On October 29, 2024, the US Treasury released the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion in the United States. The Strategy identifies objectives and recommendations for policymakers, industry, employers, and community organizations to advance consumer access to safe financial products and services and strengthen financial security. 

On October 28, 2024, the FHFA announced updates to several Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac policies that are intended to enhance efficiencies and promote cost savings in the single-family mortgage market. FHFA Director Sandra Thompson stated that the actions are intended to better ensure the Enterprises are reliable sources of liquidity for lenders of all sizes and types, which in turn will promote access to sustainable credit for consumers.

On October 10, 2024, NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper released a statement regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s settlement with Citadel Federal Credit Union to resolve lending discrimination allegations. Citadel is a $6 billion financial institution in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

On October 10, 2024, the CFPB banned private dispute resolution platform Ejudicate from arbitrating disputes about consumer financial products after the company misled student borrowers about its neutrality and initiated sham arbitration proceedings. The CFPB found that Ejucate was actually a debt collection for Prehired, a company permanently shut down in 2023 for illegal lending practices.

On October 22, 2024, the CFPB  finalized a rule that will give consumers greater rights, privacy, and security over their personal financial data. The rule requires financial institutions, credit card issuers, and other financial providers to unlock an individual’s personal financial data and transfer it to another provider at the consumer’s request for free. 

On October 18, 2024, FinCEN published a final rule in the Federal Register to clarify an exemption under the beneficial ownership information reporting rule that FinCEN published on September 30, 2022. The rule modifies the language exempting certain public utilities from the definition of “reporting company” in the beneficial ownership information reporting rule to more clearly implement the language of the exemption found in the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

On October 17, 2024, the FDIC announced that it is providing financial institutions additional time to get new processes and systems in place by extending the compliance date for the new FDIC signage and advertising rule from January 1, 2025, to May 1, 2025.  The extension applies only to a portion of the final rule designed to modernize the rules governing the use of the official FDIC signs and advertising statements, that is Part 328, subpart A.