Dodd-Frank News Center

New York businessman pleads guilty to conspiring to make false statements to TARP-recipient bank

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

New York businessman Selim "Sam" Zherka has pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements to a bank in order to receive millions of dollars in loans and to filing materially false tax returns with the IRS, according to a SIGTARP release. As part of his plea agreement, Zherka agreed to forfeit $5.23 million.

SIGTARP said that from December 2005 through the present, Zherka conspired with others to obtain $63.5 million in loans from TARP-recipient Sovereign Bank (now Santander) for the purchase and/or refinancing of apartment house complexes in Tennessee by lying about the purchase price of the real estate he was acquiring and the amount of the down payment he was making toward the purchase in question.

OIG issues audit report on FSOC and OFR data requests

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General has issued an audit report entitled "FSOC and OFR Data Requests Are Not Duplicative." The report presents the results of the OIG's review of data reporting required by the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research. The OIG conducted the review in response to the House Report 113-508 on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill, 2015. The OIG was directed to investigate whether the data reporting required by the FSOC and OFR was duplicative of data required by other regulators and burdensome.

The OIG found that data reporting required or requested by the FSOC and OFR was not duplicative of data required by the primary financial regulatory agencies, or burdensome for financial companies, and that the FSOC and OFR followed applicable guidance on requesting data directly from a financial company.

FHFA Refinance Report filed

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released its Refinance Report for the second quarter of 2015, which shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program accounted for 5 percent of all refinancings in the second quarter of 2015. More than 31,500 homeowners refinanced their mortgages through the HARP program in the second quarter of 2015, with more than 3.3 million loans refinanced since the inception of the program, the report notes. According to the FHFA, refinance volume increased slightly in June 2015 after falling in May. The report said that mortgage rates continued to rise in June, with the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage reaching 3.98 percent.

FDIC issues FAQs on Hoenig's recommendations for regulatory relief

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has issued a list of frequently asked questions, along with the agency's answers, on recommendations made by FDIC Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig for regulatory relief for traditional banks. The list includes questions on what criteria are recommended for banks to be eligible for regulatory relief under Hoenig's plan, the size threshold for banks to be eligible for regulatory relief, what banks currently are eligible, and what specific relief is recommended for eligible banks, along with several others.

Credit reporting complaints are focus of latest snapshot report

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released the second of its monthly complaint snapshot reports, this one focusing on the credit reporting industry. Since 2012, the CFPB has supervised the nation's largest credit reporting agencies that account for nearly 95 percent of the credit reporting market's annual receipts. Out of all credit reporting complaints submitted to the bureau between March and May 2015, 97 percent involved the three nationwide credit reporting agencies--Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

The bureau's snapshot found a 56 percent increase in the number of credit reporting complaints submitted by consumers between June 2015--4,289 complaints--and July 2015--6,969 complaints. Besides the product-specific findings relating to the credit reporting industry, this monthly report also provided other statistics regarding complaint volume and product trends.

Lankford releases details from #CutRedTape Initiative

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Senator James Lankford (R-Okla), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, has released the first details from his bipartisan #CutRedTape Initiative, which was launched in March of this year. A press release issued by Lankford described the initiative as an online portal for American families and businesses to communicate with the Senate about federal regulations that affect them. It said Senators will use the first-hand experiences submitted through the website to determine areas where the federal government can cut red tape and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.

Hoenig writes op-ed on leverage treatment for derivatives

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Vice-Chairman Thomas M. Hoenig wrote an opinion editorial published in The Financial Times on Aug. 12, 2015, in which he spoke of the efforts of industry representatives, some legislators, and some financial regulators to weaken the leverage treatment for certain derivatives because they believe that "the leverage ratio is impeding the leverage-fuelled growth of derivatives markets, which they charge harms end-users." Hoenig contended that the opposite is true.

FHFA adopts final rule on housing goals for Enterprises

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has adopted a final rule establishing single-family and multifamily housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for 2015 through 2017, according to an agency release. The final rule will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The FHFA said that the final rule sets identical benchmarks for both Enterprises in all categories and establishes goals for the first time for rental units affordable to low-income families in small (5- to 50-unit) multifamily properties.

FHFA proposes amendments to stress test rule

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is proposing amendments to its stress testing rule, which was adopted in 2013 to implement Section 165(i) of the Dodd-Frank Act. The agency said that the amendments would modify the start date of the stress test cycles from October 1 of a calendar year to January 1 of the following calendar year. In addition, the amendments would modify the dates for the FHFA to issue scenarios for the upcoming cycle, the dates for the regulated entities to report the results of their stress tests to the FHFA, and the dates for the regulated entities to publicly disclose a summary of their stress test results for the severely adverse scenario.

The agency's notice said that these amendments would align the FHFA's rule with rules adopted by other financial institution regulators that implement the Dodd-Frank stress testing requirements. Comments must be received by Sept. 21, 2015.

Fed extends comment period for systemic risk information collection extension

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Reserve Board is extending the comment period on a proposed three-year extension, with revision, of an information collection entitled "The Banking Organization Systemic Risk Report" from Sept. 8, 2015, to Oct. 19, 2015. The Fed published a notice in the Federal Register on July 9, 2015, requesting public comment to revise and extend this information collection. The July 9 proposal would, among other revisions, collect information on short-term wholesale funding, according to the Fed.

On July 20, 2015, the Fed adopted a final rule establishing a capital surcharge for the largest, most interconnected banks. In that final rule, the Fed amended the July 9 proposal to conform the definition of short-term wholesale funding with the definition in the final rule. The Fed said that to allow interested persons to comment on the entire notice, it is extending the comment period of the July 9 proposal to include the July 20 amendments.