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OFAC has issued a Penalty Notice imposing a $1,104,408 penalty on a natural U.S. person for 75 violations of OFAC sanctions on Iran valued at approximately $561,802.

Between 2019 and 2022, the individual executed a plan to purchase, renovate, and operate a hotel in Iran. In furtherance of this scheme, this individual used foreign money services businesses in Iran and Canada to evade U.S. sanctions, while aware at all times of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The penalty amount reflects OFAC’s determination that the violations were egregious and were not voluntarily self-disclosed.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC sanctioned a network of nine Mexican nationals involved in fentanyl, heroin, and other deadly drug trafficking and money laundering. Individuals designated in this network also engage in human smuggling in furtherance of their drug trafficking activities. Additionally, as members of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), some of the individuals sanctioned today played a prominent role in the early stages of the U.S. opioid crisis, a leading factor driving the United States’ modern fentanyl crisis. CJNG is a violent Mexico-based drug trafficking organization responsible for a significant proportion of fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States.

Treasury also reported that OFAC designated six senior Hamas officials, including the terrorist group’s representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as individuals involved in supporting the terrorist group’s fundraising efforts and weapons smuggling into Gaza.

For the names and identification information of the designated individuals, see yesterday's BankersOnline OFAC Update.

The Federal Reserve Board has published in the today's Federal Register amendments to Regulations A (Extensions of Credit by Federal Reserve Banks) and D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions) following its votes of last week to reduce interest rates by one-quarter of one percent (25 basis points). Each of these amendments is effective on publication, with applicability as of November 8, 2024.

The Board also published amendments to Regulation D this morning to reflect the annual indexing of the reserve requirement exemption amount and the low reserve tranche for 2025. The annual indexation of these amounts is required notwithstanding the Board’s action in March 2020 of setting all reserve requirement ratios to zero. The Board is amending Regulation D to set the reserve requirement exemption amount at $37.8 million (increased from $36.1 million in 2024) and the amount of the low reserve tranche at $645.8 million (increased from $644.0 million in 2024). These changes become effective on January 1, 2025.

Each of the amendments has been posted to the BankersOnline Regulations pages.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, who is a member of the FDIC's Board of Directors, issued a statement yesterday asserting that "big businesses putting their money in big banks enjoy free deposit insurance, and small businesses putting their money in small banks don’t." Chopra said this is fundamentally unfair, and "gives an unfair competitive advantage to the largest banks in the country."

Copra said, "It is time for Congress to remove — or at least dramatically increase — limits on federal deposit insurance for payroll and other non-interest bearing operating accounts."

The FDIC has issued FIL-81-2024 and a press release to announce an extension of the comment period for the proposed rule on Custodial Deposit Accounts with Transactional Features and Prompt Payment of Deposit Insurance to Depositors from December 2, 2024, to January 16, 2025.

Publication update: Published at 89 FR 91586 on 11/20/2024.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC was sanctioning Amana the Settlement Movement of Gush Emunim Central Cooperative Association Ltd (Amana), a settlement development organization that is involved with U.S.-sanctioned individuals and outposts that perpetrate violence in the West Bank, and its subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd. Concurrently, the Department of State was designating three individuals and one entity.

For the names and identification information of the designated individuals and entities, see yesterday's BankersOnline OFAC Update.

The CFPB has published its Personal Financial Data Rights Rule at 89 FR 90838 in this morning's Federal Register.

Subject to the outcome of pending litigation against the rule, it will become final on January 17, 2025, with compliance dates for data providers beginning April 1, 2026; April 1, 2027; April 1, 2028; April 1, 2029; or April 1, 2030, based on the criteria set forth in § 1033.121(c).

The FDIC has issued FIL-80-2024, Guidance to Help Financial Institutions and Facilitate Recovery in Areas for Montana Affected by a Severe Storm and Straight-line Winds on August 6, 2024. The affected area in the Crow Indian Reservation.

FinCEN has updated two FAQs related to access to Beneficial Ownership Information. The topics covered are in Section O (Access FAQs), and include FAQ O1 (Access to BOI for authorized recipients) and FAQ O2 (Access to BOI for Federal agencies).

FAQ O1 indicates that access is being offered in five phases. The first four phases will extend the opportunity to request access to Federal and State, local, and Tribal law enforcement partners. The fifth phase, expected to begin in the spring of 2025, will extend the opportunity to request access to financial institutions subject to due diligence requirements under applicable law and their supervisors.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC has sanctioned 26 companies, individuals, and vessels associated with the Al-Qatirji Company, a Syrian conglomerate responsible for generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and the Houthis through the sale of Iranian oil to Syria and the People’s Republic of China.

For the names and identification information of the designated persons and vessels, see yesterday's BankersOnline OFAC Update.