Building upon its BitLicense regime instituted in 2015, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has proposed two mechanisms by which entities that hold BitLicenses or trust charters with virtual currency authority (VC Licensees) may list or provide other approved services in a…
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On November 27, 2019, the United States Department of Commerce issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on “regulations that would govern the process and procedures that the Secretary of Commerce will use to identify, assess, and address certain information and communications technology and services transactions that…
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For hemp-related customers, banks no longer need to file suspicious activity reports according to a guidance statement issued by the Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC and FinCEN, in consultation with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. The descheduling of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act eliminates the need for banks to…
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The U.S. banking agencies have completed one of the most important steps towards rebalancing the U.S. bank regulatory framework since the Dodd-Frank Act was passed in the wake of the 2007 – 2008 financial crisis.  The agencies have adopted final rules to tailor enhanced prudential standards and U.S. Basel III…
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Since the 2016 Second Circuit decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC,[1] banks and their non-bank lending partners have faced legal uncertainty about their ability to assign or transfer loans.  The Madden decision and subsequent actions by state courts have called into question the “valid-when-made” doctrine, which stands…
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On October 23, 2019, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) acting at the direction of President Trump and in consultation with the State Department, lifted sanctions on three Turkish government ministers and two Turkish government ministries and removed them from the List of Specially Designated…
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The FDIC and the Federal Reserve Board have solicited public comment on the use of the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System, more commonly known as CAMELS ratings.  The release asks 10 questions, which focus on the ways in which the agencies use the CAMELS system, their consistency in doing so,…
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On October 14, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive order authorizing sanctions targeting the Turkish government in connection with its military operations in northern Syria. The U.S. government also announced a 50% tariff on imports of steel from Turkey and cancellation of trade agreement negotiations.

The initial sanctions announced by…
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The Federal Reserve has approved its long-awaited Final Rule amending and restating the 165(d) resolution planning rule. The FDIC is expected to soon approve an identical rule.  The Final Rule is largely unchanged from the Federal Reserve’s and FDIC’s May 2019 joint 165(d) Rule Proposal, and among other things:

  • Creates

…
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The Federal Reserve has finalized its rules to further tailor the regulatory framework for enhanced prudential standards and the U.S. Basel III capital and liquidity requirements applicable to domestic banking organizations and foreign banking organizations (Final Tailoring Rules).  Compared to the proposed rules that the U.S. banking agencies…
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