Bankers Compliance Task Force Current News Archive - February 2005
February 28, 2005 The OCC recently revised one of the booklets in the Comptroller's Handbook for Consumer Compliance. The booklet updates interagency examination procedures for such laws and regulations as the Homeowners Protection Act, the Consumer Leasing Act, the "Disclosure and Reporting of CR-Related Agreements," and the "Prohibition Against Use of Interstate Branches Primarily for Deposit Production". http://www.occ.treas.gov/
February 28, 2005 Concerns about the BSA due diligence burdens of banks serving MSBs spurs FinCEN to convene a meeting of the Bank Secrecy Advisory Group to address policy and examination issues. The meeting is scheduled March 8th and ABA will attend in its capacity as an industry representative to the Group. http://www.fincen.gov/
February 28, 2005 OTS has issued two regulatory bulletins, one dealing with Check 21 and the other concerning HMDA. http://www.ots.treas.gov/ and http://www.ots.treas.gov/
February 28, 2005 The FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency jointly issued a revised proposal that would raise the threshold for the small-bank streamlined Community Reinvestment Act exam from $250 million to $1 billion, without regard to holding company affiliation. The proposal would impose a community development test – consideration of a bank's community development lending, services and investments – to the small bank examination standard for institutions between $250 million and $1 billion. An expanded community development definition would include affordable housing in underserved rural areas and designated disaster areas. The proposed rule also would grant equal weight to the lending test and the community development test, but require that banks achieve at least a satisfactory rating on each test to receive an overall satisfactory rating. There will be a 60-day comment period on the proposal following publication in the Federal Register. http://www.fdic.gov/
February 28, 2005 The FRB has requested public comment on proposed revisions to its regulations implementing the CRA that are intended to reduce regulatory burden on community banks. The proposed rulemaking is identical to proposals previously announced by the OCC and the FDIC. http://www.federalreserve.gov/
February 28, 2005 The OCC, FRB, FDIC, and OTS have issued a joint advisory concerning the confidentiality of the supervisory rating and other nonpublic supervisory information. The advisory reminds financial institutions of the confidentiality of their report of examination and the prohibition on the disclosure of this information. Concern is that insurers have been requesting this information during the underwriting process for Directors and Officers Liability coverage. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
February 28, 2005 OTS has released the preliminary interest rate risk measures and the thrift industry charge-off rates for the fourth quarter 2004. http://www.ots.treas.gov/ and http://www.ots.treas.gov/
February 28, 2005 OTS has issued a final guidance on overdraft protection programs for savings associations. The guidance is intended to assist institutions in ensuring adequate disclosures in connection with, and the responsible administration of, overdraft protection programs made available to their customers. http://www.ots.treas.gov/
February 18, 2005 Regulators have issued final guidance to financial institutions that offer overdraft protection programs. Announced Friday afternoon, the guidance consists of three primary sections: (1) Safety and Soundness, to ensure adequate policies and procedures to address credit, operational and other associated risks; (2) Legal Risks, alerting institutions of the need to comply with all applicable federal and state laws; and (3) Best Practices, addressing the marketing and communications and the disclosure and operation of overdraft protection programs. The guidance calls for institutions to alert their customers before a transaction triggers a fee. A summary of the final guidance will be prepared for BCTF members. For more information, check out the Federal Reserve Board Press Release and the Attachment link at the bottom of the Press Release which can be found at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/.
February 9, 2005 The FDIC has created this webpage to inform and warn consumers about a type of fraud called “phishing.” The term "phishing" – as in fishing for confidential information - refers to a scam that encompasses fraudulently obtaining and using an individual's personal or financial information. Since January 23, 2004, criminals have been using the FDIC's name and reputation to perpetrate various “phishing” schemes. It is important to note that the FDIC will never ask for personal or confidential information in this manner. For more information, visit http://www.fdic.gov/.
February 8, 2005 Effective March 1, 2005, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will fully implement its web-based USA PATRIOT Act Section 314(a) secure communication system. The new system allows for a streamlined, secure web-enabled delivery of 314(a) subject information to financial institutions and a more efficient reporting of matches back to FinCEN. If your financial institution has not yet registered on the new system, simply copy the following URL into your Internet browser to complete the registration process and familiarized yourself with basic system navigation and system downloads - http://www.fincen.gov/. Starting with the March 1, 2005 transmission, FinCEN will only use the modernized, web-based communication system for those institutions that receive the requests electronically. If your institution receives transmissions by fax, that process will not change. For more information, visit http://www.fincen.gov/.
February 8, 2005 Banking agencies are asking the public to identify ways in which the rules related to Money Laundering, Safety and Soundness, and Securities may be outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome. There are 28 regulations in these categories. The Agencies note that other non-banking agencies have issued rules within these three categories that apply to depository institutions. To the extent that comments are received raising significant issues about such related rules, the bank regulators will identify the issues in their Report to Congress and make those comments available to the appropriate agencies. http://www.fdic.gov/.
February 7, 2005 The OCC has issued guidelines that establish standards for residential real estate lending. The purpose of the guidelines is to further the OCC's goal of ensuring that national banks do not become involved in predatory, abusive, unfair or deceptive residential mortgage lending practices. The guidelines describe particular activity that is inconsistent with sound mortgage lending practices and may be conducive to abusive lending, depending on the circumstances, and that, accordingly, warrant a heightened degree of care by bankers. The guidelines take effect 60 days after their publication in the Federal Register. For more information, visit http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
February 7, 2005 The OCC has published the winter 2004/2005 edition of Community Developments Investments, a guide for national banks interested in creating and operating a community development corporation within their institutions. The guide provides several case studies of strategies that both small and large banks have used to promote economic development through their CDCs. http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
February 7, 2005 The FDIC has updated The Financial Institution Employee's Guide to Deposit Insurance. The guide intended specifically for a banker audience provides an in-depth discussion of the FDIC's rules and requirements for deposit insurance coverage. In addition, the guide has been added to the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) System–Banker Version 2.1, which can be downloaded from the FDIC's Web site. http://www.fdic.gov/.
February 7, 2005 The ABA Education Foundation will sponsor the next National Teach Children to Save Day on April 26th. Plan now to participate. Sign up for the program starts February 4th. Last year some 5,500 bankers connected with nearly 500,000 students in classrooms and after school programs to share real life lessons about money. For more information, please visit the ABA at http://www.aba.com/.
