Job Interview SceneOn November 1, 2018, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) issued modifications to its Statement of Policy (“SOP”) for applications made under Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”).  The modifications are expected to reduce the number of Section 19 applications FDIC-supervised institutions must submit prior to submitting offers of employment.

Background

On January 8, 2018, the FDIC published in the Federal Register notice of proposed modifications and sought public comment.  On July 19, 2018, after consideration of comments received, the FDIC approved modifications to the SOP’s exceptions to filing an application and made additional technical and clarifying changes.Continue Reading Update: When Are Section 19 Application Required?

RiskOn October 31, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) issued a pair of proposals that would more closely match the regulations for large banking organizations, or banks with more than $100 billion in total consolidated assets, with their risk profiles.
Continue Reading Regulatory Relief Continues: Federal Banking Agencies Propose New Capital Relief Rules for Large Banking Organizations

House and GavelOn October 16, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Agencies”) issued the Frequently Asked Questions on appraisal and evaluation functions (“FAQs”). 
Continue Reading Regulatory Alert: Federal Regulators Issues New FAQs on Appraisal and Evaluation

On July 11, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”) (the OCC, FRB and FDIC are collectively, the “Federal Banking Agencies”) issued revisions to the Interagency Biographical and Financial Report (the “Report”).

In general, individual directors, officers, or an individual or group of shareholders acting in concert that will own or control 10 percent (10%) or more of a bank must file the Report in connection with the following: (i) applications to establish a de novo bank, (ii) notices for a change in control, (iii) Section 914 applications for new executive officers and directors, and (iv) applications for new executive officers and directors following a change in control.Continue Reading Bringing a Level of Clarity to the Interagency Biographical and Financial Report

On May 22, 2018, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) (the “Consumer Protection Act”), which had been previously passed by the Senate. The Consumer Protection Act will now be sent to President Trump who is expected to sign it into law in the coming weeks.

The Consumer Protection Act becomes the first legislatively enacted regulatory relief bill since the recession, and rolls back various Dodd-Frank Act provisions.  Below we provide a brief summary of some of the Consumer Protection Act’s major provisions.

Capital Simplification for Qualifying Community Banks. The federal banking agencies would be directed to initiate the rulemaking process to develop a “Community Bank Leverage Ratio” of not less than 8 percent and not more than 10 percent for community banks and their holding companies with total consolidated assets of $10 billion or less. Any qualifying community bank or holding company that exceeds the Community Bank Leverage Ratio will be considered well-capitalized.  Qualifying banks that meet this ratio would not even have to calculate the various other capital ratios currently employed by the federal banking regulators (e.g., Total Risk-Based Capital Ratio, Common Equity Tier-1 Capital Ratio, or Tier-1 Risk-Based Capital Ratio).
Continue Reading Update: Regulatory Relief Passed by Congress