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

The Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have issued a joint statement on crypto-asset risks to banking organizations.  The term “crypto-asset” refers to any digital asset implemented using cryptographic techniques.

The statement begins with the agencies’ observations that “[t]he events of the past year have been marked by significant volatility and the exposure of vulnerabilities in the crypto-asset sector” and that “[t]hese events highlight a number of key risks associated with crypto-assets and crypto-asset sector participants that banking organizations should be aware of.”… Continue Reading

On December 13, 2022, the FDIC issued a request for comment on a proposal to modernize the regulations governing use of the FDIC’s official signage and advertising of FDIC-insured status by insured depository institutions (IDIs), and to clarify regulations issued earlier in 2022 regarding misrepresentations of deposit insurance coverage.  The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2022 and comments are due no later than February 21, 2023.… Continue Reading