices by large banks and protecting consumers against excessive credit card interest rates.

Learn why the industry is opposed to the measure.

Thirty-eight state attorneys general wrote to congressional leaders, urging them to pass legislation permitting banks to serve marijuana-related businesses (MRBs) in states where cannabis is legal.

The bipartisan group, on behalf of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), expressed support for the SAFE Banking Act — which the House Financial Services Committee  advanced by a 45-15 vote in April — or similar legislation that would provide a safe harbor for depository institutions serving legal MRBs.

Read on to learn why the AGs support the measure.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger spoke at length about the bureau’s newly published notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) intended to provide clarity about regulations on debt collectors during a town hall-style meeting at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The event included a panel of CFPB officials, credit and collections professionals, consumer advocates and attorneys sharing their thoughts on various provisions of the proposed rule.

Find out what feedback the panelists offered about the proposal.

The biggest names in the industry gather June 18-20 at the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in Phoenix, with attendees getting to hear from top underwriters and lenders on stage.

Headlined by keynote speakers Brian Montgomery from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Chris George from CMG Financial and the Mortgage Bankers Association, attendees will hear panel discussions featuring seven of the top national underwriters in the country, industry titans from the title and lending world sitting down for a fireside chat, and state and federal regulators discussing consumer protection.

Read on for more details about the top speakers headed to NS3.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has become the second appellate court to rule the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure to be constitutional, which means there are only two more pending federal cases challenging the bureau’s constitutionality.

The three-judge panel also validated the bureau’s investigation into Seila Law’s debt-relief service practices, which was stayed in April 2018.

Find out what the reasoning the three-judge panel gave for its determination.

Two measures proposing updates to Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering standards recently met with strong industry support.

The House Financial Services Committee voted unanimously to pass a measure proposing to index Currency Transaction Report thresholds for inflation. It also introduced a measure aiming to increase transparency and accountability among corporations and limited liability companies in the name of preventing fraud.

Find out details about what the bills propose to change.

The Federal Housing Administration is considering revising its lender certification requirements in an effort to offer more clarity and certainty among lenders and servicers regarding compliance.

The agency also described its plans to diversify its network of FHA-approved lenders in light of shifts within the mortgage marketplace.

Find out more details about the proposed changes and what FHA hopes to accomplish.

Seventy percent of small-business owners who took part in Wells Fargo/Gallup’s latest quarterly Small Business Index survey indicated that they are optimistic about the economy and credit availability.

The results also offered insight into other perspectives among small-business owners concerning major policy shifts, such as changes in the nation’s tax laws.

Find out more details about the results of the poll.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) on Tuesday, proposing regulations on communications between debt collectors and consumers, as well as technology and disclosures.  

The NPRM’s release came a day before Director Kathy Kraninger’s scheduled town hall to discuss the bureau’s plans for re-engaging in debt collection rulemaking.

Find out what the bureau is proposing and what is missing from its previous proposals.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently filed a suit, alleging that two of the nation’s largest credit repair companies and affiliated entities violated telemarketing laws and deceived consumers.

An attorney spokesman for the defendants asserted that the companies were baffled by CFPB’s decision to file suit, given his clients’ purported transparency with the bureau regarding their business practices.

Find out more details about the bureau’s complaint and the defendants’ rebuttal.

The subject of guidance and the question of how to ensure that it provides the kind of clarity financial professionals want but without having the force or effect of a formal rule is the subject of ongoing discussion among industry stakeholders, lawmakers and regulators. 

Ahead of the Senate Banking Committee’s recent hearing on the role of supervisory guidance, Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Richard Hunt weighed in on the need for greater clarity in guidance and for more experienced bank examiners.

Find out more about the opinions expressed on the matters.

The latest dispute between banks and credit unions centers on a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act that affords the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) the authority to exempt the nation’s largest credit unions from its oversight.

In turn, the bureau would transfer its supervisory and enforcement authority over such institutions to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Find out what arguments the two sides are making for and against such a move.

Democrats have proposed a bill seeking to enact measures to expand legal protections against discrimination when consumers apply for various forms of credit.

Although discrimination against credit applicants on the basis of race, religion, sex, marital status or age is illegal, champions of the “Protections in Consumer Lending Act” asserted that it remains a widely recognized problem and that there is no current method for tracking whether discrimination has taken place.

Find out more about the legislation.

Azimuth GRC LLC announced the official release of its automated regulatory compliance software in its first module for the mortgage industry. The innovative Azimuth GRC platform provides organizations with an efficient way to demonstrate up-to-the-minute compliance with industry regulations while eliminating time and costs previously spent on manual compliance tasks and processes.

A student loan servicer’s decision to self-report and try to remediate consumer harm was reflected in its settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). However, the company’s failure to timely remediate all consumers harmed by its actions resulted in a $3.9 million fine.

This case could shed light on how the bureau will approach similar cases in the future, given CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger’s recent statements about wanting to do less enforcement and to help companies build a “culture of compliance.”

Find out what factors the bureau took into account in this matter.  

To provide small financial institutions permanent relief from expanded Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requirements, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed to permanently raise the loan thresholds for open-end and closed-end lines of credit.

The bureau also is seeking industry feedback on the costs and benefits of the expanded data collection requirements mandated by the 2015 HMDA rule.

Find out more about what the bureau has proposed.

Debt collectors subject to supervision by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be eager to hear what Director Kathy Kraninger has to say in her town hall at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

The bureau announced in March that it would “re-engage” in debt collection rulemaking to clarify its requirements for the country’s approximately 6,000 debt collection firms.

Get a refresher on the progress the bureau made on debt collection rulemaking prior to Kraninger’s tenure.

A new trend in enforcement may be emerging that could be alarming for individual financial officers and directors, according to a report measuring changes in compliance patterns among financial institutions. 

One expert said institutions should view the steady pace of new regulation as an opportunity to focus on enhancing their overall compliance culture and compliance management systems.

Find out more details about the revelations connected with the data.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the launch a joint three-year collaborative effort aimed at encouraging cooperation between small businesses and credit unions and expanding awareness about SBA programs.

The two agencies agreed to undertake a series of initiatives that will help credit unions better understand and utilize SBA-backed loans and resources in a memorandum of understanding. Such joint initiatives could include webinars, training events and media outreach.

Find out more information about the undertaking.

After enjoying a steady uptrend in mortgage applications the previous month, mortgage bankers saw application volumes decline four weeks in a row in April, per data provided in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

MBA Association Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan said certain reductions in average contract interest rates, particularly in 30-year fixed-rate loans, may have been driven by market concerns outside the U.S.

Read on for more information.

Mortgage industry veteran Eric Egenhoefer recently joined Panorama Mortgage Group as a co-managing partner, and launched Novus Home Mortgage as a new brand of the company, according to a press release.

Quicken Loans, America’s largest mortgage lender, recently partnered with Vrbo, which specializes in vacation rentals, to allow rental income earned through Vrbo to be used to qualify for a mortgage refinance. The program utilizes rental income that is confirmed and documented to allow homeowners to more accurately illustrate their full income stream, according to a press release.