Top Stories

The CFPB has released a Nonbank Registration: Orders Rule Coverage Chart summarizing how an entity may determine if it is required to register an order under the Nonbank Registration Orders Rule.

The chart can be found in the Resources for filers section of the Bureau's nonbank registry portal and public database webpage.

The Federal Reserve Board has released two enforcement actions.

FinCEN has posted additions and updates to its FAQ page on the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting requirements. Updated and added questions are dated October 3, 2024.

The OCC has issued Bulletin 2024-29 to provide OCC-supervised institutions with commercial loans with guidance for managing credit risk associated with refinance risk, and has rescinded Bulletin 1993-50, "Loan Refinancing."

According to the Bulletin, refinance risk is the risk that borrowers will not be able to replace existing debt at a future date under reasonable terms and prevailing market conditions. Refinance risk increases in rising interest rate environments and can be amplified by large volumes of loans set to mature in underperforming markets. If a borrower cannot refinance under current market conditions, a bank could be burdened with an underperforming or nonperforming loan. Refinance risk primarily affects loans with principal balances remaining at maturity and borrowers who rely on recurring debt to finance their capital structure or business operations. Examples of loan types most affected by refinance risk include interest-only loans, commercial real estate loans, leveraged loans, and revolving working capital lines. Fully amortizing loans to sound borrowers generally have lower refinance risk than loans that are not fully amortizing.

Banks should have processes to identify, measure, monitor, and control refinance risk at both the transaction and portfolio levels. The tools to monitor refinance risk should be tailored to the bank’s size, complexity, risk profile, and types of lending. Sound transaction-level credit risk management practices include assessing refinance risk at underwriting, during ongoing monitoring, and near maturity. At the portfolio level, banks should have systems and processes to monitor the volume and cadence of upcoming loan maturities. Independent credit risk review should consider the level of refinance risk when determining an appropriate review scope and assessing credit quality.

The FDIC has issued its list of 55 state nonmember banks recently evaluated for CRA compliance whose evaluations were assigned in July 2024. Three banks received "Needs to Improve" ratings. One was rated "Substantial Noncompliance." Forty-eight banks received "Satisfactory" ratings.

We congratulate The Dime Bank (Honesdale, PA), Beardstown Savings S.B. (Beardstown, IL), and Toyota Financial Savings Bank (Henderson, NV), for receiving "Outstanding" ratings.

The Treasury Department yesterday reported that OFAC designated one individual and three companies that have facilitated weapons procurement and smuggling operations for Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis. This action targets key procurement operatives and suppliers located in Iran and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that have enabled the Houthis to acquire dual-use materials and components needed to manufacture, maintain, and deploy an arsenal of advanced missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against U.S. and allied interests.

Additionally, OFAC designated one entity and two vessels linked with illicit Houthi and Iranian commercial shipments, including one that has transported shipments for Houthi financial official Sa’id al-Jamal and an affiliate of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff.

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

The FDIC has released the 2024 Small Business Lending Survey Report (SBLS). Conducted in 2022, the SBLS is a nationally representative sample of U.S. banks that offers important insights into their small business lending practices and how banks meet the credit needs of the nation’s small businesses.

The SBLS gathered responses from over a quarter of the nation’s banks on the way they approve and underwrite small business loans, their geographic markets and competition, their use of financial technology, and their lending to start-ups. Overall, the FDIC’s survey found that while most banks are adopting new technologies, these innovations have not replaced the relationship-oriented and staff-intensive nature of small business lending that continues to be focused around local branch office locations.

The FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, NCUA, OCC and state financial regulators have issued an interagency statement on supervisory practices regarding financial institutions affected by Hurricane Helene. These agencies recognize the serious impact of Hurricane Helene on the customers and operations of many financial institutions and will provide appropriate regulatory assistance to affected institutions subject to their supervision. The agencies encourage institutions operating in the affected areas to meet the financial services needs of their communities.

The statement addressed agency views on lending, temporary facilities, publishing requirements, regulatory reporting requirements, and potential CRA consideration for certain financial institutions' efforts.

For more information, refer to the Interagency Supervisory Examiner Guidance for Institutions Affected by a Major Disaster, which is available as follows:

• State Financial Regulators
• FDIC
• FRB
• OCC
• NCUA

The FDIC has issued FIL-71-2024 with materials pertaining to the Call Report for the September 30, 2024, report date and guidance on certain reporting issues. The FIL and accompanying Supplemental Instructions should be shared with the individual(s) responsible for preparing the Call Report at your institution. Completed Call Reports must be received by Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

The OCC yesterday released CRA evaluations for 21 national banks and federal savings associations that were made public in September. Sixteen of the evaluations are rated satisfactory. We congratulate the remaining five institutions, whose evaluations received outstanding ratings:

• Capital Bank, National Association, Rockville, MD
• First FS&LA of Valdosta, Valdosta, GA
• First National Bank of Gillette, Gillette, WY
• First National Bank of Pulaski, Pulaski, TN
• Presidential Bank, FSB, Bethesda, MD

The OCC has released its bank supervision operating plan for fiscal year (FY) 2025. The plan outlines the OCC’s supervision priorities and objectives for the year. It also facilitates the implementation of supervisory strategies for individual national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations, and third-party service providers subject to OCC examination. OCC staff uses this plan to guide its supervisory priorities, planning, and resource allocations.

Heightened focus areas include:

• Financial
  • Credit
  • Allowance for credit losses
  • Asset and liability management
  • Capital
  • Climate-related financial risks for banks with over $100 billion in total consolidated assets
• Operational
  • Cybersecurity
  • Enterprise change management
  • Operations
  • Third-party risks
  • Payments
• Compliance
  • Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism and Office of Foreign Assets Control
  • Consumer compliance
  • Community Reinvestment Act
  • Fair lending

The NMLS has posted a reminder that the NMLS annual renewal period begins November 1 (and ends December 31). All MLO institutions must renew their registrations in NMLS in that two-month period, and individual mortgage loan originators actively registered before July 1, 2024, must be renewed for 2025. The NMLS provides details on its Renew-Reactive page.

The Treasury Department yesterday announced that OFAC was designating Hilltop Youth, a violent extremist group that has repeatedly attacked Palestinians and destroyed Palestinian homes and property in the West Bank.

The Treasury Department alsoreported that OFAC was designating seven individuals and two entities associated with the Russia-based cybercriminal group Evil Corp, in a tri-lateral action with the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment charging one Evil Corp member in connection with his use of BitPaymer ransomware targeting victims in the United States.

For identification information on the sanctioned individuals and entities, see BankersOnline’s October 1, 2024, OFAC Update.

The CFPB yesterday issued an Advisory Opinion on "Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F); Deceptive and Unfair Collection of Medical Debt," to prevent families from being targeted by illegal medical debt collection tactics. The advisory opinion clarifies that debt collectors, which may include third-party “revenue cycle management” companies, are violating federal law when they collect on inaccurate or legally invalid medical debts. These illegal practices include double-dipping to get paid for services already covered by insurance, hounding consumers to pay fake or exaggerated charges, misrepresenting consumers’ rights to contest bills, and collecting on debts without documentation that the amount is actually owed. The CFPB’s action aims to protect consumers from careless or predatory practices that can lead to inflated healthcare costs.

• CFPB press release
• Publication update: Published in the Federal Register at 89 FR 80715 on 10/4/2024, with applicability from 12/3/2024.

The FDIC yesterday issued FIL-70-2024 with guidance to help financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas affected by Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, on September 23, 2024, and continuing.

The National Credit Union Administration has announced it has issued a Consent Prohibition Order against Monica Jackson, formerly the operation and marketing director at Koin Credit Union, Brentwood, Tennessee, after a finding that she took cash out of the credit union’s vault, made unauthorized transfers to herself out of the account of a deceased member, and fraudulently opened and used lines of credit in the names of nominees for her own personal gain. She further used the master administration access code to lock one of the accounts she was using to conceal her fraudulent activity from other employees and KCU. Her fraudulent activities caused the credit union significant financial loss.

The NCUA also issued a Notice of Prohibition to Autumn S. Smith formerly employed by SecurityPlus Federal Credit Union, Baltimore, Maryland, after a conviction for the offense of theft ($1,500 to under $25,000) resulting from her misconduct at the credit union.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has published [89 FR 79734] in today's Federal Register a Direct Final Rule amending regulations governing SBA's 504 Loan Program for debt refinancing with expansion and debt refinancing without expansion. The changes will streamline the loan application process, expand eligibility criteria for small businesses borrowers, and make minor corrections. The amendments include: removing the 50% cap on debt refinance without expansion to conform with current legislation; raising the loan to value requirement on debt refinancing without expansion projects that include other business expenses to 90% and eliminating the cap on Eligible Business Expenses; aligning the “substantially all” standard for 504 debt refinancing with expansion so it is consistent with the debt refinancing without expansion standard of 75%; eliminating the 10% substantial benefit test on 504 debt refinancing with expansion and 504 debt refinancing without expansion on refinancing other government debt; and allowing certain “other secured debt” to be included as an Eligible Business Expense.

The rule will become effective November 15, 2024. SBA must receive comments on this direct final rule on or before October 31, 2024. If adverse comment is received, SBA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the Federal Register.

.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday announced a proposed rule on Unsecured Credit Limits for Federal Home Loan Banks.

The proposed rule would improve the FHLBanks’ ability to provide liquidity to members by aligning the treatment of interest-bearing deposit accounts (IBDAs) and other authorized overnight investments with the treatment of Federal Funds sales. This updated regulatory treatment would allow the FHLBanks to better manage and respond to the intraday liquidity needs of their members. The proposed rule also clarifies terms for the FHLBanks to determine limits on unsecured credit to counterparties.

The FHFA will accept public comments on the proposed rule for 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced charges against registered broker-dealer TD Securities (USA) LLC for manipulating the U.S. Treasury cash securities market through an illicit trading strategy known as spoofing. The bank was also charged for failing to supervise the then-head of its U.S. Treasuries trading desk, who allegedly made hundreds of illegal trades over a 13-month period.

According to the SEC's order, between April 2018 and May 2019, the former TD Securities trader spoofed the U.S. Treasury cash securities market by entering orders on one side of the market that he had no intention of executing (herein, non-bona fide orders), so he could obtain more favorable execution prices on bona fide orders he was entering simultaneously on the other side of the market. After the bona fide orders were filled, resulting in profits to TD Securities, the trader allegedly then canceled the non-bona fide orders. The SEC’s order also finds that TD Securities lacked adequate controls and that it failed to take reasonable steps to scrutinize the trader after receiving warnings of his potentially irregular trading activity.

TD Securities consented to the entry of the SEC’s order finding that it violated an antifraud provision of the federal securities laws and failed to reasonably supervise the trader. TD Securities was further ordered to cease and desist from future violations of the relevant antifraud provision, was censured, and was ordered to pay disgorgement of $400,000, prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $6.5 million. In a related matter, TD Securities has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and has agreed to pay a total monetary sanction of more than $15 million as part of that agreement, of which $400,000 will be credited by disgorgement to the SEC. TD Securities has separately agreed to pay a $6 million fine to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to resolve related charges.

The FDIC has issued guidance to help banks and facilitate recovery in areas of Georgia (FIL-68-2024) and Vermont (FIL-69-2024) affected by severe weather.

The FHFA has announced it has updated the National Mortgage Database (NMDB®) Aggregate Statistics series to include new quarterly data on the loan performance of residential mortgages through the second quarter of 2024. The Agency also released a new interactive data visualization dashboard tool that enables users to more easily access the loan performance data.

Highlights of the quarterly data include—

• 0.1 percent of all outstanding mortgages were in the process of foreclosure, bankruptcy, or deed-in-lieu at the end of the second quarter of 2024. This level is unchanged from recent quarters and well below the high of 3.5 percent reached in the fourth quarter of 2010 and first quarter of 2011.
• An additional 0.6 percent of all outstanding mortgages were 90 days or more past due but not in a foreclosure, bankruptcy, or deed-in-lieu process. Louisiana (1.3%), Mississippi (1.1%), and the District of Columbia (1.1%) have the highest share of loans 90 days or more past due.
• 0.6 percent of all outstanding loans were in forbearance at the end of the second quarter of 2024. The metropolitan areas with the highest forbearance rates are Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX (5.3%), Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN (4.7%), and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX (3.7%).

The FDIC his released a list of enforcement orders issued in August 2024.

• Comenity Bank, Wilmington, Delaware, and Comenity Capital Bank, Draper, Utah, each received an order to pay and agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $1 million after a finding, which the banks neither admit nor deny, that they engaged in unfair acts and practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act related to reward programs and the processing of automatic payments matters resulting from the conversion from an internal core system platform to an external core system platform.
• Removal and prohibition orders were issued to:
  • Sammy Sims, former CFO of Eastern International Bank, Los Angeles, California (use of bank funds to purchase life insurance for bank employees without their knowledge, for which his wife received compensations as insurance broker)
  • Debra L. Poulsen, former officer and director of Ericson State Bank, Ericson, Nebraska (failure to report to directors misconduct of which she was aware, including repeated violations of Nebraska's legal lending limit, unsafe and unsound overdrafts, etc.)
  • Jackie L. Poulsen, former president and director of Ericson State Bank, Ericson, Nebraska (underwriting loans without appropriate documentation or risk mitigation, making loans "vastly exceeding" Nebraska's lending limit, failing to obtain real estate appraisals, etc.)
  • Patricia Jean Niemeyer, former cashier and director of Ericson State Bank, Ericson, Nebraska (aiding and abetting the actions of Jackie Poulsen).
  • Robert S. Catanzaro, former CEO and director of Independence Bank, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, for failing to implement and supervise appropriate oversight and management practices over the bank's SBA Small Loan Advantage lending program, causing the bank to suffer over $1.7 million in losses.

On Friday, the Treasury Department announced OFAC actions to defend and protect U.S. campaign and government officials from Iranian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections. OFAC designated seven individuals as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to Iran’s operations that sought to influence or interfere in the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections.

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

The Treasury Department has reported actions taken by OFAC in a coordinated international effort to disrupt Russian cybercrime services. FinCEN has issued a notice on Imposition of Special Measure Prohibiting the Transmittal of Funds Involving PM2BTC that identifies a Russian virtual currency exchanger associated with Russian individual Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov—as being of “primary money laundering concern” in connection with Russian illicit finance. Concurrently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Ivanov and Cryptex—a virtual currency exchange registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and operating in Russia. The FinCEN and OFAC actions are being issued in conjunction with actions by other U.S. government agencies and international law enforcement partners to hold accountable Ivanov and the associated virtual currency services. FinCEN's notice will be effective when published in the Federal Register

According to Treasury, the U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Investigative Section, the Netherlands Police, and the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) have seized web domains and/or infrastructure associated with PM2BTC, UAPS, and Cryptex. The U.S. Department of State has issued a reward offer up to $10 million through its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ivanov. Lastly, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia are unsealing an indictment of Ivanov and another Russian national, Timur Shakhmametov. These actions by U.S. and Dutch agencies were taken in partnership with Operation Endgame, a multinational coordinated cyber operation with European partners, to dismantle financial enablers of transnational organized cybercrime.

For identification information on Ivanov and Cryptex, see BankersOnline’s September 26, 2024, OFAC Update.

The OCC has expanded the reach of its earlier announcement allowing banks in the path of Hurricane Helene to close. Yesterday, the OCC issued a proclamation allowing national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks to close offices in areas of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia affected by Hurricane Helene, if they are affected by potentially unsafe conditions as a result of the storm.

The United States Mint has published [89 FR 78241] a final rule in the Federal Register removing the Treasury Department's regulations relating to the exchange of bent, partial, fused, and mixed coins, thus ending the Mint's exchange program for bent and partial coin, effective October 25, 2024.

In August 2018, the United States Mint suspended the redemption program due to the possibility of unlawful material being submitted for redemption. On May 5, 2021, the United States Mint issued a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing certain revisions to these regulations (86 FR 23877), which was withdrawn on May 3, 2024 (89 FR 36721). The United States Mint subsequently decided to close the bent and partial coin exchange program.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reports it has published its 2024 second quarter data for the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) Aggregate Statistics and introduced new condominium data as part of the UAD Aggregate Statistics. This is the first publicly available data drawn from condominium appraisal records and complements the existing data for single-family homes.

The current release includes data drawn from more than five million condominium appraisal records from 2013 through the second quarter of 2024. Condominium appraisal aggregate statistics may be grouped by property or neighborhood characteristics and geographic levels (national, state, and Metropolitan Statistical Area). FHFA plans to include condominium data in quarterly releases of the UAD Aggregate Statistics on an ongoing basis.

FinCEN has announced it has published a notice in the Federal Register today at 89 FR 79184 withdrawing its finding that ABLV Bank, AS is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, as well as the related notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to impose special measure five pursuant to section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.

On February 16, 2018, FinCEN issued an NPRM that set forth FinCEN’s findings of money laundering concern regarding ABLV, a commercial bank located in Riga, Latvia, and proposed imposing special measure five under section 311, prohibiting covered financial institutions from opening or maintaining in the United States correspondent accounts for, or on behalf of, ABLV.

According to FinCEN, material subsequent developments since the issuance of the NPRM have mitigated the money laundering risks associated with ABLV. Shortly after the issuance of the NPRM, the European Central Bank (ECB) determined that ABLV—as well as its subsidiary, ABLV Bank Luxembourg—was failing or likely to fail. The ECB subsequently withdrew ABLV’s banking license, and the Luxembourg subsidiary was ordered dissolved. Thus, ABLV no longer operates as a depository institution. The bank is in the advanced stage of an irrevocable liquidation process supervised by the Government of Latvia, which ensures anti-money laundering/countering terrorist financing compliance. Furthermore, Latvian authorities have undertaken significant efforts to identify and address past illicit activity facilitated by the bank, resulting in criminal charges against owners of the bank and its senior managers. As a result, FinCEN has determined that ABLV is no longer a financial institution of primary money laundering concern.

The OCC has announced it has issued a proclamation allowing national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks to close offices in areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee affected by Hurricane Helene. As is always the case, the OCC expects that only those bank offices directly affected by potentially unsafe conditions will close, and those offices should make every effort to reopen as quickly as possible to address the banking needs of their customers.

• OCC Bulletin 2012-28, Supervisory Guidance on Natural Disasters and Other Emergency Conditions
• OCC Major Disaster News Center

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced its filing of a civil antitrust lawsuit against Visa, Inc. for monopolization and other unlawful conduct in debit network markets in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

The complaint alleges that Visa illegally maintains a monopoly over debit network markets by using its dominance to thwart the growth of its existing competitors and prevent others from developing new and innovative alternatives.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday reported settled charges against 23 entities and individuals for failures to timely report information about their holdings and transactions in public company stock. Two public companies were also charged for contributing to filing failures by their officers and directors and failing to report their insiders’ filing delinquencies as required.

The charges announced yesterday stem from SEC enforcement initiatives focused on Schedules 13D and 13G reports and Forms 3, 4, and 5 that certain corporate insiders are required to file. Schedules 13D and 13G provide information about the holdings and intentions of investors who beneficially own more than five percent of any registered voting class of public company stock. Forms 3, 4, and 5 are reports used to provide information about public company stock transactions by corporate officers, directors, or certain investors who beneficially own more than 10 percent of the stock.

Without admitting or denying the findings, all of the entities and individuals agreed to cease and desist from committing and causing violations of the respective charged provisions and to pay civil penalties.

• Regulation A: 89 FR 78221, effective September 25, 2024, and applicable from September 19, 2024.
• Regulation D: 89 FR 78222, effective September 25, 2024, and applicable from September 19, 2024.

The Treasury Department yesterday issued two announcements of OFAC sanctions activity.

OFAC has sanctioned two Haitian individuals: a former member of Haiti’s parliament, Prophane Victor, for his role in forming, supporting, and arming gangs and their members that have committed serious human rights abuse in Haiti; and Luckson Elan, the current leader of the Gran Grif gang, for his involvement in serious human rights abuse related to gang activity in Haiti’s Artibonite department.

OFAC has also sanctioned one individual and more than a dozen entities and vessels for their involvement in the shipment of Iranian crude oil and liquid petroleum gas to Syria and East Asia on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizballah.

For the names and identification information of the designated individuals, entities and vessels involved in the two OFAC actions, see yesterday’s BankersOnline OFAC Update.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced it has revised the Agency's proposal to amend the Suspended Counterparty Program (SCP). The SCP regulation requires a regulated entity to report to FHFA if an individual or institution that it does business with has committed certain types of misconduct within the prior three years. It also authorizes FHFA to order its regulated entities to cease doing business or refrain from entering into new business with certain counterparties. Final suspension orders are published on FHFA’s website.

FHFA is publishing this re-proposal after considering issues that commenters had raised about the original proposed rule, issued in July 2023. This includes distinguishing between misconduct that poses material risk to the safety and soundness of the regulated entities from behavior with de minimis impact.

Specifically, the re-proposal would:

• Authorize the suspension of business between a regulated entity and a counterparty whose misconduct resulted in a federal prohibition order or a civil money penalty above a specific threshold; and
• Authorize the suspension of business between a regulated entity and a counterparty that has committed criminal or civil misconduct related to the management or ownership of real property.

Comments on the re-proposed rule will be accepted for 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register.

Publication and comment period update: Published 10/1/2024 at 89 FR 79785 in the Federal Register, with a comment period of 62 days, ending 12/02/2024

The FDIC has issued FIL-66-2024 with steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Illinois affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding from July 13 to July 16, 2024. Cook, Fulton, Henry, St. Clair, Washington, Will and Winnebago Counties are currently included as affected areas. That list may change. Check FEMA's website at https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4819/designated-areas for any updates.

The FDIC also issued FIL-67-2024 to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Connecticut — including Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven Counties — affected by a severe storm, flooding, landslides, and mudslides on August 18 and 19, 2024. Any updates to that list of counties will be posted to FEMA’s website at https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4820/designated-areas.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported that OFAC sanctioned five Colombian nationals and two Mexico-based businesses under authority of Executive Order 14059, “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.” The Colombian individuals sanctioned are leaders within Colombia’s Clan del Golfo—also known as Los Urabeños—which is one of the country’s largest drug trafficking organizations and a key contributor to human smuggling through the Darién Gap.

The companies sanctioned yesterday are located in Mexico and owned by designated Sinaloa Cartel fentanyl traffickers. One of the most notorious and pervasive drug trafficking organizations in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States.

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

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released its first quarter 2024 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report. The report shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 52,154 foreclosure prevention actions during the quarter, raising the total number of homeowners who have been helped to 6,957,884 since the start of conservatorships in September 2008.

The report also shows that 29 percent of loan modifications completed in the first quarter reduced borrowers’ monthly payments by more than 20 percent. The number of refinances decreased from 71,378 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 69,878 in the first quarter of 2024.

The Enterprises’ serious delinquency rate declined from 0.55 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 to 0.51 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2024. This compares with 3.18 percent for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, 2.01 percent for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and 1.44 percent for all loans (industry average).

The data included in the quarterly reports are also available on the FHFA’s website as an interactive Borrower Assistance Map.

The Federal Reserve System’s FedPayments Improvement group is promoting the combined use of its FraudClassifier and ScamClassifier models for analyzing scam and fraud incidents. The Federal Reserve has released a video tutorial to help the payments industry understand the connection points between the two models. When used together, says the group, they can help organizations improve fraud and scam mitigation strategies, training and more.

The CFPB has released its Office of Servicemembers Affairs’ annual report, which covers the top financial concerns facing servicemembers, veterans, and military families, based on the complaints they submitted to the CFPB. Servicemembers told the CFPB about issues they were having when trying to contact or get help from their federal student loan servicer. The report also highlights other areas of concern in student lending such as transcript withholding and fraud and scams.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced action it is taking against Invitation Homes, the largest landlord of single-family homes in the U.S., for an array of unlawful actions against consumers, including deceiving renters about lease costs, charging undisclosed junk fees, failing to inspect homes before residents moved in, and unfairly withholding tenants’ security deposits when they moved out.

The FTC reports that Invitation Homes has agreed to a proposed settlement order that would require the company to turn over $48 million to be used to refund consumers harmed by its actions. The corporate landlord will also be required to clearly disclose its leasing prices, establish policies and procedures to handle security deposit refunds fairly, and stop other unlawful behavior.

The CFPB has released a webpage that makes available for public comment applications to become a recognized standard setter under the Personal Financial Data Rights Rule. In June 2024, the CFPB finalized a portion of the Personal Financial Data Rights Proposed Rule. That final rule [published on June 11, 2024, at 89 FR 49084] defines criteria for becoming a recognized standard setter. Additionally, that final rule identifies that conformance with standards adopted and maintained by a recognized standard setter may indicate compliance for certain substantive provisions of the Personal Financial Data Rights Proposed Rule.

The CFPB has published the first application, from Financial Data Exchange, for public comment, and will accept comments on the application though October 16, 2024. Public comment on standard-setter applications enables stakeholders who believe an application is deficient in some respect to bring the CFPB’s attention to any evidence that might bear on the merits of the application. In response to comments, or to the CFPB’s own analysis, applicants may choose to adjust applications before final resolution.

FinCEN has announced it will hold a virtual information session on beneficial ownership information reporting requirements and how to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act on its YouTube channel at 2 p.m. EDT tomorrow, September 25, 2024.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced it has charged Tallahassee, Florida, housing providers Greenbriar Partners, LLC, Jackson Properties and Financial Services, LLC, and Erwin D. Jackson (the “Respondents”) with violating the Fair Housing Act by failing to grant a tenant with a disability a reasonable accommodation to allow the tenant to live with an emotional support animal.

HUD’s Charge of Discrimination alleges that the Respondents failed to grant the Complainant’s requested reasonable accommodation for an assistance animal. That denial led to economic loss, lost housing opportunity, and emotional distress. The Charge of Discrimination also alleges that the Respondents violated the Act when they threatened the Complainant with an eviction because of her reasonable accommodation request.

HUD's Charge will be heard by a United States Administrative Law Judge unless any party to the Charge elects to have the case heard in federal district court.

FDIC FIL-65-2024, issued Friday, provides guidance to financial institutions and facilitates recovery in areas of Louisiana — currently listing Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary and Terrebonne Parishes — affected by Hurricane Francine from September 9–12, 2024.

The FDIC has released results of its annual survey of branch office deposits for all FDIC-insured institutions as of June 30, 2024. The FDIC’s Summary of Deposits (SOD) provides deposit totals for each of the more than 76,000 domestic offices operated by more than 4,500 FDIC-insured commercial and savings banks, savings associations, and U.S. branches of foreign banks.

The SOD includes historical data going back to 1994 that can be analyzed using online reports, tables, and downloads. SOD users can locate bank offices in a particular geographic area and create custom market share reports for areas such as state, county, and metropolitan statistical area. Market share reports allow users to see market growth and market presence for specific institutions.

FDIC’s SOD page includes the latest enhancements to the FDIC’s BankFind Suite, a resource for users to understand financial details and trends among FDIC-insured banks. The modernized SOD page in BankFind is available to preview now. The legacy Summary of Deposits will be discontinued by the end of 2024 and users will be automatically redirected to the BankFind Suite.

The CFPB has posted the 2025 version of its HMDA Filing Instruction Guide (FIG), a compendium of resources to help lenders file annual HMDA data collected in 2025 with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) in 2026.

The Bureau also released the Online Supplemental Guide for Quarterly Filers for 2025, which includes 2025 calendar year quarterly deadlines. This guide will help financial institutions that are required to file HMDA data on a quarterly basis.

The Online 2025 Filing Instructions Guide and the Supplemental Guide for Quarterly Filers for 2025 can also be accessed at https://ffiec.cfpb.gov under Guides for HMDA Filers.

The CFPB has announced a proposed rule with a narrow amendment to disclosure requirements for certain international money transfers, or remittances. The proposed amendment would provide consumers clearer information about the types of inquiries that may be better handled by their remittance company before contacting the CFPB or the relevant state regulator.

The proposal would amend certain disclosures to clarify that consumers should contact their remittance company for issues specific to their money transfer. The proposal can potentially save consumers time by resolving their inquiries more quickly. Additionally, it may reduce the number of inquiries sent to states and the CFPB that would be more appropriately addressed initially by the providers themselves.

Comments will be accepted through November 4, 2024. UPDATE:The proposal was published at 89 FR 79456 on 9/30/2024.

The OCC has announced enforcement actions recently taken against OCC-supervised institutions—

• A formal agreement with First Federal Savings Bank of Kentucky, Frankfort, Kentucky, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to strategic planning and budgeting, succession planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management
• A previously announced formal agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for deficiencies related to the bank’s financial crimes risk management practices and anti-money laundering internal controls in several areas
• An order of prohibition against Natasha A. Aikens, former lead associate at a Brooklyn, New York, branch of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Columbus, Ohio, for engaging in a scheme to steal bank funds and falsely reporting the receipt of counterfeit bills in the bank’s general ledger, resulting in losses to the bank of at least $201,000

FinCEN has announced its release of a Beneficial Ownership Reporting Outreach and Education Toolkit that can be used in efforts to educate small business owners about new beneficial ownership reporting requirements mandated by the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act.

The toolkit contains templates and sample content that has been structured to allow private, public, and non-profit organizations to share and amplify this important information. The toolkit includes general background on the reporting requirements, as well as templates for newsletters, websites, and emails; sample social media posts and images; and information on how to contact FinCEN.

The NCUA has announced that its Board of Directors yesterday approved a final rule incorporating its Second Chance Interpretive Ruling and Policy Statement and the Fair Hiring in Banking Act into its regulations, and a final rule that would simplify share insurance regulations by establishing a “trust accounts” category, aligning the Share Insurance Fund coverage for federally insured credit union members’ trust accounts with the coverage provided by the FDIC’s coverage of trust accounts at federally insured banks.