Top Story Compliance Related

On Friday, the Treasury Department reported actions to fulfill the G7 commitment to reduce Russian revenues from energy, including blocking two major Russian oil producers. These actions also impose sanctions on an unprecedented number of oil-carrying vessels, many of which are part of the “shadow fleet,” opaque traders of Russian oil, Russia-based oilfield service providers, and Russian energy officials. The actions are underpinned by the issuance of a new determination that authorizes sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 14024 against persons operating or having operated in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The Department of State also took steps to reduce Russia’s energy revenues by blocking two active liquefied natural gas projects, a large Russian oil project, and third-country entities supporting Russia’s energy exports. State also designated numerous Russia-based oilfield service providers and senior officials of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.

Treasury also reported that OFAC has sanctioned eight Venezuelan officials who lead key economic and security agencies enabling Nicolas Maduro’s repression and subversion of democracy in Venezuela. In addition, OFAC sanctioned high-level Venezuelan officials in the military and police who lead entities with roles in carrying out Maduro’s repression and human rights abuses against democratic actors.

For the names and identification information of the designated individuals, entities, and vessels, see this BankersOnline OFAC Update.

The CFPB has announced its recognition of Financial Data Exchange, Inc. (FDX) as a standard-setting body under the CFPB’s Personal Financial Data Rights rule. The order of recognition is the first to be issued under the rule. The Personal Financial Data Rights rule, which was released in October 2024, requires financial institutions, credit card issuers, and other financial providers to unlock an individual’s personal financial data and transfer it to another provider at the consumer’s request for free. The CFPB established a formal application process outlining the qualifications to become a recognized industry standard setting body, which can issue standards that companies can use to help them comply with the CFPB’s rule.

The CFPB's order of recognition, valid for five years, includes conditions, such as:

• A ban on "pay-to-play" and other conflicts of interest
• Mandatory reporting on market adoption
• Transparency and availability of standards

The CFPB also issued updated procedures for how companies can request special regulatory treatment, such as a no-action letter. The procedures seek to increase transparency and reduce favoritism for individual companies.

• Updated Policy Statement on No-Action Letters
• Updated Policy Statement on Compliance Assistance Sandbox Approvals

The Federal Reserve Board's archive of Community Reinvestment Act evaluations includes 10 evaluations released by the Reserve Banks in December 2024. All 10 of those evaluations received ratings of Satisfactory.

The CFPB yesterday announced it has sued Experian Information Solutions, Inc., the nationwide consumer reporting agency, for unlawfully failing to properly investigate consumer disputes. The CFPB alleges that Experian does not take sufficient steps to intake, process, investigate, and notify consumers about consumer disputes, resulting in the inclusion of incorrect information on credit reports.

Specifically, the CFPB alleges that Experian is harming consumers by:

• Conducting sham investigations that fail to properly address consumer disputes
• Improperly reinserting inaccurate information on consumer report

The CFPB also alleges that Experian’s faulty dispute intake procedures and failure to provide furnishers with consumer-submitted documentation, uncritical deference to furnishers’ responses to disputed information, and failure to prevent improper tradeline reinsertions also violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair acts or practices.

• CFPB's complaint

The Treasury Department yesterday issued two announcements of actions taken by its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC):

• The sanctioning of Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa (Hemedti), the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and seven companies and one individual linked to the RSF.
• The sanctioning of Antal Rogan, a senior Hungarian government official, for his involvement in corruption in Hungary. He was designated under the authority of Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

For more information on the designated individuals and entities, see yesterday's BankersOnline OFAC Update.

The CFPB yesterday sent an email reminder that the filing period fro HMDA data collected in 2024 opened on January 1, 2025, and submissions will be considered timely if received on or before Monday, March 3, 2025.

As of January 1, 2025, users logging into the HMDA Platform will need to login via Login.gov, which utilizes multifactor authentication (MFA). Users will no longer have the option to sign in using the existing process. To facilitate this change, a Quick Reference Guide and Frequently Asked Questions have been created to help users establish a Login.gov account. Users may only use business email addresses; accounts associated with a personal email domain will not be accepted.

The CFPB has published a final rule making inflation adjustments to civil money penalty limits within its jurisdiction at 90 CFR 1355 in this morning's Federal Register. The rule, which will become effective January 15, 2025, amends the CFPB's regulation at 12 C.F.R. part 1083.

The multiplier for the 2025 annual adjustment is 1.02598, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget. For example, the maximum Consumer Financial Protection Act Tier 3 penalty for knowingly violating a federal consumer financial law will increase to $1,443,275 for each day the violation continues.

This morning, the CFPB announced it has finalized a rule amending Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), that will remove an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of about 15 million Americans. The CFPB’s action will ban the inclusion of medical bills on credit reports used by lenders and prohibit lenders from using medical information in their lending decisions.

The CFPB said the rule will increase privacy protections and prevent debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce people to pay bills they don’t owe. The CFPB has found that medical debts provide little predictive value to lenders about borrowers’ ability to repay other debts, and consumers frequently report receiving inaccurate bills or being asked to pay bills that should have been covered by insurance or financial assistance programs.

The CFPB’s final rule brings regulations in line with Congress’s decision to safeguard consumers’ privacy by restricting lenders from obtaining or using medical information, including information about medical debts. Federal financial regulators later created an exception to this restriction, allowing creditors to consider medical debts. This carveout has enabled debt collectors to use the credit reporting system to coerce payments from patients for inaccurate or false medical bills.

The amendments to Regulation V will become effective 60 days after the final rule is published in the Federal Register.

• Unofficial redline of the Regulation V amendments
• Executive Summary of the rule

Yesterday, OFAC issued Syria General License 24 to expand authorizations for activities and transactions in Syria following the end of Bashar al-Assad's oppressive regime on December 8, 2024. This action underscores the United States’ commitment to ensuring that U.S. sanctions do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance. This authorization is for six months, as the U.S. government continues to monitor the evolving situation on the ground.

For a link to the new General License and related new and revised FAQs, see yesterday's BankersOnline OFAC Update.

• U.S. Treasury Department press release

The CFPB this morning announced it has sued Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance for setting families up to fail when they borrowed money to buy a manufactured home. The CFPB alleges that Vanderbilt’s business model ignored clear and obvious red flags that the borrowers could not afford the loans. As a result, many families found themselves struggling to make payments and meet basic life necessities. Vanderbilt charged many borrowers additional fees and penalties when their loans became delinquent, and some eventually lost their homes. The CFPB is seeking to stop Vanderbilt’s illegal practices and obtain relief for the harmed homeowners.

Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc. is a nonbank financing company based in Maryville, Tennessee that originates loans for manufactured homes across the country. Vanderbilt is a unit of Clayton Homes, Inc., which is the largest manufactured home builder in the U.S. and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., the multinational conglomerate based in Omaha, Nebraska.

The CFPB alleges that Vanderbilt failed to make reasonable, good-faith determinations of borrowers’ ability to repay loans, as legally required. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges Vanderbilt:

• Manipulated lending standards when borrowers did not make sufficient income
• Fabricated unrealistic estimates of living expenses
• Made loans to borrowers it projected could not pay

The CFPB alleges that Vanderbilt violated the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.

• Complaint against Vanderbilt