Top Story Compliance Related

Our monthly review of the Federal Reserve Board's archive of Community Reinvestment Act evaluation reports determined that the Reserve Banks made public nine evaluations of state chartered member banks in February. Eight of those evaluations received ratings of Satisfactory.

We congratulate ANB Bank, Denver, Colorado, whose evaluation received a rating of Outstanding.

The Securities and Exchange Commission reports it is providing extensive guidance and resources to assist filers with upcoming access and account management enhancements to the security of the agency’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. On March 24, a new EDGAR Filer Management dashboard will go live on the SEC’s website, and filers can begin enrolling in “EDGAR Next” by submitting an amended Form ID, which is the application that individuals or companies complete to obtain EDGAR access credentials.

More information about enrollment is available on the EDGAR Next webpage.

The CFPB has published a Notice [90 FR 11495] in today's Federal Register extending the comment period on the Bureau's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on Identity Theft and Coerced Debt. The comment period was scheduled to end today. Today's notice extends the comment period to end April 7, 2025.

The U.S. Treasury Department has reported that OFAC has taken action against seven high-ranking members of Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis. These individuals have smuggled military-grade items and weapon systems into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and also negotiated Houthi weapons procurements from Russia. OFAC is also designating one Houthi-affiliated operative and his company that have recruited Yemeni civilians to fight on behalf of Russia in Ukraine and generated revenue to support the Houthis’ militant operations.

Treasury also reported that OFAC has designated Zhou Shuai, a Shanghai-based malicious cyber actor and data broker, and his company, Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company, Limited. In collaboration with another malicious cyber actor, U.S.-sanctioned Yin Kecheng, Zhou Shuai illegally acquired, brokered, and sold data from highly sensitive U.S. critical infrastructure networks.

For a link to identification information on the designated parties, see yesterday's BankersOnline OFAC Update.

On December 13, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published at 89 FR 101402 in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) requesting comment on the CFPB's "Protecting Americans from Harmful Data Broker Practices" proposal to amend Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The proposed rule would implement the FCRA's definitions of consumer report and consumer reporting agency as well as certain of the FCRA's provisions governing when consumer reporting agencies may furnish, and users may obtain, consumer reports. The NPRM provided a comment period that was set to close on March 3, 2025.

The CFPB has this morning published a Federal Register notice [90 FR 11236] extending the comment period to end on April 2, 2025.

The FDIC has released a March 2025 list of 56 financial institutions it recently examined for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). We congratulate four institutions whose evaluations were rated Outstanding:

• Bank of Bluffs, Bluffs, Illinois
• First Commerce Bank, Lakewood, New Jersey
• Pinnacle Bank, Fort Worth, Texas
• United Cumberland Bank, Whitley City, Kentucky

The remaining 52 institutions on the list received ratings of Satisfactory.

Yesterday, OFAC reported it has issued Venezuela General License 41A, "Authorizing the Wind Down of Certain Transactions Related to Chevron Corporation's Joint Ventures in Venezuela."

Additionally, OFAC has updated its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, designating an Iranian national under its Counter-narcotics sanctions program.

For a link to the Venezuela General License and to information on the Iranian national, see this BankersOnline OFAC update.

The Treasury Department has announced that, with respect to the Corporate Transparency Act, not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either. The Treasury Department will further be issuing a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only.

The FDIC has issued FIL-6-2025 to announce it is withdrawing three proposed rules relating to brokered deposits, corporate governance, and the Change in Bank Control Act (CBCA). The FDIC is also withdrawing the authority previously approved by the FDIC Board of Directors to publish a proposed rule on incentive-based compensation arrangements.

The FDIC is withdrawing these Notices of Proposed Rulemaking because it no longer intends to issue final rules with respect to these proposals. If the FDIC pursues regulatory action on these matters in the future, it will do so by publishing new proposed rules or other issuances consistent with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The FDIC has issued FIN-4-2025 to announce that is issuing a proposal to rescind the Statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions published in 2024 and reinstate its prior Statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions, which was in effect prior to the 2024 Statement.

The FDIC is taking this action due to concerns that implementation of the 2024 Statement has added considerable uncertainty to the merger application process. The proposed reinstatement of the earlier Statement would be an interim measure while the FDIC conducts a broader reevaluation of its bank merger review process.

• Draft Federal Register Notice
• Applications Procedures Manual, Section 4, Mergers
• Bank Application Resources - Mergers