Dodd-Frank News Center

Lew writes article on Wall Street Reform for NYU journal

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has authored a long-form article in the upcoming edition of the New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy. In the piece, Lew underscored how Wall Street Reform not only fixed what was broken in 2008, but also set up mechanisms and institutions to identify and respond to new and emerging risks. Maintaining these structures, Lew argued, is imperative to helping prevent future crises.

CFPB seeks applications for membership in Academic Research Council

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is soliciting applications for membership in its Academic Research Council, which is a technical advisory body comprised of scholars to provide the bureau's Office of Research with guidance as it performs its responsibilities. Appointments to the council are typically for four years.

The CFPB expects to announce the selection of new members in April 2017. The application will be available on Jan. 16, 2017, and the bureau said that only complete application packets received by 5:00 p.m. eastern standard time on Feb. 14, 2017, will be given consideration for membership on the council.

CFPB and Justice Department file amicus brief in FDCPA case

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with the Justice Department, has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case concerning whether a debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by knowingly filing a proof of claim in a consumer's bankruptcy proceeding to collect debt for which the statute of limitations has expired. The amicus brief argues that such a filing constitutes a misleading representation and an unfair means to collect a debt in violation of the FDCPA, and that the Bankruptcy Code does not preclude a debt collector from being held liable for those violations.

CFPB's monthly snapshot features debt collection complaints

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s monthly complaint snapshot for December 2016 features consumer complaints about debt collection. The report also highlights trends seen in complaints coming from Arizona and the Phoenix metro area.

The bureau said the most common complaint about debt collection has to do with attempts to collect on a debt that the consumer says is not owed. In addition, the bureau said debt collection is the most-complained-about product or service in Arizona, with debt collection complaints from Arizona consumers exceeding the national rate.

Third quarter Foreclosure Prevention Report issued

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has issued its Foreclosure Prevention Report for the third quarter of 2016. According to the report, the serious delinquency rate for mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) has reached the lowest level since June of 2008, falling to 1.16 percent at the end of the third quarter.

Overall, the Enterprises completed 46,390 foreclosure prevention actions in the third quarter, bringing the total number of foreclosure prevention actions to more than 3.7 million since the Enterprises were placed into conservatorship in September 2008. The report includes data on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac home retention actions, delinquency data, and real estate owned inventory.

CFPB seeks members for advisory board and councils

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is inviting the public to apply for appointment as members of its Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, and Credit Union Advisory Council. Appointments to the board are typically for three years, and appointments to the councils are typically for two years. The bureau expects to announce the selection of new members in August 2017.

The application will be available on Jan. 16, 2017, and complete application packets received on or before March 1, 2017, will be given consideration for membership on the board and councils.

Tester seeks answers from Wells Fargo Board on fraud investigation

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont) and several other Democratic senators have written a letter to Wells Fargo's board of directors requesting that the board respond to questions about the bank's ongoing fraud investigation over deceptive sales practices. The letter said that "failure to answer questions--especially basic questions--about the causes and consequences of the fraud that Wells Fargo permitted for many years does nothing to restore the trust of Wells Fargo's customers and shareholders, many of whom are our constituents."

The letter also requested that the Wells Fargo Board answer the Senate Banking Committee's questions, including who is leading the investigation, why the investigation wasn't launched earlier, and what the board is doing to ensure this kind of systematic fraud and abuse does not happen again. This letter is a follow-up to one Tester and his colleagues sent back in September.

CFPB sets mortgage lending, disclosure thresholds for 2017

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced the asset-size exemption thresholds for depository institutions under Regulation C and for creditors under the escrow requirements and small-creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgage requirements, and the prohibition against balloon-payment high-cost mortgages, under Regulation Z. These thresholds are effective Jan. 1, 2017.

Fed adopts revisions to 'Capital Assessments and Stress Testing information collection'

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Reserve Board is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, an existing information collection entitled "Capital Assessments and Stress Testing information collection." The revisions are effective as of Dec. 31, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2017.

According to the agency's notice, this information collection provides the Fed with information to ensure that large bank holding companies have strong, firm‐wide risk measurement and management processes supporting their internal assessments of capital adequacy and that their capital resources are sufficient given their business focus, activities, and resulting risk exposures.

On July 28, 2016, the Fed published a notice in 81 Federal Register 49653 requesting public comment for 60 days on the proposal. The comment period expired on Sept. 26, 2016.

Large banks to disclose liquidity risk metrics

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Reserve Board has adopted a rule that will require large banking organizations to publicly disclose certain quantitative liquidity risk metrics, including their consolidated liquidity coverage ratios, high-quality liquid asset totals, projected net stressed cash outflow amounts, and derivatives inflows and outflows. The Fed's LCR rule requires each covered institution to hold a minimum amount of HQLA that can be easily and quickly converted into cash. The amount of HQLA held by each banking organization must be equal to or greater than its net cash outflows during a 30-day stress period. The ratio of HQLA to that net cash outflow is the institution's LCR ratio, and it must be at least equal to 1:1. The final rule is effective April 1, 2017.