Bankers Compliance Task Force Current News Archive - NoVEMBER 2005
November 30, 2005 The joint federal regulatory agencies are encouraging insured depository institutions to continue efforts to meet the financial needs of customers recovering from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The press release issued by the FFIEC can be found at www.ffiec.gov.
November 29, 2005 The OCC has revised the "General Policies and Procedures" booklet of the Licensing Manual. This update adds guidance and procedures for filing an application to substantially increase or decrease the bank's assets in accordance with 12 CFR 5.53. It also amends the guidance for branches at historic properties. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
November 28, 2005 The OCC has announced a new feature on it's web site which provides Consumers and Bankers with information and resources to effectively identify, report, and combat fraud. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
November 28, 2005 The FDIC has amended Part 363 of its regulations by raising the asset-size threshold from $500 million to $1 billion for internal control assessments by management and external auditors. For institutions between $500 million and $1 billion in assets, only a majority, rather than all, of the members of the audit committee, who must be outside directors, must be independent of management. The final rule is effective December 28, 2005. http://www.fdic.gov/
November 23, 2005 The FDIC has updated its Trust Examination Manual. It is now available on the FDIC's Web site and may also be purchased in a CD-ROM format. http://www.fdic.gov/
November 22, 2005 The joint federal regulatory agencies have issued final rules implementing section 411 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACT Act). The final rules are substantially identical to the interim final rules issued in June 2005. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
November 22, 2005 The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's Task Force on Consumer Compliance has approved revised interagency FCRA examination procedures for consumer compliance issues. These procedures can be found at http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
November 22, 2005 FinCEN has issued an updated 314(a) Fact Sheet which can be found at http://www.fincen.gov/.
November 21, 2005 The Federal Reserve approved amendments to its Regulation CC that define "remotely created checks" and create transfer and presentment warranties to shift liability for an unauthorized remotely created check to the institution where it is first deposited. In order to help reduce the potential for fraud, the amendments to Regulation CC create transfer and presentment warranties under which any bank that transfers or presents a remotely created check would warrant that the check is authorized by the person on whose account the check is drawn. The warranties would apply only to banks and would ultimately shift liability for losses attributable to an unauthorized remotely created check to the depository bank. The amendments are effective on July 1, 2006. http://www.federalreserve.gov/
November 17, 2005 The federal bank, thrift, and credit union regulatory agencies have issued final rules under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that create exceptions to the statutory prohibition against obtaining or using medical information in connection with credit eligibility determinations.The final rules, which are substantially identical to the interim final rules issued by the agencies in June 2005, also address the sharing of medically related information among affiliates. The effective date for these final rules is April 1, 2006. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
November 17, 2005 The Federal Reserve has posted the new reference rates which lenders must use to determine if loans for which applications are received in December 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. Daily rates can be accessed at http://www.federalreserve.gov/ and weekly rates at http://www.federalreserve.gov/.
November 17, 2005 The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation today announced a $150,000 settlement with one of the largest mortgage companies in New England for violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). HUD and FDIC found that 1-800-East-West Mortgage Company solicited and received tickets from certain settlement service providers to Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots events as well as music concerts and restaurant gift certificates in exchange for the referral of business. For more information, visit: http://www.fdic.gov/.
November 17, 2005 The federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies today issued final rules to implement a special post-employment restriction on certain senior examiners employed by an agency or Federal Reserve Bank, as required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. http://www.fdic.gov/
November 16, 2005 The FFIEC has updated the BSA InfoBase by adding questions and answers from the August 2005 BSA/AML Examination Manual Outreach events and a user-friendly bookmarked version of the manual. http://www.ffiec.gov/
November 16, 2005 The FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have published informal staff guidance on community reinvestment in the form of proposed questions and answers (Q&As). The agencies are seeking public comment on the Q&As. Comments should be received by December 9, 2005. http://www.fdic.gov/
November 15, 2005 The FDIC is proposing to revise its Statement of Policy (SOP) on the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) to reflect the FDIC's experience and practices in applying the current SOP and statutory changes to the NHPA and its implementing regulations. The proposed SOP would continue to be relevant to applications for deposit insurance for de novo institutions, applications for the establishment of domestic branches, and applications for the relocation of domestic branches or main offices. Comments must be submitted on or before December 19, 2005. http://www.fdic.gov/
November 14, 2005 The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Examination InfoBase, which is located on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC) Web site, has been updated. The InfoBase can be found at www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase.
November 9, 2005 The FFIEC has posted online the 2006 HMDA Edits and File Specifications. This information can be found at www.ffiec.gov/hmda.
November 8, 2005 The Bank of New York ("BNY") has admitted its criminal conduct and will forfeit $26 million to the United States and pay $12 million in restitution to its victims to resolve parallel criminal investigations conducted by the United States Attorneys' Offices for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York relating to BNY's responsibility for crimes involving fraud and money-laundering, as well as BNY's failure to comply with mandatory reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. The bank has also agreed to make sweeping internal reforms to ensure compliance with its antifraud and money-laundering obligations, and be monitored by an independent examiner. "The Bank Secrecy Act and the anti-money laundering laws are critical to protecting our financial system, and all United States banks must be vigilant in complying with them," said United States Attorney Garcia. "Although this agreement closes the book on BNY's role in an underground Russian money transfer system that moved $7 billion through BNY accounts, the agreement requires BNY to continue and enhance its money laundering compliance programs and subjects BNY to oversight by an independent examiner for a period of three years." For more information, visit: http://www.aba.com/.
November 3, 2005 FinCEN recently announced new rules requiring insurance companies to establish anti-money laundering programs and file suspicious activity reports. For more information, visit: http://www.fincen.gov/.
November 2, 2005 OCC issues Bank Accounting Advisory Series, October 2005 - In these accounting advisories, either the OCC's Office of the Chief Accountant interprets generally accepted accounting principles or the OCC interprets regulatory capital requirements. http://www.occ.treas.gov/
November 1, 2005 In OCC News Release 2005-108, Comptroller Dugan tells bankers the OCC is committed to measured, fair, and effective BSA/AML supervision. For more information, visit: http://www.occ.treas.gov/.
