Privacy and data protection laws are the talk of the town these days. Are you aware of what your state is considering for new privacy and data protection laws? Do you even realize that your state could be considering this? You and your vendors need to be prepared.

Two challenges for today’s anti-money laundering professionals: focusing on high-value functions and eliminating false positives that consume unnecessary resources. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Franklin Madison — Nicholas Piccininni, who leads a 1,500-person financial crimes risk management team at Wells Fargo, explains how Wells puts technology to use to tackle these challenges.

The American Bankers Association this week offered feedback to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on a survey intended to gauge the potential one-time costs associated with preparing to collect and report data on small business lending, as required by section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. ABA—which has long raised concerns about small business data collection—emphasized the need to fully understand not just the implementation costs but also the ongoing compliance costs, which it cautioned would likely increase the cost of credit for small business borrowers.

The FDIC "does not currently have a consistent process in place" for conducting cost-benefit analyses to determine the effects of regulations, nor does it have established criteria for which rules are "significant" enough to warrant such an analysis, according to a report by the agency’s Office of the Inspector General.

With $1.57 billion in assets, HAB Bank isn’t big — but it’s a community bank with global reach. The New York-based institution provides correspondent banking services for 140 banks in 20 countries, primarily in South Asia and East Asia. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, sponsored by Franklin Madison, President and CEO Saleem Iqbal discusses how HAB Bank competes in this global marketplace.

As part of its efforts to facilitate community bank innovation, the Federal Reserve may provide banks with information about core processors and other critical third-party vendors that the banking agencies supervise directly, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said recently at ABA’s Conference for Community Bankers in Orlando, Florida.

Violations of Regulation X–including the failure of some mortgage servicers to provide certain loss mitigation notices, providing incomplete notices or not providing notices within the time required–are among the examiner observations included in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau latest "Supervisory Highlights" report.

Customer A walks into one of your branches, looks around, asks a few questions, then opens an account. Customer B does the same thing, but through your website or mobile app. Customer C is an existing client who dials up your call center looking for help with a particular problem.

In 2019, more than 25,000 consumers filed a report with the FTC about romance scams.

The nation’s banks remain highly capitalized as a result of post-crisis regulatory reforms, and "are well positioned to continue lending to households and businesses even in the event of a severe global recession," the Federal Reserve noted in its monetary policy report to Congress recently. The Fed did note, however, that bank profitability has weakened somewhat due to recent interest rate declines, which could "affect their ability to absorb losses or build capital through retained earnings."

The Federal Reserve today released the two hypothetical economic and financial market scenarios that it will use in the next round of the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review process for the nation’s largest financial institutions. This year’s stress tests will evaluate 34 large banks with more than $100 billion in total assets.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will move in April to finalize amendments to its small-dollar lending rule, CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger told lawmakers during a House Financial Services Committee hearing recently. The bureau last year issued a proposal that would rescind the rule’s underwriting requirements, and is currently reviewing an "extensive number of comments," Kraninger said. She acknowledged that "consumers do have a desire for [small-dollar loans] . . . There is a significant demand, and I would say a need, for small-dollar lending products, certainly ones that are responsible."

Feb. 25, 2020
Webinar: AML and Virtual Currency: What’s on the Horizon

Feb. 25, 2020
Webinar: Intersection of Strategic Planning and Risk Management

Mar. 25-27, 2020
Risk Management Conference
New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, LA

Mar. 28 - Apr. 3, 2020
Compliance Schools
Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Hotel, Tucson, AZ

Jun. 7-10, 2020
Regulatory Compliance Conference
Gaylord National Convention Center and Hotel, National Harbor, MD

Oct. 5-9, 2020
Compliance School – Advanced
Emory Conference Center Hotel, Atlanta, GA