Regulatory Alerts
Stay informed of all regulatory changes, regardless of stage! Receive the latest Financial Services industry compliance news every week, including summaries of relevant announcements from more than 20 different regulatory bodies and overviews of personnel and products affected. Focusing on the changes that may impact your training and policy management programs our service covers the following agencies and more. The list below includes the most recent regulatory alerts from the past month:
Certain IRA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for 2024
Notice 2024-35 provides relief with respect to certain required minimum distributions (RMDs) that are not made in 2024. This relief was provided with respect to certain RMDs in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and is being extended in this notice to certain RMDs in 2024. Specifically, the notice provides that if certain requirements are met, a plan will not fail to be qualified for failing to make a specified RMD in 2024, and a taxpayer will not be assessed an excise tax for failing to take the RMD. This notice also announces that the final regulations intended to be published relating to RMDs are anticipated to apply for purposes of determining RMDs for calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. Notice 2024-35 will be in IRB: 2024-19, dated May 6, 2024.
Issue Date: 4/16/2024
Effective Date: 1/1/2025
CFPB Updates Supervision Designation Procedures
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a procedural rule to update how the agency designates a nonbank for supervision. The updates will streamline the designation proceedings for both the CFPB and nonbanks. The CFPB examines financial institutions, including many nonbanks, for compliance with federal consumer financial protection law. The examinations can help identify issues before they become systemic or cause significant harm. As with other supervisory agencies, CFPB examinations are confidential. The CFPB periodically publishes Supervisory Highlights, which share summaries of exam findings without naming specific institutions.
Issue Date: 4/16/2024
Effective Date: 4/16/2024
The National Credit Union Administration Board held its third open meeting of 2024 and unanimously approved an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that solicits stakeholder comments on ways the agency can improve and update its records preservation program regulations and accompanying guidelines in Part 749 and other parts of the NCUA’s rules and regulations.
Issue Date: 4/18/2024
Comments Due: 6/18/2024
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Financial Trend Analysis today focusing on patterns and trends identified in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data linked to Elder Financial Exploitation (EFE), or the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets. FinCEN examined BSA reports filed between June 15, 2022 and June 15, 2023 that either used the key term referenced in FinCEN’s June 2022 EFE Advisory or checked “Elder Financial Exploitation” as a suspicious activity type. This amounted to 155,415 filings over this period indicating roughly $27 billion in EFE-related suspicious activity.
Issue Date: 4/18/2024
FinCEN Issues Notice on the Use of Counterfeit U.S. Passport Cards to Perpetrate Identity Theft and Fraud Schemes at Financial Institutions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in close coordination with the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, issued a Notice to financial institutions on fraud schemes related to the use of counterfeit U.S. passport cards. The Notice provides an overview of typologies associated with U.S. passport card fraud, highlights select red flags to assist financial institutions in identifying and reporting suspicious activity, and reminds financial institutions of their reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Issue Date: 4/15/2024
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced today that it will extend until June 15, 2024, the comment period on its proposal to update its rules for business combinations to allow interested parties more time to provide comments.
Issue Date: 4/10/2024
Comments Due: 6/15/2024
CFPB Report Identifies Financial and Privacy Risks to Consumers in Video Gaming Marketplaces
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report examining the growth of financial transactions in online video games and virtual worlds. These platforms increasingly resemble traditional banking and payment systems that facilitate the storage and exchange of billions of dollars in assets, including virtual currencies. However, consumers report being harmed by scams or theft on gaming platforms and not receiving the protections they would expect under federal law. The CFPB will be monitoring markets where financial products and services are offered, including video games and virtual worlds, to ensure compliance with federal consumer financial protection laws.
Issue Date: 4/4/2024
SEC Adopts Reforms Relating to Investment Advisers Operating Exclusively Through the Internet
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to the rule permitting certain internet investment advisers to register with the Commission (the “internet adviser exemption”). The amendments will require an investment adviser relying on the internet adviser exemption to have at all times an operational interactive website through which the adviser provides digital investment advisory services on an ongoing basis to more than one client. The amendments will also eliminate the current rule’s de minimis exception by requiring an internet investment adviser to provide advice to all of its clients exclusively through an operational interactive website and to make certain corresponding changes to Form ADV.
Issue Date: 3/27/2024
Effective Date: 7/1/2024
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing a request for information (RFI) related to existing requirements for banks under the Customer Identification Program (CIP) Rule to collect a taxpayer identification number (TIN) from a customer prior to opening an account. Generally, for a customer who is an individual and a U.S. person, banks are required to collect a full Social Security number (SSN) from a customer. The RFI is being issued in consultation with staff at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Issue Date: 3/28/2024
Comments Due: 6/1/2024
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new circular warning remittance transfer providers that false advertising about the cost or speed of sending a remittance transfer can violate federal law. Companies in the marketplace are charging junk fees on international money transfers and making false claims about the speed of transfers. The circular highlights several marketing practices relating to sending international money transfers that may violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (CFPA) prohibition on deceptive acts or practices. This prohibition is enforced by the CFPB, states, and other regulators. Guidance in the circular applies both to traditional providers of international money transfers and to “digital wallets” that offer the capability to send money internationally from the United States.
Issue Date: 3/27/2024
FDIC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Revisions to its Statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions
The revised SOP reflects legislative and other developments that have occurred since it was last amended in 2008, including the establishment of the statutory factor regarding the risk to the stability of the United States banking or financial system. The revised SOP is principles based; describes the types of applications subject to FDIC approval; addresses each statutory factor separately; and highlights other relevant matters and considerations, such as related statutes pertaining to interstate mergers, and applications from non-banks or banks that are not traditional community banks. Further, the revised SOP reflects consideration of comment letters received in response to the FDIC’s March 2022 Request for Information and Comment on Rules, Regulations, Guidance, and Statements of Policy Regarding Bank Merger Transactions.
Issue Date: 3/21/2024
Comments Due: 5/24/2024
Agencies Extend Applicability Date of Certain Provisions of their Community Reinvestment Act Final Rule
To promote clarity and consistency, the agencies extended the applicability date of the facility-based assessment areas and public file provisions from April 1, 2024, to January 1, 2026. Therefore, banks will not have to make changes to their assessment areas or their public files as a result of the 2023 CRA final rule until January 1, 2026. This extension aligns these provisions with other substantive parts of the 2023 CRA final rule that are applicable on January 1, 2026. For example, all provisions about where banks are evaluated will now apply on the same date. Comments on the extended applicability date must be received 45 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.
Issue Date: 3/21/2024
Effective Date: 1/1/2026
CFPB Bans Excessive Credit Card Late Fees, Lowers Typical Fee from $32 to $8
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule today to cut excessive credit card late fees by closing a loophole exploited by large card issuers. It lowers the amount an issuer can charge for late fees to $8, however exceptions are permissible for large issuers in situations where they can prove the higher fee is necessary to cover their actual collection costs. It also ends the abuse of the automatic annual inflation adjustment. The CFPB’s final rule applies to the largest credit card issuers, those with more than 1 million open accounts.
Issue Date: 3/5/2024
Effective Date: 5/5/2024
Federal Reserve Board announces final rule that updates risk management requirements for certain systemically important financial market utilities (FMUs) supervised by the Board
The final updates provide additional clarity and specificity to existing requirements in four key areas of operational risk management: incident management and notification; business continuity management and planning; third-party risk management; and review and testing of operational risk management measures. For example, the updates explicitly require FMUs to establish an incident management framework and emphasize the need for FMUs to continue to advance their cyber resilience capabilities.
Issue Date: 3/8/2024
Effective Date: 6/9/2024
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to keep criminals and foreign adversaries from exploiting the U.S. financial system and assets through investment advisers. This proposed rule, which complements Treasury’s other recent actions to combat the illicit finance risks from anonymous companies and all-cash real estate transactions, will add further transparency to the U.S. financial system and help assist law enforcement in identifying illicit proceeds entering the U.S. economy.
Issue Date: 2/13/2024
Comments Due: 4/15/2024
SEC Adopts Rules to Include Certain Significant Market Participants as “Dealers” or “Government Securities Dealers”
The Rules Are Intended to Require Additional Market Participants, Including Certain Proprietary Trading Firms, Private Funds and Investment Advisers, to Register with the SEC as Dealers or Government Securities Dealers. The Final Rules and related adopting release also provided additional guidance regarding some of the key terms and concepts, including the “own account” definition. Under the final rules, any person that engages in activities as described in the rules is a “dealer” or “government securities dealer” and, absent an exception or exemption, required to: register with the Commission under Section 15(a) or Section 15C, as applicable; become a member of an SRO; and comply with federal securities laws and regulatory obligations and applicable SRO and Treasury rules and requirements.
Issue Date: 2/5/2024
Effective Date: 4/6/2024
The federal bank regulatory agencies today published their first of a series of requests for comment to reduce regulatory burden. The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 requires the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and federal bank regulatory agencies to review their regulations every 10 years to identify any outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements for their supervised institutions.
Issue Date: 2/6/2024
Comments Due: 5/12/2024
Federal Reserve Board announces it will extend the comment period on its interchange fee proposal until May 12, 2024 and published additional related data
Interchange fees are paid by merchants and received by debit card issuers for each debit card transaction. In October 2023, the Board requested comment on a proposal to lower the maximum interchange fee that a large debit card issuer can receive for a debit card transaction. The proposal would also establish a regular process for updating the maximum amount every other year going forward. By law, the Board is required to establish standards for assessing whether an interchange fee received by a large debit card issuer for processing a debit card transaction is reasonable and proportional to certain issuer costs.
Issue Date: 1/22/2024
Comments Due: 5/12/2024
Agencies Monitored:
- CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
- FDIC (The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
- IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
- OCC (The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
- Federal Reserve, NCUA (The National Credit Union Administration)
- FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)
- HUD (The Department of Housing and Urban Development)
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