The Public Comment period closed yesterday on the National Credit Union Administration's (NCUA) proposed Rule amending its regulation governing federal credit union (FCU) property occupancy requirements. Presently, a FCU must plan for and eventually achieve full occupancy of any acquired commercial property. Under the proposed Rule, a FCU will be able to lease or sell excess capacity in its facilities, and it does not require that the FCU plan to occupy the entire space at some point in the future.
The NCUA reports that the comments it has received are largely supportive of the Rule ...
*Co-authored by Charles Davis [1]
On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") held its fourth field hearing on Arbitration and issued a proposed Rule that would prohibit the use of arbitration clauses that block consumers' participation in class actions in contracts for consumer financial products and services. The Rule would also require providers who use pre-dispute arbitration agreements to submit certain records relating to arbitral proceedings to the CFPB. The Rule is expected to take effect during the summer of 2017.
Upon issuance of the Final Rule ...
In a recent opinion, the Second District Court of Appeal held that the lower court was not required to uphold its three prior rulings denying relief from technical admissions when: (1) the record evidence was contrary to those admissions; and (2) the opposing party failed to show it would be prejudiced by the withdrawal of the admissions. Judge Crenshaw stated that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the defendant, Wells Fargo's, relief from technical admissions. The court reversed and remanded the case. Wells Fargo Bank Nat'l Ass'n v.Voorhees, Case No. 2D15-2055, 2016 ...
Congress voted this week to de-rail the Department of Labor's sweeping fiduciary-duty suite of rule-making, but doesn't have the votes to override the President's threatened veto.
The Rule (over a 1,000 pages in all) imposes a sweeping definition of who owes fiduciary duties to retirement investors in retail IRA, HSA, Roth, Coverdell and other "qualified money" situations and prohibits conflicted transactions (including differential compensation), unless they comply with a series of exceptions, carve-outs and exemptions. Industry groups say the compliance and paperwork ...
It's hornbook law that a later intentional breach of contract, alone, doesn't equal promissory fraud.
Holding it therefore cannot establish mail or wire fraud, the Second Circuit reversed the Government's $1.2 Billion FIRREA judgment against Countrywide, Bank of America and others, with instructions to dismiss the case. The case started as a qui tam action alleging that Countrywide's "high-speed swim lane" process delivered substandard mortgage loans to GSEs (Fannie, Freddie) during performance of master mortgage-loan sales agreements ("MLSAs") executed earlier. The ...
In AML/BSA rule amendments published May 11, FinCEN will require "covered financial institutions" to implement new beneficial-owner identification and verification as part of their Customer Due Diligence ("CDD") and adopt risk-based supervisory procedures for their AML/BSA programs.
The Amendments require use of a prescribed Beneficial Owner reporting form, or its substantial equivalent. Though effective July 11, covered institutions have until May 11, 2018 to comply. See 31 C.F.R. § 1010.230 & App. A. FinCEN's AML/BSA requirements impose the "four pillars" of AML ...
In a much-anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Monday in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, No. 13-1339, 2016 WL 2842447 (May 16, 2016), that a consumer cannot bring a lawsuit in federal court based only on a "bare procedural violation" of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § § 1681-1681y ("FCRA"), vacating the Ninth Circuit's earlier decision for failing to fully consider whether the plaintiff had adequately alleged an "injury in fact." See 2016 WL 2842447, at 2-3. Yet, while defendants had been arguing for months in district courts that the Supreme Court's ...
On April 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") entered into a Consent Order with a New Jersey debt collection law firm, Pressler & Pressler, LLP, and two of its managing partners, Sheldon H. Pressler, and Gerard J. Felt (collectively "the Firm").[1]
The Firm agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1 million dollars in addition to adhering to the provisions contained within the Order. This Order raises questions about whether there is or should be a limit to the federal regulation of attorney practice and litigation strategy. The CFPB appears to be asserting authority ...
The CFPB received a lesson in the importance of specificity on April 21st when the United States District Court for the District of Columbia's Judge Richard J. Leon found that it overreached in its attempt to enforce a Civil Investigative Demand ("CID") it served on the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools ("ACICS").
The Opinion warned the CFPB to be "especially prudent before choosing to plow head long into fields not clearly ceded to them by Congress". Yet the takeaway for the CFPB is likely one related to the editing of its CID language rather than a true ...
In a joint release, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury; Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Federal Housing Finance Agency; National Credit Union Administration; and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, (collectively "Regulators"), have issued their long-anticipated Proposed Rule limiting incentive-based compensation for bankers Thursday.
This 2016 Proposed Rule is stronger and broader than the one Regulators initially proposed in 2011. The Rule largely mirrors the industry trends in ...