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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Tuesday, March 8, 2022

March 08, 2022

FedACTion Task Force

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Major Developments

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

FinCEN Issues Alert on Potential Russian Sanctions Evasion Efforts

March 7, 2022

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a FinCEN Alert to financial institutions, highlighting the potential for attempts to evade expansive sanctions and other measures implemented in connection with the Russian Federation's ongoing, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The alert provides example red flags to assist in identifying suspected sanctions evasion activity.

Congress

U.S. Senate

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Bill Introduced to Ban Forced Arbitration

March 7, 2022

The Arbitration Fairness for Consumers Act has been introduced to prohibit banks and other financial institutions from using forced arbitration clauses against consumers who want to seek restitution and justice.

Federal Agencies

U.S. Department of the Treasury

New Treasury Report Finds Corporate Concentration, Anti-competitive Practices Have Stifled Wages for Workers and Reduced their Power in the Marketplace

March 7, 2022

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission, issued a new report on competition in the labor market today. The report, "The State of Labor Market Competition in the U.S. Economy," finds that the American labor market falls far from the perfect competition that economists had long assumed due to employer concentration and anti-competitive labor practices.

Remarks by Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang at the Institute of International Bankers' Annual Washington Conference

March 7, 2022

Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang gave remarks on financial reforms taken since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago, and more recent efforts to address newer, more novel risks, specifically climate change and increasing digitization of assets.

Federal Reserve Board

The Federal Reserve Board Releases the January 2022 G.19 Consume Credit Data

March 7, 2022

In January, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.9%. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 0.3%, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 2.5%.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Acting Comptroller Discusses Climate Risk Management, Diversity and Inclusion

March 7, 2022

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu discussed climate-related financial risk and the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in the banking industry at the Institute of International Bankers Annual Washington Conference.

National Credit Union Administration

Credit Union Assets, Shares and Deposits Grow in Fourth Quarter

March 7, 2022

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released their Quarterly Data Summary Report for the fourth quarter of 2021. According to the report, total assets in federally insured credit unions rose by $215.8 billion, or 11.7%, to $2.06 trillion over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2021, and insured shares and deposits grew $166.8 billion, or 11.4%, to $1.63 trillion.

Fannie Mae

More Consumers Expect Mortgage Rates and Home Prices to Rise Even Further

March 7, 2022

Fannie Mae released the Home Purchase Sentiment Index which increased by 3.5 points to 75.3 in February, but affordability constraints continue to drive consumers' perception of the housing market. Overall, five of the index's six components increased month over month, including the components measuring consumers' perceptions of homebuying and home-selling conditions.

Bank Policy Institute

NIST Report Gives Narrow Glimpse of Complex Consumer Data-Sharing Picture

March 3, 2022

The Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association issued a comment letter in response to a recent National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) draft report on cybersecurity considerations for open banking. The comment letter states that while the NIST report rightly identifies the importance of cybersecurity and privacy safeguards when it comes to how companies share sensitive financial data about customers, it offers a wholly incomplete picture of the current consumer financial data-sharing ecosystem in the United States. The draft report also endorses open banking without examining potential risks or recommending security and privacy measures to mitigate those risks.

Administration Changes

Vacancies

Federal Reserve Board

  • Vice Chair for Supervision – Sarah Bloom Raskin nominated January 14, 2022 (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022)
  • Governor – Lisa Cook nominated January 14, 2022
    (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022)
  • Governor – Phillip Jefferson, nominated January 14, 2022
    (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022)

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

  • Chair – Vacant (Martin Gruenberg serves as Acting Chair)
  • Vice Chairman

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

  • Comptroller – Vacant (Michael Hsu serves as Acting Comptroller)

Commodity Futures Commission

  • Three (3) Commissioner Vacancies

Appointments/Confirmation Hearings

U.S. Department of the Treasury - Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)

Federal Reserve Board

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Rohit Chopra (effective October 12, 2021)

Securities and Exchange Commission - Gary Gensler (effective April 17, 2021)

Small Business Administration - Isabella Casillas Guzman (effective March 16, 2021)

Commodity Futures Trade Commission – Rostin Behnam (effective December 17, 2021)

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

National Credit Union Administration - Todd M. Harper

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Marcia Fudge (effective March 10, 2021)

Federal Housing Finance Agency – Sandra L. Thompson

U.S. Department of Education - Dr. Miguel Cardona (effective March 2, 2021)

PH Client Alerts

Click here to read more from our Coronavirus series.

Legislation/Legislative Updates

Click here to view the full text of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act"), Enacted March 27, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Increase Act of 2020, Enacted April 24, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, Enacted June 5, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Enacted December 27, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, Enacted March 11, 2021.

Click here to view the full text of the PPP Extension Act of 2021, Enacted March 30, 2021.

Click here to view a running list of proposed legislation from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, House Committee on Financial Services, and House Committee on Small Business.