Alerts Now

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:

  • 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)
  • Alerts Now
    suitcase image

    NCUA Board Approves Final Rule on Financial Innovation

    Issue Date:September 21, 2023
    Agency:NCUA
    Highlights:

    The NCUA Board approved a financial innovation final rule(opens new window) that clarifies the NCUA’s current regulations and provides flexibility for federally insured credit unions to take advantage of advanced technologies and opportunities offered by the financial technology sector.

    Reference:
    NCUA Board Approves Final Rule on Financial Innovation | NCUA
    Personnel Affected:Risk managers, board of directors, CEO
    Status:Final Rule
    Keywords:
    Effective Date:10/25/2023
    Institution Types Affected:Credit unions
    Institution Action Items:Review the final rule and perform a risk assessment on whether expanding into indirect lending and other financial innovations is appropriate.
    suitcase image

    CFPB Kicks Off Rulemaking to Remove Medical Bills from Credit Reports

    Issue Date:September 21, 2023
    Agency:CFPB
    Highlights:

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced it is beginning a rulemaking process to remove medical bills from Americans’ credit reports. The CFPB outlined proposals under consideration that would help families financially recover from medical crises, stop debt collectors from coercing people into paying bills they may not even owe, and ensure that creditors are not relying on data that is often plagued with inaccuracies and mistakes.

    Reference:
    CFPB Kicks Off Rulemaking to Remove Medical Bills from Credit Reports | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)
    Personnel Affected:Loan servicers, debt collectors, underwriters
    Status:Announced
    Keywords:medical debt
    Effective Date:
    Institution Types Affected:Loan servicers, debt collectors, underwriters
    Institutional Products Affected:Review the outline of proposals and submit comment once the comment period opens.
    suitcase image

    CFPB Issues Guidance on Credit Denials by Lenders Using Artificial Intelligence

    Issue Date:September 19, 2023
    Agency:CFPB
    Highlights:

    Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued guidance about certain legal requirements that lenders must adhere to when using artificial intelligence and other complex models. The guidance describes how lenders must use specific and accurate reasons when taking adverse actions against consumers. This means that creditors cannot simply use CFPB sample adverse action forms and checklists if they do not reflect the actual reason for the denial of credit or a change of credit conditions. This requirement is especially important with the growth of advanced algorithms and personal consumer data in credit underwriting. Explaining the reasons for adverse actions help improve consumers’ chances for future credit, and protect consumers from illegal discrimination.

    Reference:
    CFPB Issues Guidance on Credit Denials by Lenders Using Artificial Intelligence | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)
    Personnel Affected:Consumer lenders, underwriters
    Status:Guidance
    Keywords:AI, algorithmic underwriting
    Effective Date:
    Institution Types Affected:Consumer lenders, underwriters
    Institution Action Items:Review Adverse Action Notice policies to ensure that the listed reasons are always accurate.
    Institutional Products Affected:Consumer lending products
    suitcase image

    Agencies request comment on proposed rule to require large banks to maintain long-term debt to improve financial stability and resolution

    Issue Date:August 29, 2023
    Agency:Federal Reserve
    Highlights:

    Federal bank regulatory agencies today requested comment on a proposal that would require large banks with total assets of $100 billion or more to maintain a layer of long-term debt, which would improve financial stability by increasing the resolvability and resiliency of such institutions. This proposal follows an advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued in October 2022 by the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that looked at several possible changes, including a long-term debt requirement to promote more orderly resolutions for large banks. The recent failures of three large banks have underscored the importance of supplementary, loss absorbing resources that regulators can use to resolve banks in a way that reduces costs and risk of disruption to the banking system. By requiring each large bank to maintain a minimum amount of long-term debt to absorb losses, the proposal would increase the options available to resolve such banks in case of failure. Additionally, by reducing the risk that uninsured depositors would face losses, long-term debt can reduce the speed and severity of bank runs, and limit the risk of contagion when a bank is under stress.

    Reference:

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20230829a.htm

     

    Personnel Affected:Board of Directors, CEO, CFO
    Status:Comments Due
    Keywords:bank stability
    Effective Date:11/30/2023
    Institution Types Affected:Banks with asset size of $100 million or greater
    Institution Action Items:Banks that meet or exceed the asset size threshold should review the proposal and provide any applicable comments before the comment period due date expires
    suitcase image

    Agencies propose guidance to enhance resolution planning at large banks

    Issue Date:July 29, 2023
    Agency:Federal Reserve
    Highlights:

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve Board invited public comment on proposed guidance to help certain large bank holding companies further develop their Dodd-Frank Act Title I resolution plans. These resolution plans, also known as “living wills,” describe a bank holding company’s strategy for rapid and orderly resolution under bankruptcy in the event of material financial distress or failure. The guidance would generally apply to bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations with more than $250 billion in total assets but that are not the largest and most complex companies, which are already subject to guidance on resolution planning. The guidance would address the specific characteristics of, and risks posed by, this group of companies. The guidance is organized around key areas of potential vulnerability, such as capital, liquidity, and operational capabilities that could be needed in resolution. Distinct from the guidance to the largest and most complex companies, the proposal would provide agency expectations for both single point of entry and multiple point of entry strategy needs, which are different strategies companies may adopt for their rapid and orderly resolution. It also would propose that foreign banking organizations develop their U.S. resolution strategies to be complementary to their global resolution plans.

    Reference:

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20230829b.htm

    Personnel Affected:Board of Directors, CEO, CFO
    Status:Comments Due
    Keywords:living will, resolution plan
    Effective Date:11/30/2023
    Institution Types Affected:Banks with asset size of $250 Billion or greater
    Institution Action Items:Banks that meet or exceed the asset size threshold should review the proposal and provide any applicable comments before the comment period due date expires
    suitcase image

    Federal Reserve announces that its new system for instant payments, the FedNow® Service, is now live

    Issue Date:July 20, 2023
    Agency:Federal Reserve
    Highlights:

    The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced that its new system for instant payments, the FedNow® Service, is now live. Banks and credit unions of all sizes can sign up and use this tool to instantly transfer money for their customers, any time of the day, on any day of the year.

    Reference:
    Federal Reserve Board – Federal Reserve announces that its new system for instant payments, the FedNow® Service, is now live
    Personnel Affected:Operations manager
    Status:Announced
    Keywords:payments
    Effective Date:
    Institution Types Affected:Banks and credit unions
    Institution Action Items:Sign up for FedNow
    Institutional Products Affected:Deposit transaction accounts
    suitcase image

    NCUA Board Approves Final Member Expulsion Rule

    Issue Date:July 20, 2023
    Agency:NCUA
    Highlights:

    The NCUA Board unanimously approved a final rule(opens new window) that amends the standard federal credit union bylaws to adopt a policy by which a federal credit union member may be expelled for cause by a two-thirds vote of a quorum of the credit union’s board of directors.

    Reference:
    NCUA Board Approves Final Member Expulsion Rule | NCUA
    Personnel Affected:Board of Directors
    Status:Final Rule
    Keywords:expulsion
    Effective Date:08/23/2023
    Institution Types Affected:Federal credit unions
    Institution Action Items:Develop a policy outlining the process for expelling a member for cause
    suitcase image

    FTC and DOJ Seek Comment on Draft Merger Guidelines

    Issue Date:July 19, 2023
    Agency:FTC
    Highlights:

    Today, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are releasing a draft update of the Merger Guidelines, which describe and guide the agencies’ review of mergers and acquisitions to determine compliance with federal antitrust laws. The goal of this update is to better reflect how the agencies determine a merger’s effect on competition in the modern economy and evaluate proposed mergers under the law. Both agencies encourage the public to review the draft and provide feedback through a public comment period that will last 60 days.

    Reference:
    FTC and DOJ Seek Comment on Draft Merger Guidelines | Federal Trade Commission
    Personnel Affected:Board of Directors
    Status:Comments Due
    Keywords:mergers
    Effective Date:09/18/2023
    Institution Types Affected:all institutions
    Institution Action Items:Submit comment on the proposed guidance
    suitcase image

    FTC Seeks Comment on New Parental Consent Mechanism Under COPPA

    Issue Date:July 19, 2023
    Agency:FTC
    Highlights:

    Under the COPPA Rule, online sites and services directed to children under 13 must obtain parental consent before collecting or using personal information from a child. The Rule lays out a number of acceptable methods for gaining parental consent but also includes a provision allowing interested parties to submit new verifiable parental consent methods to the Commission for approval.

    Reference:
    FTC Seeks Comment on New Parental Consent Mechanism Under COPPA | Federal Trade Commission
    Personnel Affected:Marketing manager
    Status:Comments Due
    Keywords:minors, marketing
    Effective Date:08/21/2023
    Institution Types Affected:all institutions
    Institution Action Items:Submit comment on the proposed rule
    Institutional Products Affected:Youth deposit accounts
    suitcase image

    FCC Proposes to Strengthen Consumers’ Robocall & Robotext Rights

    Issue Date:June 9, 2023
    Agency:FCC
    Highlights:

    Initiates a proceeding to clarify and strengthen consumers’ ability to revoke consent to receive both robocalls and robotexts. Doing so will also clarify callers’ obligations under the Commission’s rules to honor such requests in a timely manner.

    Reference:
    FCC Proposes to Strengthen Consumers’ Robocall & Robotext Rights | Federal Communications Commission
    Personnel Affected:Compliance officer
    Status:Comments Due
    Keywords:marketing, solicitation
    Effective Date:07/12/2023
    Institution Types Affected:all institutions
    Institution Action Items:Submit comment on the proposed rule
    Institutional Products Affected:all products