Regulation CC Mobile Deposit Endorsement

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update, Regulation CC

As more and more community banks and credit unions are offering mobile deposits (also known as consumer remote deposit capture), it is important for these financial institutions to understand the rules that govern mobile deposits and how this affect their liability under applicable regulations.  One of the main elements to understand is how a mobile deposit endorsement will affect the liability of the financial institution in regards to checks that are deposited twice; once through mobile deposit and then a second time (usually at another financial institution) with the paper check.

What is an Acceptable HMDA Error Rate?

Adam Witmer
HMDA

Have you ever wondered what is an acceptable HMDA error rate for your financial institution’s HMDA LAR?  You know, how many errors can you have before the regulators would make you scrub your data and resubmit your entire LAR?  Well, understanding the HMDA resubmission standards is fairly easy now, though that hasn’t always been the case. This in-depth article takes a deep dive into examiner error rate thresholds, which is especially important right now as financial institutions need to ensure that they are effectively complying with the HMDA changes that went into effect during the beginning of 2018.

Reminder to Watch for New SAR Form

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

As we explained several months back, FinCEN announced in January that they would be revising the SAR form in June of 2018.  As of today, that revision has not yet been released, so Financial Institutions are reminded that they should expect a new SAR form to be released within the next few days. The planned revision is the first change to v1.1 of the original electronic-only SAR form that was implemented a few years back.  Based on the proposed revisions, it appears that all…

OCC Issues Guidance on CRA Performance Evaluation Process

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update, CRA

On June 15, 2018, the OCC issued a bulletin (2018-17) on supervisory policy and processes for Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations.  This bulletin was issued to inform national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies (collectively, banks) regulated by the OCC about clarification to the OCC’s supervisory policies and processes regarding how examiners will now evaluate and communicate bank performance under the CRA.  This new guidance is effective immediately, though financial institutions that are currently in the middle of a CRA examination may see the use of transitional procedures.

Excessive Obligations vs Insufficient Income

Adam Witmer
Adverse Action, Compliance Management, Regulation B

Over the years, I have seen many financial institutions struggle with the adverse action notice requirements under Regulation B, especially in regards to what denial reasons should be listed on the adverse action notice.  This is particularly true when an applicant is denied for a reason relating to income and the applicant’s debt-to-income (DTI) ratio as most adverse action notice vendors provide two similar, but different, options relating to income: excessive obligations in relation to income and insufficient income for the amount of credit requested.  

FinCEN Advisory on Corrupt PEPs

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

This week, on June 12, 2018, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory on human rights abuses enabled by corrupt senior foreign political figures - also known as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) - and their financial facilitators.  In their 15-page advisory, FIN-2018-A003, FinCEN explains that high-level political corruption “undermines democratic institutions and public trust, damages economic growth, and fosters a climate where financial crime and other forms of lawlessness can thrive.” FinCEN also explains that corrupt senior foreign political figures can also contribute directly and indirectly to human rights abuses.  Therefore, FinCEN has issued this guidance to, among other things, help financial institutions identify “red flags” for suspicious activity in relationship to senior foreign political figures.  The advisory also provides guidance for filing SARs on PEPs. (Read more.)

BSA Statement of Loan Purpose

BSA Statement of Loan Purpose

Adam Witmer
BSA

In this video, Adam discusses the BSA record retention requirements for obtaining a clear statement of purpose on certain loans. Adam explains the requirement in detail including which loans the rule applies to, common errors, and best practices to ensure compliance.

FDIC & OCC Release List of CRA Performance Evaluations for May 2018

Adam Witmer
CRA

As is the case each month, the OCC and FDIC released a list of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations from May of 2018.  These evaluations are a fantastic tool for compliance professionals to understand the CRA requirements, what examiners expect, and best practices for improving CRA ratings.  Specifically, a great deal of information can be learned by reviewing both the Outstanding and Substantial Noncompliance performance evaluations. Therefore, we are again providing an overview of noteworthy trends from these recent performance evaluations. The following is a summary of highlights from these performance revi…

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