CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide when a right of action first accrues for an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenge to a final rule issued by a federal agency—when the final rule is issued or when the rule first causes injury.
In April 2021, the North Dakota Retail Association, North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association and Corner Post, Inc.… Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) released two supervision and regulation letters regarding the agency’s program to supervise “novel” banking activities.
The release of these letters follows a January policy statement indicating the FRB’s interest in leveling the playing field in terms of subjecting uninsured and insured banks to the same limitations on activities, including novel banking activities. … 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
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 final rule issued by the Federal Reserve Board to implement the LIBOR Act by establishing default rules for benchmark replacements in certain contracts that use LIBOR as a reference rate was published in today’s Federal Register and will become effective on February 27, 2023.
Yesterday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued instructions to servicers on replacement indices for their legacy single-family mortgage loans with 1-month, 6-month, and 1-year LIBOR indices. … 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
The Federal Reserve Board issued a final rule last week that establishes default rules for benchmark replacements in certain contracts that use the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as a reference rate. LIBOR will be discontinued in June 2023. The rule implements the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act, which was enacted in March 2022. … Continue Reading
The CFPB, Fed, and OCC have announced that they are increasing three exemption thresholds that are subject to annual inflation adjustments. Effective January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, these exemption thresholds are increased as follows:
On September 7, 2022, newly-appointed Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”), Michael S. Barr, gave a speech outlining his near-term goals and the “holistic approach” he intends to take to achieve them. Building on the efforts made over the previous 12 years since the Global Financial Crisis to strengthen the banking system and oversight, Barr emphasized his top goals include making the financial system safer and fairer. … Continue Reading
