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The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced its issuance of Advisory Bulletin 2024-05, "Affordable Housing Program: Determining the Need for Affordable Housing Program Subsidy In Rental Projects," that simplifies the process for project sponsors to receive Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) funds for affordable housing projects.

The Advisory Bulletin reinforces the importance of scrutinizing funding requests, using rigorous feasibility guidelines based on sound reasoning, to ensure that Affordable Housing Program (AHP) funds support the projects most in need. The bulletin provides for a streamlined compliance process and eliminates uncertainty for project sponsors about the amount of their AHP award. It also provides further clarity to the FHLBanks on determining the need for an AHP subsidy when a rental project includes capitalized reserves and supportive services.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it has charged J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) and J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM) – both affiliates of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JP Morgan) – in five separate enforcement actions for failures including misleading disclosures to investors, breach of fiduciary duty, prohibited joint transactions and principal trades, and failures to make recommendations in the best interest of customers.

Without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s orders, the two affiliates agreed to pay more than $151 million in combined civil penalties and voluntary payments to investors to resolve four of the ­actions. The SEC did not impose a penalty in one of the actions, taken against JPMS, because JPMS cooperated in the investigation and undertook remedial measures.

SEC Orders:

• J.P. Morgan Securities LLC - 1
• J.P. Morgan Securities - 2
• J.P. Morgan Securities - 3
• J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. - 1
• J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. - 2

The CFPB has announced it has filed a Proposed final judgment and order to resolve its case against Townstone Financial for discriminatory lending practices and redlining African American neighborhoods in Chicago.

If entered by the court, the proposed order would prohibit Townstone from taking any actions that violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and require the company to pay a $105,000 penalty to the CFPB’s victims relief fund. Today’s action follows lengthy contested litigation and a unanimous July 2024 decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that stated that the ECOA prohibits lenders from discouraging prospective applicants on a prohibited basis from applying for loans.

The Seventh Circuit’s decision held unanimously that “an analysis of the text of the ECOA as a whole makes clear that the text prohibits not only outright discrimination against applicants for credit, but also the discouragement of prospective applicants for credit,” which is consistent with the Bureau’s regulation (Regulation B) interpreting ECOA.

• 2020 Complaint
• 2020 Amended Complaint
• U.S. Court of Appeals Opinion
• Stipulated final judgment and order
• Stipulated dismissal - Sturner

The NCUA has announced it issued three consent orders and one prohibition notice in October permanently prohibiting individuals from participating in the affairs of any federally insured depository institution.

Consent orders were issued to:

• Gloria J. Hall, a former employee of Prairie View Federal Credit Union, Prairie View, Texas
• Diane Stephens, a former employee of Priority First Federal Credit Union, Du Bois, Pennsylvania
• Laurie Allen, a former employee of Vibrant Credit Union, Danville, Illinois

A Notice of Prohibition was issued to Salusthian Lutamile, a former employee of IDB Global Federal Credit Union, Washington, D.C.

The Internal Revenue Service on Friday announced that the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2025 has increased to $23,500, up from $23,000 for 2024. The IRS also issued technical guidance regarding all cost‑of‑living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2025 in Notice 2024-80.

The limit on annual contributions to an IRA remains $7,000. The IRA catch‑up contribution limit for individuals aged 50 and over was amended under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) to include an annual cost‑of‑living adjustment but remains $1,000 for 2025.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency today published [89 FR 87299] a final rule revising the National Flood Insurance Program's regulations to offer NFIP policyholders who are not required to escrow their premiums and fees for flood insurance the option of paying their annual flood insurance premium in monthly installments.

The rule will become effective December 31, 2024.

FDIC FIL-77-2024, issued yesterday, describes steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas affected by the Havasupai Tribe Flooding August 22–23, 2024..

The CFPB yesterday announced it has joined with the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) in a joint statement to protect people with Medicare living at or below the poverty line from unlawful medical bills. These people in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary group represent about one in eight Medicare recipients nationwide. Federal law generally prohibits healthcare providers who accept Medicare from billing these people – referred to as “QMBs” – for cost-sharing, such as co-pays or deductibles.

The agencies' joint statement emphasizes that Traditional Medicare providers and suppliers, Medicare Advantage providers and suppliers, and debt collectors can be sanctioned by CMS or be liable under federal law for improperly billing these recipients. CMS is also releasing new resources clarifying that healthcare providers must refund any improper charges, regardless of whether they received incorrect information about a recipient's QMB status from Medicare Advantage plans.

The joint statement describes the CMS guidance issued yesterday and explains how the laws that the CFPB administers and enforces apply to improper debt collection of QMBs. Specifically, the statement explains:

• Debt collectors may not collect on improper and inaccurate bills targeting Medicare beneficiaries. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits collecting bills that are not actually owed or are in the wrong amount.
• Debt collectors may not tarnish credit reports with improper and inaccurate bills. Furnishing inaccurate information may violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and may also demonstrate that furnishers do not verify the accuracy of information they furnish.

The Federal Reserve System has issued the third 2024 issue of Consumer Compliance Outlook. This issue includes articles on:

• Top Federal Reserve System Compliance Violations in 2023 Under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973
• Top Federal Reserve System Compliance Violations in 2023 Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Regulation X
• Consumer Compliance Requirements for Purchasers of Residential Mortgage Loans
• Consumer Compliance Requirements for Servicers of Purchased Mortgage Loans

Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC had sanctioned five Mexican nationals and two Mexico-based entities linked to La Linea, a violent Mexico-based drug trafficking organization responsible for trafficking fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States.

See BankersOnline’s October 31, 2024, OFAC Update for the names and identifying information of the designated individuals and businesses .

The CFPB yesterday announced action against VyStar Credit Union for harming consumers through its botched rollout of a new online banking system. In May 2022, VyStar transitioned to a new, dysfunctional online banking platform that made it difficult for credit union members to perform basic banking functions for weeks, with some features unavailable for more than six months. Families incurred fees and costs as a result of these problems. The CFPB is ordering VyStar to ensure that all consumers are made whole. VyStar must also pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to the CFPB’s victims relief fund.

VyStar, formerly known as JAX Navy Federal Credit Union, is a Florida state-chartered credit union headquartered in Jacksonville with 70 branches in Florida and 10 branches in Georgia. VyStar is one of the largest credit unions in the country, with approximately $14.75 billion in total assets and over 980,000 members. In May 2022, VyStar attempted to launch a new virtual banking platform. VyStar anticipated banking services would be inaccessible for several days during the transition to the new platform, but it turned out to be much longer. The new system crashed upon launch because VyStar brought it online prematurely and failed to establish or follow critical processes to ensure its success. The platform was taken offline soon after launch. Upon bringing the system back online, the new platform lacked key banking services, some of which were not restored for months.

For further details, see “VyStar CU pays $1.5M for botched systems upgrades” in BankersOnline’s Penalties pages.

• NCUA Chairman Harper and Board Member Otsuka Statements on CFPB's VyStar Credit Union action