Bankers Compliance Task Force Current News Archive - october 2005
October 31, 2005 Under two final rules announced by FinCEN, certain U.S. insurance companies are required to both establish anti-money laundering programs and file Suspicious Activity Reports. Additional information can be found at: http://www.fincen.gov/.
October 31, 2005 FinCEN has released Issue 9 of the SAR Activity Review. The Review can be accessed at: http://www.fincen.gov/.
October 31, 2005 FinCEN has released the BSA Direct Fact Sheet which can be located at http://www.fincen.gov/. BSA Direct is a new FinCEN service that will allow authorized users to access and analyze BSA data. This new service is scheduled to be in operation by January 2006.
October 28, 2005 The FDIC is adopting a final rule governing the insurance coverage of deposits of qualified tuition savings programs under section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. The deposits will be insured up to $100,000 for the interest of each participant in aggregation with the participant's other deposits at the same insured depository institution. For more information, go to: www.fdic.gov.
October 28, 2005 FinCEN had announced that the MSB Registration List State Selector and online MSB Material Order Form are now available on www.msb.gov, the companion website for information about and for Money Service Businesses. http://www.fincen.gov/
October 27, 2005 FinCEN ha updated the MSB Registrations List. The list contains date on 28,256 registered MSBs as of October 1, 2005. http://www.msb.gov/
October 27, 2005 The OCC has issued a new booklet for the Comptroller's Handbook for Asset Management. Collective Investment Funds examines bank-administered trust for the commingled assets of fiduciary accounts and establishes a framework for managing their risks. This new booklet can be found at: http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
October 21, 2005 The FDIC is providing guidance to financial institutions to remind them of the importance of an effective internal corporate code of conduct or written ethics policy. http://www.fdic.gov/
October 20, 2005 NCUA has announced that a $19,000 CMP has been assessed against a CU for late submissions of HMDA data. http://www.ncua.gov/
October 20, 2005 The FFIEC has posted links to CRA examination information on one of its Web pages. Information regarding regulator exam schedules, distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle income geographies, exam procedures by size of institution, and public evaluations is available. http://www.ffiec.gov/
October 20, 2005 A patch for the errors contained in the previously distributed 2004 CRA and HMDA Aggregate and Disclosure CDs is available from the FFIEC. See http://www.ffiec.gov/ and http://www.ffiec.gov/.
October 19, 2005 The OCC has issued a consent order against KeyBank, N.A., Cleveland, Ohio for violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act and OFAC Regulations. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
October 18, 2005 It is especially important that Congress act this year to eliminate unnecessary Currency Transaction Reports, to prevent credit union capital erosion and increased high-risked lending, and to restrict new commercially owned industrial loan companies from using expanded banking and branching powers, ABA Vice Chairman Brad Rock told the House Financial Services' Financial Institutions Subcommittee. Because CTR filing has been rendered virtually obsolete by formalized customer identification programs and other factors, "we believe that the time has come to recognize the redundancy of CTR filings for seasoned customers with transaction accounts," said Rock, chairman, president and CEO, Bank of Smithtown, Smithtown, N.Y. http://www.aba.com/
October 18, 2005 On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee approved by voice vote an FDIC deposit insurance reform bill (S. 1562). The legislation would, among other things, merge the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund; increase the retirement fund size the FDIC could insure from $100,000 to $250,000; adjust the insurance coverage of deposit accounts for inflation in 2010 and every five years thereafter; provide a one-time credit to banks in existence on Dec. 31, 1996; require the designated reserve ratio to be between 1.15 and 1.5 percent; and give FDIC more latitude to alter the DRR. The legislation will be sent to the Budget Committee to be included in the fiscal year 2006 budget reconciliation package. The House passed its version of the deposit insurance reform bill (H.R. 1185) on May 4. http://thomas.loc.gov/
October 18, 2005 The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is amending an interpretative rule (12 CFR 333.101(b)) which states that insured State nonmember banks not exercising trust powers may offer self-directed traditional Individual Retirement and Keogh Plan accounts without the prior written consent of the FDIC. As amended, the interpretive ruling is expanded to expressly cover Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, Roth Individual Retirement Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, and other similar accounts. These amendments are effective October 18, 2005. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/
October 18, 2005 FRB Financial Services has announced that the Atlanta office of the FRB will begin on October 17, 2005, overnight processing of New Orleans zones items and availability will return to "re-Katrina" levels. http://www.frbservices.org/
October 18, 2005 The Federal Reserve has posted the new reference rates which lenders must use to determine if loans for which applications are received in November 2005 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. For November, you will use the rates posted on October 14th since October 15th fell on the weekend. http://www.federalreserve.gov/
October 17, 2005 The FFIEC has issued a Guidance to assist banks in improving customer awareness and authentication systems to mitigate risks of Internet-related identity theft and fraud. http://www.ffiec.gov/
October 17, 2005 The latest edition of FYI features an article that examines the effect that the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 will have on financial market contracts. http://www.fdic.gov/
October 14, 2005 The joint federal regulatory agencies have published a statement in the Federal Register, effective immediately, which permits financial institutions to make exceptions to statutory and regulatory requirements related to appraisals in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
October 13, 2005 Banks may soon pay more for deposit insurance - higher BIF assessment rates could take effect next year. More more information, go to: http://www.fdic.gov/.
October 13, 2005 The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) member agencies today announced the availability of additional supervisory guidance on regulatory and reporting issues related to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. This information, in the form of questions and answers, can be found at www.ffiec.gov.
October 12, 2005 OCC and FinCen have assessed a $3 million penalty against Banco de Chile, New York, New York, after an examination revealed deficiencies in the bank’s BSA and AML compliance programs. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
October 12, 2005 Single-factor authentication methodologies may not provide sufficient protection for Internet-based financial services, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council said in new guidance. The document — "Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment" — describes enhanced authentication methods that regulators expect banks to use when authenticating the identity of customers using on-line products and services. Financial institutions will be expected to achieve compliance with the guidance no later than year-end 2006. "The FFIEC agencies consider single-factor authentication, when used as the only control mechanism, to be inadequate for high-risk transactions involving access to customer information or the movement of funds to other parties," said an FDIC financial letter conveying the FFIEC document. For more information, visit: http://www.ffiec.gov/.
October 11, 2005 The Federal Reserve issued for public comment an advance notice of proposed rulemaking concerning the open-end (revolving) credit rules of Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act. The second advance notice asks how the Fed should implement amendments to TILA made by the new bankruptcy reform law. The amendments deal principally with open-end credit accounts and require new disclosures on periodic statements and on credit card applications and solicitations. The comment deadline is Dec. 16. Visit http://www.federalreserve.gov/ for more information.
October 6, 2005 The FDIC has implemented the Relationship Manager Program (RMP) for all FDIC-supervised financial institutions. The RMP is designed to strengthen lines of communication between bankers and the FDIC, as well as improve the coordination, continuity and effectiveness of FDIC supervision. For more information, visit http://www.fdic.gov/.
October 6, 2005 The OCC has issued a final rule which amends the rules governing application of Securities Exchange Act disclosure rules for national banks (12 CFR 11). The final rule implements provisions enacted in the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 requiring the electronic filing of certain beneficial ownership reports by officers, directors, and major shareholders (insiders) of companies that have equity securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The rule requires that all beneficial ownership reports be filed electronically and posted on a registered national bank's website, if it has one. For more information, go to: http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
October 6, 2005 The Treasury Department's Office of Financial Education is offering downloadable brochures in English and Spanish that contain financial tips and resources to help people recover from the recent hurricanes. The resources include toll-free telephone numbers and the Web addresses of various government agencies. The brochures can be found at http://www.treas.gov/.
October 5, 2005 The Federal Reserve has amended Regulation D, Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions, to reflect the annual indexing of the low reserve tranche and of the reserve requirements exemption amount for 2006. For more information, go to http://www.federalreserve.gov/.
October 4, 2004 The FDIC has released state profiles which provide a quarterly summary of state banking and economic conditions. This quarter, the regional profile highlights national and regional economic and banking trends. State profiles can be found at http://www.fdic.gov/.
October 4, 2005 The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Operation HOPE, Inc. signed an agreement today to assist victims of the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes who have been financially displaced. In connection with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Operation HOPE, Inc., has established, among other things, HOPE call centers as the point of entry for calls to a national toll-free number: (888) 388-HOPE (4673). The OCC agreement with Operation HOPE enables victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes to contact the OCC's Customer Assistance Group (CAG) in Houston, Texas to provide guidance on national bank matters such as information about accounts, lost financial records, ATM cards, direct deposits, and how to contact a national bank branch. In addition to calling the HOPE call centers, customers also may reach one of OCC's Customer Assistance Specialists by calling CAG's toll-free lines: 800-613-6743. See http://www.occ.treas.gov/ for more information.
October 1, 2005 The OCC has released its Quarterly Journal, Vol. 24, No. 3 (September 2005) which includes second quarter 2005 condition and performance tables; special supervision and enforcement licensing decisions; appeals; links to speeches, testimony and interpretations; and corporate structure data. The Journal can be accessed at http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
