May 31, 2007 - The 2007 issue of A Guide to HMDA Reporting has been posted online by the FFIEC. The Guide provides a summary of responsibilities and requirements, directions for assembling the necessary tools, and step-by-step instructions for reporting HMDA data. http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/guide.htm

May 31, 2007 - The FRB has announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has agreed to transfer the collection and processing of HMDA data from each Federal Reserve District to the HMDA Operations Unit at the FRB beginning with the calendar year 2007 HMDA data collected in 2008. http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/pdf/frsprocedurechange.pdf

May 30, 2007 - The Federal Reserve Board announced its adoption of final amendments to Regulation O to eliminate certain reporting requirements. These amendments, identical to those previously adopted as an interim rule on 12/11/2006, implement section 601 of the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20070529b.htm

May 24, 2007 - The FRB has issued for public comment proposed amendments to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) that are intended to improve the effectiveness of the disclosures consumers receive in connection with credit card accounts and other revolving credit plans by ensuring that information is provided in a timely manner and in a form that is readily understandable. The proposed amendments principally focus on the rules for open-end credit accounts that are not home-secured, chiefly general-purpose and retail credit card plans. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20070523a.htm

May 23, 2007 - FinCEN has updated the 314(a) Fact Sheet and the Law Enforcement Information Sharing with the Financial Industry Report with data current as of May 22, 2007. http://www.fincen.gov/314afactsheet.pdf and http://www.fincen.gov/leinfosharing.pdf

May 18, 2007 - The United Stated Court of Appeals for the First Circuit dismissed a case where the lender used the incorrect model rescission form. The plaintiffs argued that the general rescission form was used instead of one denoting a refinance by the same lender. The court ruled that the disclosure provided may have been incorrect, but was clear, conspicuous and acceptable. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=1st/061769.html

May 17, 2007 - HUD has posted its Race and Ethnic Data Reporting Forms (HUD-27061 and HUD-27061-H) in fillable pdf and Word formats online. http://hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/cgi/pdfforms/27061.pdf and http://hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/cgi/pdfforms/27061-h.doc

May 17, 2007 - The Federal Reserve has posted the new reference rates that lenders must use to determine if loans for which applications are received in June 2007 will be subject to HOEPA under the APR trigger test. Use the FRB H.15 to find applicable release which lists the Treasury Security with the same maturity term as your loan. To make the calculation, you use the yield in effect on the 15th of the month that precedes the month you received the application. http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update/ and http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/

May 17, 2007 - The FDIC has issued a FIL regarding the recent approval of guidelines for determining adjustments to be made to the quarterly assessment rates of large Risk Category I insured institutions. http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2007/fil07040.html

May 17, 2007 - FinCen has issued the May 2007 issue of the SAR Activity Review Trends, Tips and Issues. http://www.fincen.gov/sarreviewissue11.pdf

May 17, 2007 - In a speech before the Chicago Fed's Annual Conference on Bank Structure and Competition, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke addressed the subprime mortgage market. To read more, visit: http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/Speeches/2007/20070517/default.htm

May 16, 2007 - The Federal Reserve has posted the new reference rates that lenders must use to determine if loans for which applications are received in June 2007 will be subject to HOEPA under the APR trigger test. Use the FRB H.15 to find applicable release which lists the Treasury Security with the same maturity term as your loan. To make the calculation, you use the yield in effect on the 15th of the month that precedes the month you received the application. http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update/ and http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/

May 16, 2007 - FinCEN has published the May 2007 issue of the SAR Activity Review Trends, Tips and Issues. http://www.fincen.gov/sarreviewissue11.pdf

May 16, 2007 - The May 15, 2007 issue of the Federal Reserve Board publication FedFlash has been issued. http://www.frbservices.org/FedFlash/2007/051507/FedFlash051507.pdf

May 15, 2007 - The House has passed, by a 414-3 vote, a bill (H.R. 890) intended to end unethical practices in the student loan industry. The Student Loan Sunshine Act, among other things, would require additional disclosures from both lenders and educational institutions. http://edworkforce.house.gov/publications/050807SunshineAct.pdf

May 15, 2007 - The FDIC has published the Spring 2007 edition of Consumer News featuring faster ways to pay and bank using high-tech cards and phones. http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnspr07/

May 15, 2007 - The Federal Reserve Board has announced the approval of amendments to Appendix A of Regulation CC that reflect the restructuring of the check processing operations of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and provide notice relating to future changes to Appendix A. http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/bcreg/2007/20070515/default.htm

May 14, 2007 - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will host a credit risk workshop for national community bank directors at the Congress Hotel, Cape May, New Jersey, June 19. http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2007-45.htm

May 8, 2007 - The FDIC Board of Directors has approved guidelines for determining how adjustments of up to 0.50 basis points (never to exceed the maximum rate or fall below the minimum rate) will be made to the quarterly assessment rates of insured institutions defined as large (generally, over $10 billion in assets) Risk Category I institutions (generally, well-capitalized institutions with CAMELS composite ratings of 1 or 2), and insured foreign branches in Risk Category I, according to the recently adopted Assessments Regulation (12 C.F.R. § 327.9). These guidelines provide further clarification to the analytical processes, and the controls that will be applied to these processes, in making assessment rate adjustment determinations. http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2007/fil07040.html

May 8, 2007 - FinCEN has updated the 314a Fact Sheet and the Law Enforcement Information Sharing Report. http://www.fincen.gov/314afactsheet.pdf and http://www.fincen.gov/leinfosharing.pdf

May 8, 2007 - The FFIEC has issued the HUD 2007 Estimated Metropolitan Area Median Family Income data. http://www.ffiec.gov/cra/censusproducts.htm#MSAincome

May 7, 2007 - FinCEN has issued an advisory to inform banks and other financial institutions operating in the United States that FinCEN Advisory Issue 32, regarding the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is hereby withdrawn. http://www.fincen.gov/Nigeria_Withdrawal.html

May 7, 2007 - The FFIEC has updated its HMDA frequently asked questions (FAQs) Web page. http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/faqreg.htm

May 4, 2007 - The FDIC has issued a Special Alert concerning E-mails fraudulently claiming to be from the FDIC. These E-mails are attempting to trick recipients into installing unknown software on personal computers. These E-mails falsely indicate that recipients should install software that was developed by the FDIC and other agencies. The software may be a forms of spyware for malicious code and may collect personal or confidential information. http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/alerts/index.html

May 3, 2007 - The U.S. Departments of Treasury, Justice, and Homeland Security have issuing the 2007 National Money Laundering Strategy, a report detailing continued efforts to dismantle money laundering and terrorist financing networks and bring these criminals to justice. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp386.htm

May 3, 2007 - The FDIC has issued the quarterly Letter to Stakeholders, which reports on the FDIC's priorities and activities for the first quarter of 2007. http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2007/fil07038.html

May 3, 2007 - The Federal Reserve Board has announced that it will hold a public hearing under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) on June 14, to gather information on how it might use its rulemaking authority to curb abusive lending practices in the home mortgage market, including the subprime sector. http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/bcreg/2007/20070503/default.htm

May 2, 2007 - The OCC has posted the April 2007 New Electronic Interpretations and Actions. http://www.occ.treas.gov/interp/apr07/intapr07.htm

May 2, 2007 - The May 1, 2007 issue of the Federal Reserve Board publication FedFlash has been issued. http://www.frbservices.org/FedFlash/2007/050107/FedFlash050107.pdf