At its open Board meeting scheduled for October 24, 2023, the Federal Reserve Board is expected to approve its final rule amending its current regulation implementing the Community Reinvestment Act.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is expected to approve its final CRA rule at the meeting of its Board of Directors also scheduled for October 24.… Continue Reading

The FDIC has filed motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed in July 2023 in a Minnesota federal district against the FDIC and its Chairman seeking to invalidate the FDIC’s supervisory guidance on charging multiple non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees for the same unpaid item. See our prior blog here.

Last August, the FDIC-issued Financial Institutions Letter 40-2022: Supervisory Guidance on Multiple Re-Presentment NSF Fees (“FIL 40”).… Continue Reading

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has announced that it is launching a new Banker Engagement Site (BES) this month through FDICconnect to serve as the primary tool for exchanging examination planning and other information for consumer compliance and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) activities.  (The FDIC examines state-chartered banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System.)  … Continue Reading

A complaint filed on July 20, 2023 in Minnesota federal court seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) against defendants Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg for the FDIC’s issuance of supervisory guidance to banks under its supervision (i.e., state-chartered banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System) prohibiting them from charging multiple non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees for the same item.… Continue Reading

The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC have released final interagency guidance for their respective supervised banking organizations on managing risks associated with third-party relationships, including relationships with financial technology-focused entities such as bank/fintech sponsorship arrangements.  The guidance is intended to provide principles for effective third-party risk management for all  types of third-party relationships, regardless of how they may be structured.  … Continue Reading

Last week, the CFPB, together with the Federal Reserve Board (Board), FDIC, OCC, and NCUA, issued a “Joint Statement on Completing the LIBOR Transition.”  The agencies issued the statement to remind supervised institutions that LIBOR will be discontinued on June 30, 2023 and to reiterate their expectations that institutions with LIBOR exposure should complete their transition of remaining LIBOR contracts as soon as possible. … Continue Reading

The OCC has issued a new bulletin and the FDIC has issued new supervisory guidance directed to their supervised institutions to address “authorize positive, settle negative” (APSN) overdraft  fee practices.  The OCC bulletin also addresses non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee practices.  Based on the bulletin and guidance, it would appear that the OCC and FDIC share the CFPB’s apparent view that APSN fees are unfair regardless of how clearly and conspicuously they are disclosed to consumers. … Continue Reading

On April 11, 2023, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra spoke with the Washington Post regarding the banking industry after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Director Chopra, who is also a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, focused his messaging on the need to better educate consumers regarding when their deposits are and are not insured by the FDIC. … Continue Reading

On March 30, 2023, the White House endorsed several proposals to strengthen regulatory requirements for the banking industry in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures. This comes on the heels of President Biden’s March 13, 2023 remarks where he noted his intention to ask Congress and the banking regulators to “strengthen the rules for banks” to decrease the likelihood of similar failures in the future.… Continue Reading

In light of ongoing events concerning the recent bank failures and the response of regulators, we are releasing this week’s podcast episode earlier than our regular Thursday release date. 

After reviewing the circumstances leading to the failure of SVB and historic parallels, we discuss the merits of the regulators’ decision to invoke the Systemic Risk Exception and protect all SVB deposit accounts, notwithstanding the $250,000 FDIC insurance limitation, alternate approaches that regulators might have considered for protecting uninsured funds, and the Fed’s creation of the Bank Term Funding Program to make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions. … Continue Reading