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Federal Reserve Financial Service has announced that, beginning on October 1, 2015, the Federal Reserve Banks will offer an Accelerated Imaged Returns Delivery service to all FedReceipt Plus Returns customers. The service will be similar to the Courtesy Delivery service to FedReceipt Plus Forward customers. An updated fee schedule and Check 21 Services Agreement have been posted on the FRBservices.org website.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced the extension of the deadline for public comment on the proposed verifiable parental consent method that Riyo, Inc., has submitted for Commission approval under the agency’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). The original September 3 deadline for comments has been extended to September 14, 2015.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced it will host PrivacyCon, a conference examining cutting-edge research and trends in protecting consumer privacy and security, in Washington, DC on January 14, 2016. The event is the first of its kind and will bring together leading stakeholders, including whitehat researchers, academics, industry representatives, federal policymakers, consumer advocates and others. A PrivacyCon website has been established and more information will be posted at a later date.

The Summer 2015 edition of the FDIC Consumer News has been posted. It features tips for maximizing the benefits and minimizing the mistakes when choosing a rewards program and also has articles on mobile financial services, automated teller machines (ATMs), credit scores, reverse mortgages, and deposit insurance.

FinCEN has posted a notice to E-Filers of CTRs. The CTR will be updated in August 2017 to adhere to the changes defined in FinCEN's February 2016 Federal Register notice [see "FinCEN wants to revise CTR," February 2, 2016]. The new CTR will include new and updated data fields, both in the discrete filing version and in batch files. Batch files will have to be submitted in XML rather than ASCII format within nine months of the yet-to-be-determined August go-live date.

FinCEN will host a technical webinar on June 21, 2017, to provide an overview of the XML specifications and address questions regarding the XML User Guide.

The U.S. Marshals Service has posted an announcement of an auction of nearly 30,000 Bitcoins that were seized by the Service in October 2013 from the now-shuttered Silk Road "Dark Web" marketplace. Participation in the auction requires registration by noon ET on Monday, June 23, 2014, and a deposit of $200,000 with the Service. The Service plans to offer nine lots of 3,000 Bitcoins each, and one lot with the balance of the seized cryto-currency.

FinCEN has published two administrative rulings regarding certain persons involved in the "mining" of or investments in virtual currency. Ruling FIN-2014-R001 states that, to the extent a user creates or "mines" a convertible virtual currency solely for the user's own purposes, the user is not a money transmitter under the BSA. Ruling FIN-2014-R002 states that a company purchasing and selling convertible virtual currency as an investment exclusively for the company's benefit is not a money transmitter. The rulings provide further interpretation of FinCEN's March 18, 2013, Guidance, "Applications of FinCEN's Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies."

FinCEN has published two administrative rulings regarding certain persons involved in the "mining" of or investments in virtual currency. Ruling FIN-2014-R001 states that, to the extent a user creates or "mines" a convertible virtual currency solely for the user's own purposes, the user is not a money transmitter under the BSA. Ruling FIN-2014-R002 states that a company purchasing and selling convertible virtual currency as an investment exclusively for the company's benefit is not a money transmitter. The rulings provide further interpretation of FinCEN's March 18, 2013, Guidance, "Applications of FinCEN's Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies."

In a presentation at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Conference, FinCEN Director Calvery discussed the focus of FinCEN on securities fraud, market manipulation, and computer intrusion. The importance of information sharing, the value of BSA data, and FinCEN's partnerships with other agencies and governments were also reviewed

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has posted a Blog article listing four steps consumers can take to determine if fraudulent charges or debits have been made on their accounts. The Bureau also released a Consumer Advisory to help consumers protect themselves in the wake of the recent breaches of payment card and other data.