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The CFPB on Tuesday announced its issuance of an interim final rule with a request for public comment to amend Regulation B to extend the compliance dates set forth in its 2023 small business lending rule and to make other date-related conforming adjustments.

The interim final rule will be effective 30 days after publication of the rule in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted within the same 30-day period.

The rule extends compliance dates by 290 days, which is the time that has elapsed between the Texas court’s first issuance of a stay last year and the Supreme Court’s decision in CFPB v. CFSA last month. Lenders with the highest volume of small business loans must begin collecting data by July 18, 2025; moderate volume lenders by January 16, 2026; and the smallest volume lenders by October 18, 2026. The deadline for reporting small business lending data to the CFPB remains June 1 following the calendar year for which data are collected. Under the interim final rule, lenders may continue using their small business originations from 2022 and 2023 to determine their initial compliance date, or instead use their originations from 2023 and 2024.

Lenders may choose to start collecting data earlier. The rule permits lenders to collect demographic data up to one year before their compliance date to test their procedures and systems. The CFPB has also updated its grace period to reflect the revised dates. The CFPB does not intend to assess penalties for reporting errors for the first 12 months of collection, and it intends to conduct examinations only to assist lenders in diagnosing compliance weaknesses, so long as lenders engage in good faith compliance efforts.

BankersOnline has updated section 1002.114 of its Regulation B pages to reflect the changes in the interim final rule.

Yesterday, the CFPB published a Bureau Blog article announcing the Bureau's approval of a new rule to address the current and future applications of complex algorithms and artificial intelligence used to estimate the value of a home. The new rule was approved last week by the OCC (and reportedly by the FDIC). The rule is to be jointly issued by the OCC, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, NCUA, CFPB, and FHFA once approved by each of those agencies.

The OCC has requested comment on a proposal to revise its recovery planning guidelines for certain large insured national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches (banks).

The proposed rulemaking is part of the OCC’s effort to ensure that large banks are adequately prepared and have developed a plan to respond to the financial effects of severe stress, particularly in light of the contagion effects and systemic risks they may pose.

The proposal would:

• Expand recovery planning guidelines to apply to banks with at least $100 billion in assets
• Incorporate a testing standard for recovery plans
• Clarify the role of non-financial risk (including operational and strategic risk) in recovery planning

Comments from the public will be accepted for 30 days following publication of the proposed in the Federal Register.

The FDIC has issued FIL-36-2024 with steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Florida — Leon County — affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes on May 10, 2024.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced its conditional approval for Freddie Mac to engage in a limited pilot to purchase certain single-family closed-end second mortgages. This conditional approval follows FHFA’s first publication of a proposed new product by either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae (the Enterprises) for public comment under the new process mandated by the Prior Approval for Enterprise Products regulation, which became effective in April 2023.

The conditional approval of a pilot for Freddie Mac purchases of second mortgages includes several limitations on the product, including:

• A maximum volume of $2.5 billion in purchases;
• A maximum duration of 18 months;
• A maximum loan amount of $78,277, corresponding to certain subordinate-lien loan thresholds in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s definition of Qualified Mortgage;
• A minimum seasoning period of 24 months for the first mortgage; and
• Eligibility only for principal/primary residences.

Upon the pilot’s conclusion, FHFA will analyze the data on Freddie Mac’s purchases of second mortgages to determine whether the objectives of the pilot were met. FHFA has determined that any increase to the volume or extension of the duration of the pilot, or a conversion of the pilot to a programmatic activity, would be treated as a new product that is subject to public notice and comment and FHFA approval. Any subsequent approval would be informed by the preliminary results of the pilot.

The FDIC has issued FIL-35-2024 with steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Oklahoma — Blaine, Caddo, Custer, Delaware, Jackson, Mayes, Muskogee, and Rogers Counties — affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding from May 19, 2024, to May 28, 2024.

The FDIC and Federal Reserve Board have jointly announced that, following their joint review of the July 2023 resolution plan submissions of the eight largest and most complex banks, they identified a weakness in the plans from Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase. The agencies did not identify any weaknesses in the plans from the other banks.

The agencies jointly identified a weakness in the 2023 plan submitted by Citigroup, but reached different conclusions on its severity. The FDIC determined that the Citigroup plan is not credible or would not facilitate an orderly resolution under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and considers the weakness to be a "deficiency." A deficiency is a weakness that could undermine the feasibility of the plan. The Board concluded that the weakness is only a shortcoming. Under the resolution planning rule of the agencies, when one agency finds a shortcoming in a resolution plan and the other agency finds a deficiency, the plan is deemed to have a shortcoming. As a result, Citigroup's 2023 plan is considered to have a shortcoming. The agencies also previously identified a shortcoming in Citigroup's 2021 plan related to data quality and data management, and that shortcoming remains outstanding.

The agencies provided feedback letters to each of the eight banks that identify areas for continued development of banks' resolution strategies and capabilities. For the four banks with an identified shortcoming, the letters describe the specific weaknesses resulting in the shortcoming and the remedial actions required by the agencies. The shortcomings are to be addressed in the next resolution plans due by July 1, 2025. The feedback letters also specify that each bank, in its 2025 resolution plan submission, should address the topics of contingency planning and obtaining foreign government actions necessary to execute the resolution strategy.

2023 Resolution Plan Feedback Letters:

• Bank of America Corporation
• Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
• Citigroup Inc.
• The Goldman Sachs Group
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Morgan Stanley
• State Street Corporation
• Wells Fargo & Company

The FDIC Board yesterday announced it has approved a final rule to strengthen resolution planning for insured depository institutions (IDIs) with at least $50 billion in total assets. After careful consideration of comments received, the FDIC issued a final rule that incorporates several changes from the agency’s proposed rule published in September of 2023.

Under the rule announced yesterday, the FDIC will require large banks with total assets of at least $100 billion to submit comprehensive resolution plans that meet enhanced standards to support the FDIC’s ability to undertake an efficient and effective resolution under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act should such an institution fail.

The rule will require IDIs with total assets of at least $50 billion but less than $100 billion to submit more limited “informational filings” to assist in their potential resolution. The agency will not require these institutions to develop a resolution strategy and related valuation information as part of their submissions. These institutions are also exempt from submitting certain strategy-related content requirements regarding the institution’s franchise components.

The new rule strengthens the existing IDI resolution planning framework under 12 CFR § 360.10 by requiring a full resolution submission from most covered IDIs every three years with limited supplements filed in the off years. Covered IDIs affiliated with U.S. global systemically important banking organizations must file a full resolution submission every two years.

The final rule will take effect on October 1, 2024, and the first submissions are expected next year.

• Fact sheet
• FIL-34-2024
• Statement by Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu
• Statement by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra

The OCC yesterday announced its approval of a final rule to implement quality control standards for automated valuation models used by mortgage originators and secondary market issuers in valuing residential real estate collateral securing mortgage loans.

The rule was reportedly also approved yesterday by the Board of the FDIC. It is to be jointly issued by the OCC, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, NCUA, CFPB, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency following approval by each of the agencies. It will be effective at the start of the first calendar quarter following the date that is 12 months after the rule is published in the Federal Register

The FDIC has updated its Consumer Compliance Examination Manual. The June 2024 updates were made to sections II-14.1 (Violations Codes), IV-1.1 (Truth in Lending Act), and XI-1.1 (Community Reinvestment Act).