As we previously reported, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) rescinded its 2020 Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) final rule (the “2020 CRA Final Rule” or the “Rescinded Rule”) in December 2021 and has since been operating under a CRA framework largely based on the OCC’s 1995 CRA rule (the “1995 Rule”), which was adopted jointly with the Federal Reserve and the FDIC. … Continue Reading

After moving alone in 2020 to reform its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has joined the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Federal Reserve Board in issuing a joint notice of proposed rulemaking setting forth proposed amendments to their regulations implementing the CRA. … Continue Reading

The CFPB, FTC, DOJ, and Federal Reserve Board have filed a joint amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit urging the court to reverse a district court ruling that an individual who had already received credit from the defendant and who was not currently applying to the defendant for credit was not an “applicant” for purposes of the ECOA’s adverse action notice requirement.… Continue Reading

As anticipated, the OCC, Federal Reserve Board, and FDIC recently approved and released the Final Rule Requiring Computer-Security Incident Notification (“Final Rule”).  The Final Rule is designed to promote early awareness and stop computer security incidents before they become systemic.  It places new reporting requirements on both U.S. banking organizations, as well as bank service providers.    

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The Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, and OCC (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued on November 23 a short Joint Statement on Crypto-Asset Policy Sprint Initiative and Next Steps (“Joint Statement”), which announced – without further concrete detail – that they had assembled a “crypto asset roadmap” in order to provide greater clarity in 2022 to banks on the permissibility of certain crypto-asset activities. … Continue Reading

In the latest demonstration that there’s a “new CFPB” as well as other new regulatory sheriffs in town, the CFPB, the federal banking agencies (OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, and NCUA), and state financial regulators issued a joint statement yesterday to announce that they will no longer provide “supervisory and enforcement flexibility” to mortgage servicers in meeting compliance requirements. … Continue Reading

The CFPB, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC NCUA, OCC, in conjunction with the state bank and state credit union regulators, jointly issued a statement on managing the transition away from LIBOR (Joint Statement).

In 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator that oversees the panel of banks on whose submissions LIBOR is based, announced that it would discontinue LIBOR sometime after 2021.… Continue Reading

Last week, the Federal Reserve Board published a paper on partnerships between community banks and fintech companies, “Community Bank Access to Innovation through Partnerships.”  The Fed’s publication of the paper is another indication of the increased attention that regulators are paying to bank relationships with fintechs.  It follows the publication at the end of last month of a guide by the Fed, OCC, and FDIC that is intended to assist community banks in conducting due diligence when considering relationships with fintechs.… Continue Reading

The OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve Board have issued a guide that is intended to assist community banks in conducting due diligence when considering relationships with financial technology (fintech) companies (Guide).

The issuance of the Guide follows the agencies’ July 2021 release of proposed interagency guidance for banking organizations on managing risks associated with third-party relationships, including relationships with financial technology-focused entities such as bank/fintech sponsorship arrangements. … Continue Reading

Last week, the OCC, Federal Reserve Board, and FDIC issued proposed guidance for banking organizations on managing risks associated with third-party relationships, including those with financial technology-focused entities such as bank/fintech sponsorship arrangements.  The agencies have made clear that if banks have ineffective risk management processes, agency examiners will closely scrutinize their third-party risk management and identify and report deficiencies in examination reports and recommend appropriate supervisory actions.… Continue Reading