Welcome to the Compliance Cohort. We are a group of compliance professionals working to make compliance easier. Our goal is to take complex compliance concepts and put them in simple terms that apply to the real world. We are glad you have found us and look forward to collaborating in the future.
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In this Compliance Clip (video), Adam discusses the requirements for having a signature line on the LE and CD. While many financial institutions may not have thought about whether this is required or not for some time, it might be a good idea to revisit the rules to ensure things are being done correctly.
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Reserve Board issued a consent order against Deutsche Bank AG, its New York branch, and other U.S. affiliates. The consent order requires Deutsche bank to pay a $186 million fine based on unsafe and unsound practices and violations of the Board's 2015 and 2017 consent orders with Deutsche Bank relating to sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering controls.
On July 13, 2023, the CFPB joined with several state attorneys general and a state regulator to take action against Prehired for deceptive marketing and debt collection practices. The attorneys general from Washington, Oregon, Delaware, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia joined the action, along with California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
On July 13, 2023, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen announced the appointment of Andrea Gacki as the Director of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Acting FinCEN Director Himamauli “Him” Das will continue in his role during the transition period and assist Gacki in her onboarding process.
On July 12, 2023, the CFPB joined the State of Maine to help ensure that consumers receive critical consumer protections when taking out loans by filing an amicus brief in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in a case involving a married couple’s loan. Maine law incorporates the federal Truth in Lending Act that provides crucial consumer protections, including requiring lenders to provide precise information about the amount of a loan, its interest rate and other costs, and when it must be repaid.
On July 11, 2023, the SEC announced charges against Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and its parent company BAC North America Holding Co. (BACNAH) for failing to file hundreds of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from 2009 to late 2019. To settle the SEC charges, Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $6 million penalty. Merrill Lynch also agreed to pay a $6 million fine to settle charges brought by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
On July 11, 2023, the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay more than $100 million to customers for systematically double-dipping on fees imposed on customers with insufficient funds in their account, withholding reward bonuses explicitly promised to credit card customers, and misappropriating sensitive personal information to open accounts without customer knowledge or authorization. Bank of America will pay a total of $90 million in penalties to the CFPB and $60 million in penalties to the OCC, which also found that the bank’s double-dipping on fees was illegal.
On June 29, 2023, the FTC issued an updated version of its Endorsement Guides, which provide agency guidance to businesses and others to ensure that advertising using reviews or endorsements is truthful. The revised Guides include additional changes not incorporated in the proposed revisions published for public comment on July 26, 2022.
On June 29, 2023, the CFPB released its Fair Lending Annual Report to Congress, describing its fair lending activities in enforcement and supervision; guidance and rulemaking; interagency coordination; and outreach and education for calendar year 2022. The Fair Lending Annual Report to Congress fulfills the Bureau’s statutory responsibility to report annually to Congress on public enforcement actions taken under the ECOA as well as the utility of the HMDA’s mortgage loan data collection requirements.
On June 29, 2022, the FFIEC announced the availability of data on 2022 mortgage lending transactions reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) by 4,460 U.S. financial institutions. Covered institutions include banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies.
