The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a press release announcing a civil money penalty for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act against Eric Powers, an individual who acted as a peer-to-peer virtual currency exchanger. The enforcement action is the first-ever penalty assessed by FinCEN against a peer-to-peer virtual currency exchanger. Our alert discusses this recent… Read More
Tag Archives: Regulatory Developments
Banking Agencies Propose a More Tiered Approach to Large Foreign Bank Supervision
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn April 8, 2019, the federal banking agencies released two proposals which, if adopted, would further tailor the approach to supervision of large foreign banking organizations (FBOs). For FBOs with a more significant U.S. presence, the proposals would establish categories for the application of requirements based on size and certain other risk-based indicators. These categories would… Read More
Federal Reserve and FDIC Issue Proposed Changes to Resolution Plan Requirements for Foreign and Domestic Banking Organizations
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn April 8 and 16, 2019, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC published proposed changes to resolution plan (or “living will”) requirements applicable to U.S. and foreign banking organizations. The regulatory changes are necessary because the 2018 Regulatory Relief Act raised the asset thresholds for applicability of the living will requirements. The proposal would apply different… Read More
CFPB and New York Attorney General Announce Settlement with Retailer for Violations of TILA and CFPA
Posted in CFPB, Credit Cards, Regulatory DevelopmentsOn January 16, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the New York Attorney General announced a settlement with a retailer for alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and the Truth in Lending Act, as well as New York State law arising out of the retailer’s sales practices for its store… Read More
Agencies Propose Conforming Amendments to Volcker Rule Regulations
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn December 18, 2018, five federal agencies released a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) to conform the regulations implementing the Volcker Rule to statutory modifications provided by Sections 203 and 204 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Regulatory Relief Act”). The Proposed Rule will not change the manner in which the Volcker Rule is currently… Read More
Agencies Issue Further Guidance Regarding Emerging Approaches to BSA/AML Compliance
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn December 3, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, National Credit Union Administration, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a joint statement regarding “innovative approaches” to Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance. This is the second joint statement… Read More
California Enacts a First-of-Its-Kind Commercial Financing Disclosure Law
Posted in Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsOn September 30, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1235, which requires disclosures of key terms in connection with certain commercial financing by non-banks and could impact bank/non-bank arrangements as well. With the passage of the Act, California became the first state to require consumer-style disclosures for commercial financing. The Act is… Read More
The CFPB Catches Up to the FAST Act: Implements GLBA Annual Notice Exception
Posted in CFPB, Privacy, Regulatory DevelopmentsOn August 17, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection published a final rule amending its Regulation P to include an exception to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act annual privacy notice obligation. Nearly three years ago, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) amended the GLBA to provide for such an exception. The CFPB has now… Read More
Treasury and the OCC Make Significant Fintech Announcements
Posted in Electronic Payments, Mobile Payments, Regulatory DevelopmentsTwo key federal government announcements were made on July 31, 2018 related to fintech issues. First, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a press release announcing a report entitled “Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation.” The Report is the fourth and final in a series of reports prepared by Treasury in response to President Trump’s… Read More
Are You a Money Transmitter in California?
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsOne of the most important questions facing non-bank providers of payments services is whether they are subject to regulation under U.S. state money transmission laws. Though almost all U.S. states regulate money transmitters, there are a number of states that provide exemptions for entities that act as an agent of the payee. While a small… Read More
The 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act: California Scraps Ballot Initiative and Passes Sweeping Data Privacy Regulation
Posted in Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsWith the passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (AB 375), the United States now has its first truly sweeping privacy regime. On Thursday, June 28, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law what is arguably the most expansive privacy legislation in U.S. history. The Act is the product of backroom wrangling… Read More
Are You a Money Transmitter in Vermont?
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsThe Banking Department of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation recently entered into a consent order with a money transmission licensing applicant. The consent order makes it clear that “Vermont does not exempt a payment processor or an agent of a payee from [money transmission] licensure.” Vermont’s position is at odds with the recent trend… Read More
California SB1-Plus? GDPR-Like? Considerations for Financial Institutions in Evaluating the California Consumer Privacy Act
Posted in Privacy, Regulatory DevelopmentsFinancial institutions in the United States are no strangers to privacy regulations, particularly given the obligations imposed by the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) and the California Financial Information Privacy Act (“SB1”). More recently, financial institutions have been focused on whether and/or the extent to which the EU’s GDPR may apply to their U.S. operations. Many financial institutions,… Read More
Financial Regulatory Reform Legislation Proceeds through Congress
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn May 22, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 2155, the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.” The bill was passed on a bipartisan basis with a vote of 258-159. The bill was previously passed by the U.S. Senate on March 14, 2018. Now that identical legislation has passed both houses… Read More
South Carolina’s Money Transmission Law Comes into Effect
Posted in Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsYesterday, the Office of the South Carolina Attorney General issued a press release announcing that it has created a Money Services Division within the AG’s office and that, effective May 14, the Division is accepting applications for licensure under South Carolina’s money transmission law. This law, officially known as the South Carolina Anti-Money Laundering Act,… Read More
Senate Passes Financial Regulatory Reform Bill
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn March 14, 2018, the U.S. Senate passed S. 2155, the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.” If enacted into law, S. 2155 would provide modest regulatory relief to regional and community banks, among other things. The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support through a vote of 67 to 31. In this… Read More
SEC Breaks Silence on Certain Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsOn March 7, 2018, the staff of the Divisions of Enforcement and Trading and Markets of the SEC issued a public statement regarding exchanges and other secondary trading platforms that list and/or facilitate the trading of coins and tokens online. The statement emphasizes that platforms offering the trading of digital assets that are securities, including… Read More
OCIE Announces Its 2018 Examination Priorities
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsThe SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) has published its 2018 examination priorities. Not surprisingly, it will continue to focus on the protection of retail investors and ensuring that registrants are appropriately disclosing or resolving conflicts of interest. In addition, OCIE will pay particular attention to developments in cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs). OCIE… Read More
2018: Business As (Un)usual – European Financial & Regulatory Developments into 2018
Posted in Regulatory Developments2017 in the UK and the rest of Europe seems to have been primarily a year devoted to implementation – both of political decisions already made and of legislation that had already been enacted. On the political front, Brexit continued to dominate many conversations around EU financial services. Theories circulated that EU decisions on various… Read More
CFPB Amends Prepaid Accounts Rule and Delays its Effective Date
Posted in CFPB, Credit Cards, Regulatory DevelopmentsOn January 25, 2018, the CFPB finalized amendments to its final Prepaid Accounts Rule, which was published in November 2016. The Bureau stated that the 2018 Amendments finalize revisions proposed in June 2017 “generally as proposed, with certain modifications.” The 2018 Amendments address some of the issues raised by industry and delay the effective date… Read More
Are You a Money Transmitter in Connecticut? In Hawaii?
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsOne of the defining aspects of the payments revolution of the past few years—at least from a regulatory perspective—has been the question of whether a particular payments service is subject to regulation as money transmission. A number of states have determined that under certain conditions, state money transmission licensing laws do not apply to services provided… Read More
Financing Fintech: ILC Charters
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsAn ILC, or industrial loan company, is a form of bank that can be chartered in Utah, Nevada, and a few other states. ILCs are insured by the FDIC and have most traditional banking powers, but they cannot hold corporate checking accounts. Significantly, an ILC is not a bank under the Bank Holding Company Act,… Read More
Treasury Report, Part II: Regulation of the Capital Markets
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsThe U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department” or “Treasury”) issued its second report (of four reports), titled “A Financial System that Creates Economic Opportunities, Capital Markets” (the “Report”). The Report was issued in response to Presidential Order 137772 setting forth the Core Principles that should guide regulation of the U.S. financial system. The Report… Read More
CFPB Releases Final Payday Lending Rule
Posted in CFPB, Payday Lending, Regulatory DevelopmentsOn October 5, 2017, the CFPB released its final rule for short-term loans. The nearly 1,700 page rule appears to follow the proposed short-term lending rule with several notable changes. Most notably, the CFPB did not finalize rules relating to underwriting requirements for long-term loans that do not have balloon payments. Read our client alert.