The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), alongside the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the agencies), with concurrence from the...more
6/30/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Exemptions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
NCUA ,
OCC ,
Patriot Act ,
Regulatory Requirements
On June 16, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a joint request for public comment on potential ways to address payments...more
6/25/2025
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
OCC ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On March 7, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a significant update regarding the involvement of national banks and federal savings associations in cryptocurrency activities. Interpretive Letter 1183...more
3/13/2025
/ Banks ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Interpretive Letters ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
On January 16, U.S. Representative Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced H.R. 478, the “Promoting New Bank Formation Act,” which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services. This bill aims to support the establishment and...more
2/27/2025
/ Agribusiness ,
Agricultural Land ,
Capital Requirements ,
Community Banks ,
Equal Access to Credit ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loans ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rural Areas ,
Small Business
Artificial intelligence is like a “baseline” that banks will implement for back-end operations, customer-facing tools like chatbots and digital banking services, said James Stevens, a partner at Troutman Pepper Locke....more
The most recent regulatory cycle addressed many of the BaaS sector’s weak programs and bad actors through enforcement actions the past two years, said James Stevens, a partner at law firm Troutman Pepper Locke, and that puts...more
In a previous post, we discussed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at enhancing recordkeeping for bank deposits received from fintech and other third-party, non-bank...more
11/20/2024
/ Bank Deposits ,
Comment Period ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Third-Party
In the latest episode of Payments Pros, hosts Carlin McCrory and Keith Barnett are joined by James Stevens to discuss recent enforcement actions in the banking as a service (BaaS) space. They delve into regulatory trends,...more
“Banks have to have the policies, the personnel and the procedures in place to be able to appropriately satisfy the regulatory obligations with respect to [that] due diligence,”...more
Yesterday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced an extension of the comment period for its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) aimed at revising the 2020 Brokered Deposit Rule. To ensure that all...more
The Georgia agency approved the Credorax application, but card networks refused to work with that company, said James Stevens, co-leader of the financial services industry group at the law firm Troutman Pepper....more
We previously posted on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at enhancing recordkeeping for bank deposits received from fintech and other third-party, non-bank companies....more
10/7/2024
/ Bank Deposits ,
Comment Period ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Third-Party
In a significant development since our last post, Fiserv’s application for a merchant acquirer limited purpose bank (MALPB) charter has been approved by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. This approval marks a...more
This is the second of three articles focused on a key question: as bank-fintech partnerships continue to play a vital role in driving financial services, how does the industry make this system safer and better?...more
10/4/2024
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Banks ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Management
Stripe has options to provide liquidity to investors beyond an IPO, one of which is a stock buyback, said James Stevens, a partner at the law firm Troutman Pepper who works with fintech companies. But “that takes away money...more
Yesterday, both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized new guidelines regarding bank mergers. According to the agencies, these updates aim to enhance...more
9/19/2024
/ Bank Merger Act ,
FDIC ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Merger Agreements ,
New Guidance ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements
On September 17, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposal) aimed at enhancing recordkeeping for bank deposits received from fintech and other third-party, non-bank...more
9/19/2024
/ Banks ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
New Rules ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Third-Party
This is the first of three articles focused on a key question: as bank-fintech partnerships continue to play a vital role in driving financial services, how does the industry make this system safer and better?...more
Regulators, Stevens said, calculate a de novo group’s capital requirement with a key principle in mind: an institution’s need to maintain about an 8% leverage ratio after three years of operations. That means that in addition...more
On July 30, 2024, the FDIC proposed substantive changes to the 2020 Brokered Deposit Rule (2020 Rule) that, if finalized, could meaningfully impact a wide group of bank and nonbank stakeholders who rely on the current rule’s...more
Last week, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) issued a joint statement highlighting...more
7/29/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Joint Statements ,
OCC ,
Risk Management ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Third-Party Relationships
On June 24, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced it is requesting comments on proposed amendments to its recovery planning guidelines. A recovery plan’s purpose is to provide a covered bank with a...more
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has recently issued a final rule amending its regulations governing the use of official FDIC signs and insured depository institutions’ (IDIs) advertising statements. The new...more
On April 19, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signed House Bill (HB) 2560 to regulate earned wage access (EWA) products and services. HB 2560 enacts the Earned Wage Access Services Act that requires EWA providers to be licensed by...more
4/26/2024
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Electronic Fund Transfer Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New Legislation ,
Payday Loans ,
Popular ,
Wage and Hour
On March 29, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced two more consent orders containing provisions relating to banks’ third-party risk management programs with respect to banking as a service (BaaS)...more