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All in Regulatory Update
On 11/13/2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac extended several loan origination flexibilities until December 31, 2020. Most recently set to expire on 11/30/2020, the extended flexibilities include:
Alternative appraisals on purchase and rate term refinance loans;
Alternative methods for documenting income and verifying employment before loan closing; and
Expanding the use of power of attorney to assist with loan closings.
On 11/12/2020, the NCUA issued a final rule to amend the NCUA’s corporate credit union regulation. As explained in the Federal Register, the final rule updates, clarifies, and simplifies several provisions of the NCUA's corporate credit union regulation, including: Permitting a corporate credit union to make a minimal investment in a credit union service organization (CUSO) without the CUSO being classified as a corporate CUSO under the NCUA's rules; expanding the categories of senior staff positions at member credit unions eligible to serve on a corporate credit union's board; and amending the minimum experience and independence requirement for a corporate credit union's enterprise risk management expert.
On 11/9/2020, the OCC published their fall 2020 edition of the publication, Semiannual Risk Perspective. In their release, the OCC explains that Banks remain in strong financial condition but profitability is stressed due to low interest rates and increasing levels of provisions for problem loans. As would be expected, the OCC identified credit, strategic, operational, and compliance risks as key themes for financial institutions.
On 11/12/2020, the CFPB issued a notice in the Federal Register seeking comment on a Generic Information Collection titled, “Payday Loan Disclosure Testing” under the Generic Information Collection Plan entitled, “Generic Information Collection Plan for the Development and Testing of Disclosures and Related Materials” prior to requesting the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) approval of this collection.
On 11/6/2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-identified jurisdictions with anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism, and the proliferation deficiencies. In short, FATF recently (10/23/2020) updated its list of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. These changes may affect US financial institutions’ obligations and risk-based approaches with respect to relevant jurisdictions. FinCEN requests that financial institutions filing a SAR for related activity reference their advisory in SAR field 2 (Filing Instruction Note to FinCEN) and the narrative by including the key term “October 2020 FATF FIN-2020-A009.”
On 11/6/2020, the joint regulators (Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC) issued a statement reiterating that the agencies do not endorse a specific replacement rate for the London InterBank Offered Rate (Libor), which is expected to cease after 2021. The statement explains that banks may use any reference rate for loans that the banks determine to be appropriate for their funding models and customer needs. In addition, the statement encourages banks to include appropriate language in lending contracts that provides for using a robust fallback rate if the initial reference rate is discontinued.
On 11/5/2020, the OCC announced updates to its Director’s Toolkit, which is intended to assist directors of national banks and federal savings associations fulfill their corporate governance responsibilities. Th guide covers topics like strategic issues, risk management, and compliance responsibilities and updates include a revised Director's Book: Role of Directors for National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as well as a new publication, the Director’s Reference Guide to Board Reports and Information.
On 11/4/2020, FinCEN Director Kenneth Blanco issued a renewal of a Geographic Targeting Order that requires title insurance companies to collect and report information about the persons involved in certain residential real estate transactions. This order covers certain transactions in which residential real property is purchased by a legal entity in the amount of $300,000 or more without the use of a loan in certain metropolitan areas. In conjunction with the geographic targeting orders, FinCEn has also released a set of FAQs to help clarify the requirements.
On 11/4/2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), along with the state tax agencies and the tax industry, issued a warning of a new text scam that tricks people into disclosing bank account information under the guise of receiving the $1,200 Economic Impact Payment.
On 10/30/2020, the CFPB issued a 653 page final rule relating to debt collection practices. According to the CFPB’s release, the rule focuses on debt collection communications and gives consumers more control over how often and through what means debt collectors can communicate with them regarding their debts. The rule also clarifies how the protections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which was passed in 1977, apply to newer communication technologies, such as email and text messages.
