The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) has released a draft supplement to its Licensing Manual that explains the process for an entity engaged in financial technology—or FinTech—activities to charter a...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) plans to consider applications from companies engaged in financial technology—or FinTech—activities to operate through a national bank charter and has released a paper...more
The New York State Department of Financial Services (the DFS) has issued a proposed regulation that would impose cybersecurity-related requirements on entities it supervises. In some cases, these requirements would go beyond...more
FinCEN has proposed extending its anti-money laundering (AML) program requirement for banks to banks that are not subject to regulation by a federal functional regulator, including state chartered limited purpose trust...more
9/1/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
CIP ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Patriot Act ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On July 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) released a summary of proposals it is considering to reform debt collection practices. At the same time, it released a Study of Third Party Debt Collection...more
8/8/2016
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDCPA ,
Lack of Substantiation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SBREFA ,
Small Business ,
Time-Barred Debt
On July 7, 2016, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced that it has further extended the conformance period under the Volcker rule until July 21, 2017, to allow banking entities to conform their...more
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has expanded the due diligence obligations of certain financial institutions that are subject to a customer identification program requirement under...more
5/20/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Due Diligence ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Legal Entities ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Verification Requirements
On Nov. 9, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a risk alert reporting observations from its examination of investment advisers and investment companies that outsource their Chief...more
On Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an Order against San Francisco-based Coinflip and its chief executive officer, Francisco Riordan, to resolve allegations that Coinflip...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a proposed rule that would subject certain investment advisers to AML requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (the BSA). In proposing the rule, FinCEN cited...more
8/31/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
CIP ,
Comment Period ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Information Sharing ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Money Laundering ,
Patriot Act ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Training Requirements
The Volcker rule generally prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading and from sponsoring and/or investing in certain types of “covered” investment funds. The implementing regulation that the Agencies...more
7/20/2015
/ Business Development Companies ,
CFTC ,
Covered Banking Entity ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
New Guidance ,
OCC ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Seed Financing ,
Volcker Rule
On June 9, 2015, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Bureau of Consumer...more
7/7/2015
/ Assessment ,
Board of Directors ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Equal Opportunities ,
Federal Register ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
OMWI ,
Public Disclosure ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Suppliers
Regulatory Developments -
CFTC Provides No-Action Relief from Introducing Broker and Commodity Trading Advisor Registration to Non-U.S. Persons Who Advise on or Facilitate Swaps Transactions for Certain International...more
6/18/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Brokers ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Community Banks ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
No-Action Letters ,
No-Action Relief ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps
Regulatory Developments:
SEC Chair Highlights Recent Accomplishments -
In a June 4, 2015 speech, SEC Chair Mary Jo White highlighted recent activities of the SEC and identified work to be done in the near future....more
6/11/2015
/ Avon ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Comptroller ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EDGAR ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
JOBS Act ,
Market Manipulation ,
National Bank Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Regulatory Developments:
Superintendent Lawsky Announces Final BitLicense Regulations -
New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky, at the BITS Emerging Payments Forum,...more
6/4/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BEA ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Form BE-10 ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced yesterday afternoon that it has extended the conformance period under the Volcker rule for one additional year—until July 21, 2016—to allow banking entities to...more
12/23/2014
Following a slide in lending standards and an increase in leveraged loan volume, new guidance from the federal banking agencies suggests a tightening of credit standards for leveraged loans from regulated banking...more
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued new guidance regarding the status of entities that are 50% or more owned by persons or entities whose property and interests in property are...more
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has proposed revisions (the “Proposal”) to its rules implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (the “BSA”) that would spell out specific anti-money...more
If an outright ban of Bitcoin is not the correct approach, what is? More to the point, what does Bitcoin (and virtual currency in general) need to for legitimacy?...more
Interesting question, but life is never easy, and digital currency brings its own set of challenges...more
The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued a final rule, and the Commodity Futures...more
1/2/2014
/ Banking Reform Bill ,
Compliance ,
Covered Banking Entity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Instruments ,
Foreign Investment ,
Hedging ,
Market Making ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Underwriting ,
Volcker Rule
The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") issued a final rule, and the Commodity Futures...more
12/20/2013
/ Asset Management ,
Asset-Backed Securities ,
Bank Holding Company Act ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
CFTC ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Market Utilities ,
FSOC ,
Joint Venture ,
Life Insurance ,
Nonbank Firms ,
OCC ,
Pensions ,
Private Funds ,
Proprietary Trading ,
REIT ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIFIs ,
Subsidiaries ,
Tender Offers ,
Venture Capital ,
Volcker Rule
The SEC’s final Municipal Advisor Rules, effective January 13, 2014, apply to many of the advisory services and products provided by banks and trust companies to municipal entities, such as state and local governments, and to...more