On January 10, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued a proposed interpretive rule that would expand the Bureau’s consumer protection authority under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and...more
1/30/2025
/ Comment Period ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Electronic Fund Transfer Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation E ,
Stablecoins
On May 30, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Cantero v. Bank of America, vacating and remanding a decision by the Second Circuit that concluded that the federally authorized powers of national banks under...more
On June 6, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued a request for information (RFI) on the “uses, opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial services sector.” The RFI seeks...more
A flurry of activity on January 27 signaled continued skepticism from the Federal Reserve of crypto-asset-related activities generally and open, public or decentralized networks in particular....more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has continued a spate of regulatory activity related to financial crimes compliance matters in the first year of the Biden Administration, recapped in its recent report...more
7/15/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Human Trafficking ,
No-Action Letters ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Ransomware ,
Significant Transnational Criminal Organization ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Virtual Currency
From June 2 to June 4, leading central bankers, policymakers, regulators, private sector CEOs, civil society members and academics gathered for the Green Swan 2021 Global Virtual Conference.
The conference was co-hosted...more
6/8/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Reporting ,
Insurance Industry ,
International Financial Reporting Standards ,
International Monetary Fund ,
Paris Agreement ,
Professional Conferences ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
Transparency ,
United Nations
On May 20, President Biden issued his Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk (“Order”) which requires federal agencies to assess the potential impacts of climate change on public and private financial institutions...more
Anti-money laundering (“AML”) issues have been a focus of regulators and law enforcement for the past decade and will likely continue to be a priority issue area for the Biden Administration. The AML landscape is shifting...more
2/12/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
NDAA ,
Patriot Act ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On December 17, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury (OCC); the Federal Reserve; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require...more
12/22/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Regulators ,
Banks ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Financial Institutions ,
GLBA Privacy ,
NPRM ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Two recent actions by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) - one enforcement action and one interpretive note - focus attention on the kinds of anti–money laundering (AML) controls needed for banks to custody...more
8/7/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
OCC
In a significant move to provide liquidity to U.S. corporations, the Federal Reserve Board announced today that it will establish a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (“CPFF2020”). The Federal Reserve’s action parallels its...more
The US House of Representatives recently passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, H.R. 1595 (the Act), which, if it becomes law, would have far-reaching implications for financial institutions considering...more
10/7/2019
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Criminal Proceeds ,
Depository Institutions ,
Dispensaries ,
Farm Bill ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Money Laundering ,
Pending Legislation ,
SAFE Act ,
Safe Harbors
The myriad—and conflicting—state, federal and international laws governing the burgeoning marijuana industry have created a complicated legal landscape for financial institutions. In the United States, most states have...more
2/8/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Canada ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cole Memorandum ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Farm Bill ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Hemp ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
State and Local Government ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Last week the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued much-anticipated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that provide additional guidance to financial institutions relating to the implementation of the new...more
On July 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau) announced its long-anticipated final rule to prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements to block consumer class actions in contracts...more
Yesterday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (Fed), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a joint advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) recently finalized a regulation that mandates detailed elements of the anti-money laundering (AML) transaction monitoring and sanctions filtering programs of covered...more
In this article we highlight the role played by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in regulating small business lending. Broadly speaking, the bureau’s jurisdiction is limited to the marketplace for consumer financial...more
5/23/2016
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Data Collection ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Financial Institutions ,
HMDA ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Redlining ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Richard Cordray ,
Small Business ,
UDAAP
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed long-expected regulations that would extend anti-money laundering (AML) requirements to federally registered investment advisers (RIA). The August 25, 2015...more
9/4/2015
/ Banking Examinations ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Industry Examinations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
SAR
On July 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) announced the final rule amending the Military Lending Act’s (“MLA”) implementing regulations. The changes apply the MLA’s strict lending restrictions to consumer...more
7/23/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Interest Rates ,
Loan Documentation ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Military Lending Act ,
Military Service Members ,
Regulation Z ,
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
For the first time in a decade, the Treasury Department has released its own anti–money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing Risk Assessments, which may both set a strategic framework for future AML regulatory...more
6/19/2015
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Banking Sector ,
Casinos ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Currency ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
Prepaid Payment Products ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities ,
U.S. Treasury