All in Regulatory Update

On 7/28/2021, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that tenants of multifamily properties with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac who are subject to eviction for nonpayment of rent must be given 30 days’ notice to vacate before the tenant can be required to leave the unit. This requirement applies to all Fannie/Freddie-backed multifamily properties, regardless of whether the loan is in forbearance.

On 7/21/21, the CFPB announced that they were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In their release, the CFPB explained that they were proud to celebrate 10 years of protecting consumers, and that they look forward to the next decade of consumer protection.

On 7/20/2021, the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve jointly issued a statement to explain that all three agencies “are committed to working together to jointly strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The agencies have broad authority and responsibility for implementing the CRA. Joint agency action will best achieve a consistent, modernized framework across all banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including low– and moderate-income neighborhoods.”

On 7/20/2021, the OCC announced it plans to propose rescinding the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule issued in May 2020. This rule, which applied only to OCC-regulated institutions, was not released in coordination with the other Federal Regulators and, essentially, would have created different CRA rules for financial institutions, based on each bank’s primary regulator.

On 7/15/2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced it will hold an event in August 2021 with representatives from financial institutions, other key industry stakeholders, and federal government agencies to discuss ongoing concerns regarding ransomware, as well as efforts by the public and private sectors. In their release, FinCEN explained that this event will build upon their November 2020 event on ransomware. FinCEN anticipates that this event, being referenced as a “FinCEN Exchange”, will assist its government and private sector partners to inform next steps to address ransomware and focus resources to mitigate the threat. This announcement is part of a whole-of-government effort to combat ransomware.

On 7/13/21, the joint agencies (Federal Reserve, FDIC, & OCC) announced a request for public comment on proposed guidance designed to help banking organizations manage risks associated with third-party relationships, including relationships with financial technology-focused entities. Comments must be received within 60 days of the proposed guidance's publication in the Federal Register.

On 7/1/2021, the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a policy statement on Fair Lending to communicate the agency's general position on monitoring and information gathering, supervisory examinations, and administrative enforcement related to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act. The FHFA is also soliciting comments on its application.

On July 1, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a news release to announce updates to the FATF list of jurisdictions with strategic anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing deficiencies. As updates to the FATF list were previously issued as advisories, FinCEN explained that this news release should be treated the same way as prior advisories - implying that future updates to the FATF list will continue to come as news releases rather than advisories.