Cannabis legislation for banking is now getting more serious attention, as it should. On Wednesday, February 13, the Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services will convene a hearing entitled, “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.” The hearing follows Chairwoman
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Board Interlocks and Investment in the Banking Sector—The Federal Banking Regulators Propose to Raise the Asset Thresholds
The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC (the Banking Agencies) recently published a proposal to increase the thresholds associated with the “major assets” prohibition governing management official interlocks contained in the Depository Institutions Management Interlocks Act (DIMIA)[1] and implemented by Regulation L. DIMIA permits the Banking Agencies to raise the…
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OFAC Designates PdVSA
On January 28, 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (“PdVSA”), Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, pursuant to Executive Order (“E.O.”) 13850 for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy, following a determination by the Secretary…
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Federal Banking Regulators Propose EGRRCPA-Conforming Amendments to Stress Testing Rules
The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC (the Agencies) have each released proposed amendments to their respective stress testing rules for national banks, savings associations, state member banks and state non-member banks (collectively, IDIs) that would implement Section 401 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2018…
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U.S. Regulators Announce BSA/AML Enforcement Actions Against U.S. Broker-Dealers
As 2018 came to a close, U.S. financial regulators continued to pursue anti-money laundering (“AML”) enforcement actions against financial institutions, announcing monetary penalties against and resolutions with three U.S. broker-dealers. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the…
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Feedback on Foreign Banks’ July 2018 Resolution Plan Submissions – Key Takeaways
The Federal Reserve and FDIC (the Agencies) provided feedback on the U.S. resolution plans filed in July 2018 by four Foreign Banking Organizations – finding shortcomings in each, but acknowledging the need for more coordination among U.S. and home country regulators. Unredacted copies of the letters sent on December…
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OFAC Announces Intent to Delist Rusal and Other Entities Owned by Sanctioned Oligarch Deripaska
On December 19, 2018, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced its plan to lift sanctions on three Russian entities for agreeing to distance their businesses from a prominent oligarch. Specifically, OFAC informed Congress of its intention to terminate sanctions on entities previously designated for…
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EU No-Deal Contingency Planning
On December 19, 2018 the European Commission published the legislative proposals and delegated acts (the “Package”) which it had previously outlined in its Contingency Action Plan of November 13, 2018 to prepare for a “no-deal” scenario whereby the UK exits the EU on March 29, 2019 without a…
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FDIC Pledges to Jump Start the De Novo Bank Approval Process
In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, de novo bank charters averaged more than 100 per year.[1] This robust flow of new bank charters continued a trend since the 1960s and before.[2] It partially offset a decline in the number of banks in the United…
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FinCEN and Banking Regulators Issue Joint Statement on Innovation in BSA/AML Compliance
On December 3, 2018, a U.S. government working group aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the BSA/AML regime issued a second joint statement, which focuses on innovative industry approaches to BSA/AML compliance. This follows the working group’s first joint statement last month, which focused on BSA/AML resource sharing…
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