OCC

When it comes to shaping the regulatory and business environment to best serve the needs of banks and consumers, shortsightedness and lack of consistency may be two of the greatest obstacles facing the financial industry today.

In a 1-on-1 sitdown with Dodd Frank Update at CBA LIVE 2019 in Washington D.C., Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Richard Hunt detailed his views on the need for cooperation among federal regulators.

Read on for all the details from our interview with Hunt.

As fintech companies increase their presence in the banking industry through partnerships and other methods, the financial industry has been home to some mixed reactions.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams and Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Joseph Otting touched on the dynamic between fintechs and banks with Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) President and CEO Richard Hunt during the closing general session at CBA Live 2019.

Find out what the regulators had to say on the topic.

Top of mind for a large portion of attendees at the Consumer Bankers Association’s (CBA) 2019 annual conference in Washington D.C. was if and when federal regulators will take action to modernize Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requirements, as well as the importance of investing in technology and how to open lines of communication between regulators and banks.

Attendees heard from industry insiders about their views on pertinent issues ahead of interviews with Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams, both of whom have power to act on many of the topics discussed.

Get a detailed account of key insights revealed about those issues. 

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued a bulletin to all entities it supervises with details indicating the data fields examiners will use to test and validate the accuracy and reliability of loan data collected in accordance with Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requirements as of 2018.

The bulletin outlines the different reporting requirements for banks mandated to comply with expanded HMDA reporting standards and those only responsible for reporting data required by the original HMDA rule.

Read on to learn more details about the bulletin.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) recently voted unanimously to propose new interpretive guidance implementing an activities-based approach to designating non-bank entity as a systemically-important financial institution (SIFI).

The new approach would require the council to assess the potential risks an entity posed to the financial marketplace, conduct a cost-benefit analysis of such a designation and assess the likelihood that a non-bank entity would fail prior to finalizing a non-bank SIFI designation. 

Find out more details about proposed guidance.

Taking the next step in its project to modernize federal examination processes, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recently issued a policy statement aimed at promoting clarity and consistency of reports of examination.

The principles include expectations for what information should be included in ROEs, as well as guidance on how that information should be presented to promote consistency, clarity and ease of reference, among other things.

Find out more details about the principles set forth in the new policy statement.

After studying the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s policies intended to mitigate the risk of “regulatory capture” issues impacting its mission, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a list of nine recommendations for how the agency can better guard against potential internal conflicts of interest that lead to such issues.

GAO indicated it conducted its investigation based on a congressional request to review possible instances of regulatory capture – a term referring to when regulators act in the interest of the industry they’re regulating, rather than in service of the public good.

Find out more details about the report’s findings and recommendations.

The federal banking agencies recently published a letter to covered banks and savings institutions with instructions for submitting 2018 fourth quarter consolidated reports of condition and income (Call Report).

The letter applies to institutions with total assets less than $1 billion supervised by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., including community institutions.

Read on to get more details.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently laid out its priorities for 2019 in its annual report, which include measures designed to reduce regulatory burdens while continuing to promote safety and soundness in the banking sector. It also indicates that 2018 saw the fewest OCC-issued supervisory notices in 12 years.

Many of the OCC’s recent actions, and those it is planning to take in the coming months, involve implementing provisions of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.

Find out more details about the report.

Barring an act of Congress to block or further delay its implementation, financial institutions will have up to three years to reconcile their accounting practices with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) complex and largely unpopular new Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) standard.

The financial regulatory agencies’ recent final rule affords certain institutions a transition option to help them adjust to the CECL standard’s day-one adverse effects pertaining to regulatory capital.

Find out what institutions qualify for the phase-in period and what requirements they must meet along the way.