All in Regulatory Update

FTC Enforces Deceptively Marketed CBD Products

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

On 12/17/20020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The FTC is taking action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. The FTC is requiring each of the companies, and individuals behind them, to stop making such unsupported health claims immediately, and several will pay monetary judgments to the agency. The orders settling the FTC’s complaints also bar the respondents from similar deceptive advertising in the future, and require that they have scientific evidence to support any health claims they make for CBD and other products.

CRA Small Bank Thresholds Announced by FDIC & Federal Reserve

Adam Witmer
CRA, Regulatory Update

On 12/17/2020, the FDIC and Federal Reserve Board jointly announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank and intermediate small bank under their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The definitions of small and intermediate small institutions regulated by the FDIC or Federal Reserve will change as follows:

  • “Small bank” means an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.322 billion.

  • “Intermediate small bank” means a small institution with assets of at least $330 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.322 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years.

FinCEN Provides Clarification on 314(a) Sharing

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

On 12/10/2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that Director Ken Blanco had provided guidance regarding 314(a) sharing. This guidance was provided through a speech presented by Director Blanco, a release by FinCEN and an updated Fact Sheet. In their release, FinCEN explains that they are providing three main clarifications as a result of industry feedback.

CFPB Finalizes to QM Rules

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update, Regulation Z

On 12/10/2020, the CFPB issued two new final rules that update the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rules. Specifically, some changes have been made to the QM definitions in order to transition away from the “Temporary GSE” QM definition which is set to expire in the coming months. As you would expect, this topic will be covered in our upcoming Winter 2021 Quarterly Compliance Update that will be available in our store in early 2021.

CFPB Fall Rulemaking Agenda

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

On 12/11/2020, the CFPB issued their Fall 2020 Agenda which lists the regulatory matters the CFPB expects to focus on between November 2020 and November 2021. This twice-a-year publication is part of a larger Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions which outlines past and upcoming regulatory changes. This information is helpful for bankers to understand what changes are expected to take place in the future, and this is why we include these updates in our Quarterly Compliance Updates (the next one will be our Winter 2021 Quarterly Compliance Update and will be released in early 2021).

FTC Sues Facebook

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

On 12/9/2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that Facebook is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. The complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly. For example, Facebook has been acquiring rivals such as Instagram and the mobile messaging app WhatsApp, as well as imposing anticompetitive conditions on software developers. The FTC states that…

FTC Issues Consumer Tips to Avoid COVID-19 Scams

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

On 12/8/2020, the Federal Trade Commission issued a “consumer education blog post” which provides tips for consumers on how to recognize and avoid vaccine-related scams. In their blog post, the FTC warns that, with COVID-19 vaccines in the pipeline, scammers will not be far behind. Therefore, consumers should look out for red flags of potential scams.

CFPB Issues final Advisory Opinion Policy

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update

On 11/30/2020, the CFPB issued its final Advisory Opinions Policy to set forth procedures to facilitate the submission of requests that the CFPB issue advisory opinions. Advisory opinions may be issued by the CFPB in the form of interpretive rules, which in some situations may provide a safe harbor to regulated entities that are in compliance with the Bureau’s interpretive rule, in order to resolve regulatory uncertainty for interested parties. The Bureau initiated its policy for issuing advisory opinions in response to feedback received from external stakeholders in the 2018 Guidance RFI, encouraging the Bureau to provide written guidance in cases of regulatory uncertainty. The Advisory Opinion Policy is applicable on November 30, 2020.

Regulators to Have Webinar on Artificial Intelligence

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

On 11/30/2020, the FDIC - along with the OCC, Federal Reserve, and CFPB - announced that they will be holding an Ask the Regulators webinar for their supervised institutions. This webinar event will be on the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning (ML), and will be held on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 1:00 PM EST. Participants must preregister for the event.

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