On April 29, 2022, FinCEN announced the renewal and expansion of its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in all-cash purchases of residential real estate. The terms of the GTOs are effective beginning April 30, 2022, and ending on October 26, 2022.

On April 29, 2022, OFAC re-issued the amended the Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 589, renaming it to Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations. This administrative action replaces the regulations that were published in abbreviated form on May 8, 2014 with a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public.

On April 28, 2022, FinCEN released a statement by Acting Director Himamauli Das before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services where he provided an update on FinCEN’s implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act), including the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

On April 26, 2022, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in conjunction with the CFPB’s submission of the Semiannual Report to Congress. In his speech, Chopra enumerated the CFPB’s efforts to align with the objectives that Congress set out for the agency.

On April 25, 2022, the CFPB announced that it is invoking a largely unused legal provision to examine nonbank financial companies that pose risks to consumers. Through the use of this dormant authority, the CFPB believes that it will protect consumers and level the playing field between banks and nonbanks. In addition, the CFPB is seeking public comments on a procedural rule to make this process more transparent.

On April 21, 2022, the CFPB and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that they are filing a lawsuit against MoneyGram International, Inc. and MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. for systemically and repeatedly violating various consumer financial protection laws and leaving families high and dry. The lawsuit specifically alleges that the company stranded customers waiting for their money when it failed to deliver funds promptly to recipients abroad.

On April 1, 2022, HUD issued a proposed rule to increase the term for loan modification to 40 years. HUD's current regulations allow mortgagees to modify a FHA insured mortgage by recasting the total unpaid loan for a term limited to 360 months to cure a borrower's default. This proposed rule would amend HUD's current regulation to allow for mortgagees to recast the total unpaid loan for a new term limit of 480 months.

On April 19, 2022, the CFPB issued a report on the challenges faced by Americans in rural communities. The report reveals that many of these communities lack access to physical bank branches, are more likely to seek credit from nonbanks, and are heavily affected by medical bills.

On April 15, 2022, the CFPB published an article written by Director Rohit Chopra about protecting families and honest businesses from debt collection abuses. Through the article, CFPB announced that it has submitted its annual report to the Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).