All in Regulatory Update

Former U.S. Bank Risk Officer Fined for BSA Failures

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

On March 4, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a $450,000 civil money penalty against the former Chief Operational Risk Officer, Michael LaFontaine, at U.S. Bank for his failure to prevent BSA/AML violations during his time of employment. In their release, FinCEN explains that U.S. Bank used automated transaction monitoring software to spot potentially suspicious activity but improperly capped the number of alerts generated. In addition, FinCEN states that while under the former risk officer’s leadership, the bank failed to staff the BSA compliance function with enough people to review even the reduced number of alerts.

FinCEN explains that…

FTC Releases Annual ECOA Report

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

On February 21, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provided their annual Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) report to the CFPB. The FTC is responsible for ECOA enforcement and education regarding most non-bank financial service providers and the report describes the Commission’s work on ECOA-related issues, including activities addressed in research and policy development. The summary also outlines the Commission’s business and consumer education efforts on fair lending issues.

Wells Fargo Sales Abuse Results in $3 Billion Fine

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

On February 21, 2020, the Department of Justice announced an agreement where Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. will pay $3 billion to resolve their potential criminal and civil liability stemming from a practice between 2002 and 2016 of pressuring employees to meet unrealistic sales goals that led thousands of employees to provide millions of accounts or products to customers under false pretenses or without consent, often by creating false records or misusing customers’ identities.

CFPB Releases Winter 2020 Edition of Supervisory Highlights

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

In February of 2020, the CFPB released the Winter 2020 edition of their Supervisory Highlights publication. The findings included in this edition cover examinations in the areas of debt collection, mortgage servicing, payday lending, and student loan servicing that were completed between April 2019 and August 2019.

The full Winter 2020 edition of the CFPB’s Supervisory Highlights can be found here.

CFPB Blog Warns Consumers of Social Security Scams

Adam Witmer
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.

FFIEC Updates HMDA Getting It Right Guide

Adam Witmer
HMDA, Regulatory Update

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.

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