Banking and Consumer Regulatory Digest

Editor's Note

The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency, specifically focusing on: (1) the source of the development (regulator, legislative body, etc.), (2) the subject matter (consumer lending, money transmission, capital markets, etc.), and (3) the general issue covered.

Regulatory Developments

• Federal Reserve Board. Fintech & Cryptocurrency. FRB announced additional information on its program to supervise novel activities in the banks it oversees. These activities are detailed in the following supervision and regulation letters: 1) Creation of Novel Activities Supervision Program and 2) Supervisory Nonobjection Process for State Member Banks Seeking to Engage in Certain Activities Involving Dollar Tokens.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Troubled Bank Matters. FDIC Chair provided public remarks on lessons learned from regional bank failures earlier this year, including: 1) lessons learned and next steps, 2) capital treatment of unrealized losses, 3) long-term debt requirement, 4) resolution plans for insured depository institutions, and 5) supervision and deposit insurance pricing to address the liquidity risks of uninsured deposits.
• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Regulatory Examinations. OCC published an update to its Bank Accounting Advisory Series, which contains staff responses to FAQs from the banking industry and bank examiners on a variety of accounting topics and promotes consistent application of accounting standards and regulatory reporting among banks.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Commercial Lenders. CFPB released updates to the Filing Instructions Guide for Small Business Lending Data.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Data Brokers & Artificial Intelligence (AI). CFPB Director delivered remarks at a White House roundtable event on protecting Americans from alleged harmful data broker practices.
• National Credit Union Administration. Credit Unions, Cybersecurity & AI. NCUA Chair spoke before an audience at the Defense Credit Union Council conference discussing the current state of the credit union system, the importance of cybersecurity, the agency's proposed rule on charitable donation accounts, the agency's legislative priorities, and the promise and perils of AI.
• Treasury Department. Corporate Transparency Act & Illicit Finance. Treasury Under Secretary Nelson provided remarks on illicit finance, beneficial ownership implementation, and actions by the agency to combat fentanyl.

Enforcement and Litigation

• Department of Justice & Federal Trade Commission. UDAAP & CAN-SPAM. DOJ, on behalf of the FTC, filed and settled a complaint with a consumer credit reporting agency to resolve allegations that the company spammed consumers with marketing offers after they signed up for an account with the company to manage their credit report information.
• Federal Reserve Board & Washington Department of Financial Institutions. Bank Activities & Digital Assets. FRB and WA DFI issued orders against a state bank and its holding company for allegedly improperly changing its business plan (engaging in digital banking and digital asset activities) without notifying the bank's supervisors and obtaining prior approval for those changes.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). CFPB took action against two mortgage companies (entity #1 consent order, stipulation) and (entity #2 consent order, stipulation) to resolve allegations that the companies violated the RESPA and Reg X by accepting things of value in exchange for referral of mortgage loans to each respective company.

Michael Buckalew is a regulatory analyst with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.