News By Edition

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aims to help homeowners who are struggling financially through a new rule to improve borrower education and remove obstacles to obtaining the assistance necessary to avoid foreclosure. The proposal addresses the potential impact the rule could have on mortgage lending profitability and on mortgage rates.

Jiko Group Inc. agreed to a cease and desist order issued by the Federal Reserve after examiners identified “significant deficiencies” in the San Franscisco-based fintech’s financial condition. Jiko owns a national bank and various nonbank subsidiaries that develop and service technology platforms for broker-dealers.

Fannie Mae’s 2023 Corporate Responsibility and Impact Report examines the impact of the company’s initiatives focused on social and governance priorities in the housing market, including borrowers in underserved areas. Issues of credit invisibility and the limited supply of affordable housing continue to be barriers for many would-be homebuyers.

Stakeholders connected to the financial sector will have the opportunity to comment on ways federal banking agencies can reduce regulatory burden for covered entities. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and banking regulators are required to weed out unnecessary, outdated, or unduly burdensome regulatory requirements every 10 years.

The economy is always top-of-mind for the financial sector and the latest report on U.S. gross domestic product warranted an analysis from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s leading expert in that area. Meanwhile, the country’s largest trade association representing consumer bankers published the results of a roundtable discussion on establishing a national strategy for combatting fraudsters and scam artists.

As federal banking regulators consider whether banks that use discount windows should be required to post collateral equivalent to a large percentage of their uninsured deposits, at least one member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has reservations about the idea.

The proposed merger between Capital One Financial and Discover Financial Services has ignited some heated debate among industry stakeholders, federal regulators, members of Congress, and consumer advocates. Capital One fielded a slew of opposing viewpoints during a virtual meeting open to the public on July 19. The day-long virtual event also included finger-pointing directed at federal financial regulators for being too lax in their approval process for mergers of this scale.

Financial institutions received guidance from federal regulators on policies and procedures meant to help gather additional information from consumers to be reviewed when addressing reconsiderations of value for residential real estate transactions.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu’s remarks at the Exchequer Club of Washington about trends shaping the banking industry resonated with community bankers who share many of the concerns he highlighted about large bank resolvability and nonbank relationships.

Collaboration is a major theme in the real estate finance industry. Federal regulators charged with its oversight are busy coordinating measures aimed at improving policies and procedures designed to enhance and preserve healthy competition, security, and integrity within the financial space shared by mortgage lenders and other financial institutions. Get caught up on some of these collaborative undertakings in this regulatory roundup.

LenderLogix’s Homebuyer Intelligence Report covered data collected during pre-approval and borrower application process during the second quarter of 2024.

The National Credit Union Administration approved a federal credit union interest rate ceiling of 18 percent at its July 18 meeting, which also included votes on succession planning and incentive-based compensation arrangements. America’s Credit Unions urged the agency to consider adopting a floating interest rate to better accommodate the wide range of rate environments credits unions serve.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed an interpretive rule offering guidance to lenders about their legal obligations under the Truth in Lending Act with respect to “earned wage” products, also known as “paycheck advance” loan products. The bureau views these products as part of an emerging market sponsored by employers for employees who need help covering expenses incurred between paychecks.

Banking trade advocates are pressing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to extend the compliance timelines for its highly anticipated final rule implementing consumer data privacy requirements described in Sec. 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Financial trade advocates expressed concerns about recent changes announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency with respect to lending policies for the Federal Home Loan Banks, as well as continuing opposition to the Federal Reserve’s proposed rule amending interchange fee caps. Learn about these issues and more in this roundup.

As news of the digital outage stemming from a software update from a cybersecurity company broke on Friday, July 19, Dodd Frank Update reached out to several financial institutions and trade associations, asking whether they were impacted and to what extent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is pushing for a bill aimed at curbing the use of mortgage credit “trigger leads” to be added to the National Defense Authorization Act as an amendment the organization said will help protect borrowers’ privacy.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described the Fed’s interpretation of “cooling” labor market conditions and inflation numbers with respect to projections for future reductions to the federal funds rate during his semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress.

Citigroup is facing $135.6 million in penalties from federal banking agencies for violating a 2020 enforcement action. Examiners cited a lack of progress addressing deficiencies with the bank holding company’s data quality and risk management controls.

State regulators in California revoked a lender’s financing license after the “banking as a service” fintech filed for bankruptcy and left thousands of its customers without a way to access their funds. The matter caught the attention of U.S. senators, who wrote a letter to the owners of the company, urging them to immediately restore account access to consumers.

Updates to the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Defect Taxonomy aim to address issues of fraud and material misrepresentation involving sponsored third-party originators (TPOs). The updates apply to all FHA Title II Single Family mortgage programs and are effective immediately.

Financial institutions interested in earning credit for banking activities covered under the Community Reinvestment Act will be interested in an updated list of eligible underserved communities published by banking regulators. Learn more about this and other recent developments at federal agencies in this regulatory roundup.

The Biden administration’s efforts to improve housing affordability through rent control initiatives have drawn criticism from mortgage and housing industry advocates, citing data on similar efforts by individual localities.

During his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell assured lawmakers the Fed intends to revise and repropose its controversial Basel III Endgame risk-based capital standards proposal.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its annual fair lending report to Congress, detailing the agency’s efforts to combat discrimination and promote fair credit access for all consumers. The report provided examples of how the bureau used its enforcement, supervision, guidance, and rulemaking to uphold fair lending laws in 2023.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council published data on 2023 mortgage lending transactions reported by 5,113 financial institutions, as required under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies.

Multiple rules finalized by federal regulators have been subject to criticism from financial trade advocates and, in some cases, efforts to nullify their impact via the Congressional Review Act. Financial trade advocates have voiced opposition to several of these rules. Find out about some of the latest developments with measures seeking to overturn final rules and where certain trade organizations stand with respect to these issues.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce voted 23-18 to advance a resolution to overturn a Department of Labor final rule to extend fiduciary status to nearly all financial professionals. Individuals designated as investment advice fiduciaries are required to always act in their clients’ best interests when managing their money.

Fifth Third Bank is the subject of a proposed court order filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would require the bank to pay $20 million in penalties, as well as redress to approximately 35,000 consumers harmed as a result of its aggressive sales strategy.

Six federal agencies approved a new rule to regulate advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence tools used by an increasing number of appraisers when estimating home values. The rule aims to promote accuracy and prevent unintended bias in automated valuation models.

The influx of credit unions acquiring banks through established mergers and acquisitions (M&A) procedures has raised alarm bells among banking advocates and caught the attention of federal regulators concerning consolidation in the banking sector. Not all regulators agree with the approach outlined in the proposal. Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman addressed the potential implications of a more restrictive M&A framework.

The official who founded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity recently left the bureau to return to Fannie Mae, where she spent nearly 12 years as associate general counsel for the enterprise.

Community development initiatives are a major focus of federal regulators charged with ensuring financial institutions create a positive impact for the communities they serve. This regulatory roundup offers a brief overview of newly available information about Community Reinvestment Act examinations and the recent deadline extension for credit unions to apply for grant funding to invest in their communities.

Financial industry advocates expressed contentment at the fact the Senate Armed Services Committee’s FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) does not contain any language related to banks or credit unions. America’s Credit Unions and the Defense Credit Union Council wrote to the committee in June, urging it to keep the NDAA “clean” of any provisions impacting financial services or fess involved in serving military members.

Silvergate Capital Corp. and former executives are faced with fines and charges over anti-money laundering law violations connected, in part, to misconduct by now-defunct crypto exchange FTX. Charges were filed by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the State of California.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s latest Supervisory Highlights focused largely on key findings regarding debt collectors and student loan servicing companies. The report also touched on compliance with Sec. 1034(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which covers consumer information requests for mortgage, deposit and credit card products.

Updated loan-level data made public by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency offered insight about mortgage performance and credit information gathered from a sample of borrowers from across the country, as well as factors borrowers consider when choosing a mortgage provider.

Thirteen trade associations requested the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau grant a 30-day extension to the comment period for the bureau’s proposed rule prohibiting medical information from being included in consumer credit reports.

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prepares a proposed rule expanding the scope of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, multiple trade organizations are urging the agency to exempt processes used for fraud detection and identity verification.

Echoing views expressed by community banking advocates, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) stressed the need for movement from Congress toward passing the next iteration of the “Farm Bill.”

As the financial industry ponders how the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision striking down the 1984 ruling in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council could impact the regulatory landscape, legal experts point to evidence that the writing was on the wall. Dodd Frank Update spoke with Husch Blackwell Partner Mike G. Silver and gathered feedback from trade advocates about what the industry should expect.

Federal banking regulators identified weaknesses in “living wills” designed by four of the country’s largest federally-insured financial institutions in a report describing the results of a joint annual review of resolution plans submitted by the nation’s largest and most complex financial institutions in 2023. The agencies disagreed about the severity of a weakness identified in plans submitted by Citibank.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interim final rule extending the compliance deadlines for the small-business lending rule, which was finalized in March 2023. The extension was mandated by a Texas federal court to account for the period the rule was stayed pending a potentially impactful Supreme Court decision.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is paying closer attention than ever to how consumer data is being used and stored by mortgage lenders and other types of financial institutions. In our webinar, “Getting Frank about Data Privacy,” two industry insiders break down the bureau’s rule implementing Sec. 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act and what is necessary to ensure companies are taking proper steps to protect consumers’ private data.

Impersonation fraud is a growing problem gaining more attention from federal regulators. In this regulatory roundup, learn about one agency’s first case involving charges under a new rule targeting these types of schemes, as well as about newly formed offices meant to address complaints of workplace misconduct at one agency.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee canceled a scheduled markup of the American Privacy Rights Act amid industry advocacy calling for Title I of the bill to be amended to exempt all financial institutions subject to federal privacy mandates.

The Federal Trade Commission’s annual report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offered insight into its 2023 enforcement actions on consumer protection matters and efforts to educate consumers and businesses on statutes created to protect them against bad actors. Several portions of the report describe issues involving the Truth in Lending Act, the Consumer Leasing Act, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

Tawn Kelley, executive vice president of Taylor Morrison and president of the company’s financial services arm, delivered the 2024 National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) keynote address. She focused on the importance of adaptability, resilience and the power of personal and professional growth in the face of industry challenges.

The National Credit Union Administration released its annual Cybersecurity and Credit Union System Resilience Report, summarizing the current cybersecurity threat landscape within the credit union market segment.

As federal regulators look for ways to address cybersecurity and data privacy concerns, the financial industry continues to be vocal about what it believes is necessary to achieve the proper level of security across the industry.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, speaking at the Family Housing Expansion Project in Minnesota, outlined several new initiatives designed to increase the supply of affordable housing, noting how they align with the Biden administration’s broader efforts to lower living costs.