Federal Agencies

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In its decision last week in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that severely limits the federal government’s jurisdiction over wetlands and tributaries.  Specifically, the Court rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulatory definition of what constitutes “Waters of the United States” subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). … Continue Reading

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which the petitioners are challenging the continued viability of the Chevron framework that courts typically invoke when reviewing a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute.  While Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo involves a regulation of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Supreme Court’s decision could have significant potential implications for when courts should give deference to regulations issued by all federal agencies, including the CFPB, FTC, and federal banking agencies.… 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

The Federal Reserve System, through its Consumer Compliance Outlook platform, recently hosted its annual Fair Lending Interagency Webinar.  During the session, a variety of fair lending topics were discussed, including redlining, appraisal bias, and Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs), as well as supervision and enforcement-related updates. Presenters included representatives from the following federal agencies: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Department of Justice (DOJ); Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); Federal Reserve Board (FRB); National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).… Continue Reading

On July 18, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) announced the launch of a new Office of Financial Technology with the goal of advancing effective risk management as it evaluates fintech developments in the housing finance space.  The FHFA also issued a request for information (“RFI”) seeking public input on how to facilitate responsible innovation, identify barriers or challenges to implementing fintech into housing finance, support equity for homeowners and renters, and increase efficiency and effectiveness in the compliance and regulatory processes. … Continue Reading

On July 8, with limited fanfare, the Department of Treasury issued a request for public comment regarding the March 9, 2022 Executive Order entitled “Ensuring Responsible Innovation in Digital Assets” (the “Order”).  The request for comment poses five core questions, each with multiple subparts, on a spectrum of topics of great complexity. … Continue Reading

Yesterday, eight federal agencies joined together to issue an “Interagency Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B” (Interagency Statement).  The agencies consist of the CFPB, FDIC, OCC, Federal Reserve Board, NCUA, HUD, DOJ, and FHFA.  The Interagency Statement indicates that it is intended “to remind creditors of the ability under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B to establish special purpose credit programs to meet the credit needs of specified classes of persons” and to “call[] attention to the special purpose credit options under ECOA and Regulation B.”… Continue Reading

In this podcast, we discuss: the compliance challenges that could give rise to enforcement actions against PPP lenders and current and potential future investigatory activity; fair lending guidance for PPP lenders, key fair lending risks, and steps to mitigate fair lending risk; the status of examinations and reviews related to PPP loans; sources of compliance risk for PPP lenders; and suggested best practices for risk mitigation.… Continue Reading

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has issued new guidance on authentication and access titled, “Authentication and Access to Financial Institution Services and Systems” (Guidance.)  The Guidance is intended to provide financial institutions with examples of effective risk management principles and practices for access and authentication.

The Guidance contains risk management principles and practices that can support a financial institution’s authentication of (1) users accessing the financial institution’s information systems, including employees, board members, third parties, service accounts, application, and devices (collectively, users) and (2) business and consumer customers (collectively, customers) authorized to access digital banking services.  … Continue Reading

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced this week that Fannie Mae will consider a loan applicant’s rental payment history in making underwriting decisions.  According to the FHFA, the change was made as a means of expanding credit access.

The FHFA’s announcement is yet another example of the growing use of alternative data by creditors in making credit decisions. … Continue Reading