Federal regulators are taking various steps to help
safeguard consumers and businesses against risks posed by emerging technology.
Learn about one agency’s newly effective rule targeting a specific type of
scammer, as well as other recent developments at federal agencies below:
FTC impersonation rule takes effect
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new rule prohibiting
bad actors from impersonating government and business entities or employees took
effect April 1. On the same day, the agency released a report highlighting
new data on the most common ways consumers are targeted by these impersonation
scams, including the fact that report losses related to these incidents exceeded
$1.1 billion over the past year, more than three times what consumers reported
in 2020.
Federal Reserve seeks members for Community Advisory
Council
The Federal Reserve is accepting applications for anyone
interested in serving on the Fed’s Community Advisory Council (CAC). Formed in
2015, the CAC advises the agency’s leaders on issues affecting consumers and
communities. It is intended to complement two of the board’s other advisory
councils whose members represent depository institutions – the Federal Advisory
Council and the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council. The CAC is
made up of experts and representatives of consumer and community development
organizations and interests, including affordable housing, community and
workforce development, small business, and asset and wealth building. Learn
more here.
FHFA names new deputy director of OMWI
The Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) named Debra Chew as deputy director of the Office
of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). Chew will have dual deputy roles as she
also will continue in her position as deputy director of the Office of Equal
Opportunity and Fairness (OEOF). The OMWI oversees all diversity, equity,
inclusion, and accessibility activities for the agency in management,
employment and business activities as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion regulation
and supervision of FHFA’s regulated entities – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the
Federal Home Loan Banks. Find more details here.
FDIC releases February enforcement actions
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) released
information about six administrative enforcement actions issued in February.
The orders included one order to pay a civil money penalty (CMP), two consent
orders, one prohibition order, one combined prohibition order with a CMP order,
and one order terminating a consent order. More details about these actions can
be found here.