On November 8, 2017, the OCC issued guidance on the impact of less-than-satisfactory Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) ratings on subsequent licensing applications by financial institutions subject to the CRA. This new guidance follows on the heels of OCC guidance issued on October 12, 2017, on which LenderLaw Watch previously reported, which…
On October 12, 2017, the OCC published the section of its policy and procedures manual, PPM 5000-43, entitled “Impact of Evidence of Discrimination or Other Illegal Credit Practices on Community Reinvestment Act Ratings.” The Policy’s purpose is to provide guidance to OCC examiners in determining whether (and by how much)…
In the second quarter of 2017, Consumer Enforcement Watch tracked 40 enforcement actions taken against consumer financial service providers. This represents a marginal decrease from the 46 enforcement actions taken against consumer financial service providers that we tracked last quarter, and from the 46 enforcement actions tracked in the second…
On August 23, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published guidance on filings required by national banks and federal savings associations (collectively referred to here as “banks”) pertaining to “substantial asset changes.” The guidance lists various events that are considered substantial asset changes for which banks must…
On August 21, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued Bulletin 2017-28, providing risk management guidance to lenders offering residential mortgage loans with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios that exceed 100 percent at origination (“high-LTV loans”) in connection with community redevelopment programs. Since the onset of the financial crisis,…
On January 17, 2017, Maria Vullo, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller Currency (OCC), opposing the OCC’s proposed special purpose charter for Fintech companies. The NY DFS adds to the existing resistance by state…
On November 23, 2016, Advance America, Inc., a payday lender, and Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd., a trade organization which represents the interests of payday lenders (Plaintiffs), filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Motion) against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, and the…
At the end of October, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released its Recommendations and Decisions for Implementing a Responsible Innovation Framework (the “Recommendations”). The Recommendations are the latest step in a long process the OCC has undertaken to try to revamp its approach to new financial…
On September 29, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a national bank over allegations that the bank had engaged in unlawful debt collection practices, in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The SCRA extends additional protections from certain debt…
On September 8, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that, pursuant to a Consent Order, a national bank agreed to make full restitution to consumers and pay the CFPB a $100 million fine because many of its employees allegedly engaged in an illegal practice of opening unauthorized deposit and credit…
On August 25, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an order against a national bank that will require the bank to pay $32.25 million in consumer relief and civil penalties based on practices relating to credit card add-on products. These practices allegedly violated sections 1031 and 1036(a)(1)(B) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On August 25, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it had agreed to consent orders with a national bank based on its alleged unfair billing practices. The civil money penalty order will require that the bank pay a $3 million civil money penalty. The cease and desist…
On June 23, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) hosted a daylong forum, “Supporting Responsible Innovation in the Federal Banking System.” The purpose of the forum was to encourage a dialogue among stakeholders about what framework the OCC should adopt to encourage responsible innovation and provide…
On May 25, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) entered a consent order with a national bank stemming from allegations that the bank violated a 2011 consent order concerning its mortgage servicing related activities. The OCC alleged that the bank had violated the consent order during the period from October 1,…
On April 13, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) assessed a $35 million dollar penalty against a national bank for billing practices alleged to be unfair and deceptive in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The penalty was assessed in connection with a credit…
On March 31, 2016 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a white paper setting forth its vision of responsible innovation, and signaling its increasing involvement in the financial technology (Fintech) space. The white paper, titled “Supporting Responsible Innovation in the Federal Banking System: An OCC Perspective,”…
On February 9, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (“OCC”) announced that it has terminated mortgage servicing-related consent orders against two national banks because the banks now comply with the orders. In terminating the consent orders, the OCC assessed a $10 million civil money penalty against the first bank and a $3.4 million civil money penalty against the…
On January 5, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (“OCC”) announced that it had terminated consent orders against two national banks. In doing so, the OCC assessed civil money penalties against the banks relating to previous violations of the existing consent orders. The OCC announced that it was terminating…
On December 18, 2015, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Rhode Island bank over allegations the bank engaged in unfair, deceptive, unsafe, and unsound acts and practices in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (Section 5). The alleged…
*Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on our sister blog, Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch. Visit CFEW for more real-time reporting on the full range of public federal and state consumer finance enforcement activity.* For the second quarter of 2015, Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch tracked 56 enforcement actions taken against consumer finance providers,…