All in Regulatory Update

On February 18, 2020, the CFPB published a blog post titled “Five ways to recognize a Social Security scam.” The article begins by explaining that Social Security scams are the most commonly reported type of fraud and scam, and such scams are continuing to evolve. Therefore, it is important that consumer understand how to recognize a scam in order to protect themselves from illicit actors.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has issued the 2020 edition of A Guide to HMDA Reporting Getting It Right! for Home Mortgage Disclosure Act-related data collected in 2020 and reported in March of 2021. The 2020 edition reflects updates to incorporate content from the HMDA Rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in October 2019. This compliance resource can help financial institutions better understand HMDA requirements, including the data collection and reporting provisions.

On February 10, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a ruling relating to filing Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for sole proprietorships and legal entities operating under a “Doing Business As” (DBA) name. This short two-page ruling outlines how CTRs should be filed, starting on April 6, 2020 (and September 1, 2020 for batch filers). Unfortunately, this guidance is not clear and concise and actually seems to complicate things, so BSA Officers should take a close look at it. As you might expect, this topic will be included in our next Quarterly Compliance Update planned for April 2020.

On February 3, 2020, the CFPB released their semi-annual report for the Fall of 2019. This version of the regular report to Congress covers the period beginning on April 1, 2019 and ending on September 30, 2019. As is the case in each semi-annual report to Congress, the CFPB includes a number of topics ranging from challenges consumers face to a summary of new rules adopted by the Bureau.

On 2/3/2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced a renewed coordination agreement - through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) - in order to better serve student loan borrowers.  In doing this, the agencies will share complaint information from borrowers and regularly to discuss observations about the nature of complaints received, characteristics of borrowers, and available information about resolution of complaints. The MOU more clearly defines…

On January 23 of 2020, the CFPB released their latest version (v.4) of their HMDA Small Entity Compliance Guide. The updates in this version of the guide were made to align the guide with the October 10, 2019 final rule which implements the partial exemption for small filers.

On 1/30/2020, the CFPB filed suit against Citizens Bank, N.A. (Providence, Rhode Island) based on allegations that the bank violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and its implementing Regulation Z, including violations of amendments to TILA contained in the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

On January 23, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a notice of charges against five former senior executives of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and announced settlements with the bank’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other members of the bank’s operating committee - including the former chief auditor, a former risk officer, former general counsel, and a former executive audit director.

This notice of charges is of particular interest to compliance and audit professionals as risk managers, auditors, and general counsel don’t typically appear in these types of charges.

The notice of charges alleges these executives…