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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 OCC has issued Interpretive Letter 1183 to rescind OCC Interpretive Letter 1179 (11/18/2021). [Interpretive Letter 1179 outlined a supervisory nonobjection process for banks that seek to engage in the activities addressed in Interpretive Letters 1170, 1172, or 1174.] In a related Press Release, the OCC said its actions are intended to "reaffirm that a range of cryptocurrency activities are permissible in the federal banking system. "

The OCC also withdrew from two interagency statements as they apply to national banks and federal savings associations—the “Joint Statement on Crypto-Asset Risks to Banking Organizations” (1/3/2023), and the “Joint Statement on Liquidity Risks to Banking Organizations Resulting from Crypto-Asset Market Vulnerabilities” (2/23/2023) (together, the interagency statements).

These actions are intended to reduce burden, encourage responsible innovation, and enhance transparency. The OCC will examine the activities described in IL 1170 (addressing crypto-asset custody services), 1172 (addressing holding deposits that serve as reserves backing stablecoins), and 1174 (addressing the use of stablecoins and distributed ledger technology to facilitate payments) as part of its ongoing supervisory process.

As with all activities, banks must conduct crypto-asset activities in a safe, sound, and fair manner and in compliance with applicable law. New activities should be developed and implemented consistent with sound risk management practices and align with banks’ overall business plans and strategies.

The U.S. Senate has passed S.J.Res. 28, a resolution under the Congressional Review Act disapproving the rule [89 FR 99582, 12/10/2024] submitted by the CFPB relating to “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications.”

The House of Representatives has introduced a related bill, H.J.Res. 64, which has been referred to committee. If the House resolution is passed and the president approves the joint resolution, the CFPB rule will be nullified and the Bureau will not be able to issue a substantially similar rule in the future.

The rule in question established the CFPB's supervisory authority over nonbank covered persons that are larger participants in a market for “general-use digital consumer payment applications.” Included are providers of funds transfer and payment wallet functionalities through digital payment applications for consumers' general use in making payments to other persons for personal, family, or household purposes. Examples include consumer financial products and services that are commonly described as “digital wallets,” “payment apps,” “funds transfer apps,” “peer-to-peer payment apps,” “person-to-person payment apps,” “P2P apps,” and the like.

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 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.

Yesterday, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced plans to put American citizens first by ending taxpayer benefits for illegal aliens and moving SBA offices out of sanctuary cities.

The SBA will issue a new policy requiring SBA loan applications to include a citizenship verification provision to ensure only legal, eligible applicants can access SBA programs. Lenders will be required to confirm that applicant businesses are not owned in whole or in part by an illegal alien.

Loeffler's statement also said the SBA will relocate six of its regional offices currently in municipalities that [allegedly] do not comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over the coming months, the Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, and Seattle regional offices will be moved to less costly, more accessible locations that better serve the small business community and comply with federal immigration law.

HUD has announced a 90-day extension of its foreclosure moratorium on Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single family mortgages in the areas of Los Angeles County, California, devastated by the January 2025 wildfires.

The moratorium prohibits mortgage servicers from initiating or completing foreclosure actions on FHA-insured single family forward or Home Equity Conversion mortgages in the Los Angeles County Presidentially Declared Major Disaster Area (PDMDA) through July 7, 2025. The moratorium was originally set to expire on April 8, 2025.

The Federal Trade Commission has reported it has secured an initial win in its case against Seek Capital and the company’s founder and CEO, Roy Ferman, after the U.S. Court for the Central District of California granted the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

Under the preliminary injunction, Seek Capital is prohibited from making false claims related to small business loans or lines of credit and is forbidden from contacting any consumers whose information the company obtained before February 20, 2025.

According to the FTC’s complaint filed in November 2024, Seek Capital targets new and aspiring small business owners looking for loans or lines of credit to open or grow their businesses. The company falsely advertises that it can secure business loans or lines of credit and instead charges clients thousands of dollars simply to open credit cards in the owners’ names. These actions have cost small business owners more than $37 million.

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.

The Federal Trade Commission has reported that as a result of an FTC lawsuit, a federal court has temporarily halted the operations and frozen the assets of a phantom debt collection scheme and its operators. The scheme has operated under numerous names, including Blackrock Services, Blackstone Legal Group, Capital Legal Services, Quest Legal Group, Viking Legal Services, and others.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the operators of this scheme are Ryan and Mitchell Evans and their affiliated companies. Debt collectors working for the scheme’s operators and their affiliated companies have sent consumers deceptive warning and collection letters or called them directly, claiming that consumers owed a debt of some kind and threatening legal action, wage garnishment, negative impacts to consumers’ credit, and even arrest if they don’t pay. The debts described in these letters and calls never existed, according to the complaint, and the defendants have no basis to make legal threats toward consumers.

The FTC’s complaint asks the court to stop the defendants’ unlawful conduct and provide redress to consumers harmed by the scheme.

The Social Security Administration reported yesterday it had paid 1,127,723 people more than $7.5 billion in retroactive payments that resulted from the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), back-dated to January 1, 2024. The average retroactive payment so far is $6,710.

The WEP and GPO provisions reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a "non-covered pension") because they did not pay Social Security taxes.

The SSA said it continues to pay remaining retroactive payments and is ready to begin paying higher monthly benefit payments beginning in April for individuals' March benefit.

Because over 95% of Social Security payments are made by direct deposit, most of the retroactive payments have been sent electronically to recipients' accounts.

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.

Yesterday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a list of 26 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations that became public during February. Sixteen of the evaluations were rated "Satisfactory." Ten were rated "Outstanding." The ten institutions that earned Outstanding ratings were:

• Capital One, National Association, McLean, VA
• Collinsville Building and Loan Association, Collinsville, IL
• First Neighbor Bank, National Association, Toledo, IL
• The Granger National Bank, Granger, TX
• Lake Shore Savings Bank, Dunkirk, NY
• Lyons Federal Bank, Lyons, KS
• Ponce Bank, Bronx, NY
• The Security National Bank of Enid, Enid, OK
• Shamrock Bank, National Association, Coalgate, OK
• Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, Sioux Falls, SD

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

The FDIC has issued FIL-5-2025 to announce it is postponing the compliance date from May 1, 2025 to March 1, 2026 for the requirements under 12 CFR 328.5 related to the display of the FDIC official digital sign on an insured depository institution’s (IDI’s) digital channels, as well as analogous requirements related to IDI’s automated teller machines (ATMs) and like devices under 12 CFR 328.4. This delay will allow the FDIC to propose changes to the regulation for public comment to address implementation concerns and potential sources of confusion.

This delay does not apply to the other amendments made by the final rule to subpart A, such that compliance for those requirements remains unchanged and is required by May 1, 2025.

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 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 NCUA has announced that it will no longer publish overdraft and non-sufficient fund fee income for individual credit unions. The NCUA will collect the data during supervisory examinations.

Under the previous data collection policy, the NCUA required federally insured credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets to disclose, separately, income from overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees. This data was available to the public on an individual basis and in the aggregate. Under the new policy, which goes into effect with the March 31, 2025, Call Report cycle, the NCUA will collect overdraft and NSF fee data as part of the examination process. The agency will continue to publish overdraft and NSF fee income data in the aggregate once updates to its examination system are complete.

The NCUA has reported that it issued a Consent Order of Prohibition in February 2025 to Kelly Jo Muzzana, a former employee of Altana Federal Credit Union, Billings, Montana, after a finding that she engaged in a prolonged scheme to defraud Altana’s member funds, causing Altana significant financial loss.

The OCC has opened registrations for its upcoming virtual and in-person workshops for board directors and senior management of national community banks and federal savings associations.

The OCC examiner-led workshops provide practical training and guidance to directors and senior management of national community banks and federal savings associations to support the safe and sound operation of community-based financial institutions.

Six workshops are listed. Two virtual sessions are scheduled in March. In-person and virtual sessions are scheduled in cities across the country between April 8 and October 16, 2025.

The FDIC has issued the lists of institutions scheduled for a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination during the second quarter 2025 and third quarter 2025.

The FDIC has issued FIL-3-2025 with guidance to help financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of West Virginia — McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, and Wyoming Counties are currently included— affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides, and mudslides on February 15, 2025, and continuing.

The Federal Reserve has announced it will begin in March its regular study of household finances, the Survey of Consumer Finances, which provides the public and policymakers with detailed and important insights into the economic condition of American families.

The data collected will provide a representative picture of what Americans own—from houses and cars to stocks and bonds—how and how much they borrow, and how they bank, as well as their feelings about their economic situation and that of the United States more broadly. Past study results have contributed to policy discussions regarding the evolution of housing as a key component of wealth, the recovery of households from the Great Recession, changes in the kinds and amount of credit used by families, and a broad range of other issues.

Th survey is being conducted for the Board through December of this year by NORC, a social science research organization at the University of Chicago.

Participants in the study are chosen at random from 119 geographic areas, including metropolitan areas and rural counties across the United States, using a scientific sampling procedure. A representative of NORC contacts each potential participant personally to explain the study and request time for an interview.

The FDIC has made public its enforcement actions taken in January 2025. They include four consent orders, three prohibition orders, three orders to pay civil money penalties, one order for restitution, and one decision and order to remove and prohibit from further participation.

Consent orders:

• Lamont Bank of St. John, Saint John, Washington (jointly issued with the Washington Department of Financial Institutions) — charges of unsafe or unsound banking practices relating to Board and senior management oversight, credit underwriting and administration, internal audit, and information technology
• FFB Bank, Fresno, California (issued jointly with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation) — charges of unsafe or unsound banking practices and violations of law relating to the Bank Secrecy Act; 31 C.F.R. Chapter X; and 12 U.S.C. § 1818(s), and the FDIC’s implementing regulations, 12 C.F.R. § 326.8 and 12 C.F.R. Part 353 (collectively, the BSA) with respect to the Bank’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Program
• Independence Bank, East Greenwich, Rhode Island (issued jointly with the Rhode Island Division of Banking) — charges of violations of law or regulations (see Order for Restitution, below). The bank is directed to dispose of all SBA loans in its portfolio or ensure the maintenance of all servicing rights and obligations associated with such loans
• Crescent Bank, New Orleans, Louisiana (issued jointly with the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions) — charges of or unsound banking practices or violations of law related to the bank's current expected credit loss (CECL) and underwriting model risk management (MRM) framework, its methodology for determining the Allowance for Credit Losses, compliance with loan policy, and capital maintenance

Civil money penalties:

• The Farmers Bank and Savings Company, Pomeroy, Ohio — $12,000 CMP for violation of flood insurance regulations
• First Secure Bank and Trust Co., Palos Hills, Illinois — $12,375 CMP for violation of flood insurance regulations
• Pinnacle Bank, Inc., Pineville, Kentucky — $4,500 CMP for violation of flood insurance regulations

Restitution:

• Independence Bank, East Greenwich, Rhode Island — Restitution of $3,500,00 to affected SBA borrowers (charging fees in connection with the bank's SBA lending program that were prohibited by applicable SBA regulations and failing to disclose that the fees were prohibited by the SBA

Removal/Prohibition orders:

• Shirley L. Watson, formerly affiliated with State Bank of Cochran, Cochran, Georgia
• Martin Fernandez Jr., formerly affiliated with International Bank of Commerce, Laredo, Texas
• John B. Padilla, formerly affiliated with BancFirst, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Jaqueline R. Brandt, formerly affiliated with Foundation One Bank, Waterloo, Nebraska