FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Government watchdog agency suggests changes to FDIC supervision, HUD disaster recovery
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. should take further steps to strengthen its bank supervision, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development should take steps to mitigate fraud in federal disaster recovery and improve manufactured housing financing, the Government Accountability Office concluded in separate reports.
Senate, House committee leaders reach agreement on housing bill
The leaders of the House and Senate banking committees announced Tuesday they had reached an agreement on a bipartisan housing bill that includes several provisions related to banking, from brokered deposits to de novo bank formation.
OCC revises how it designates minority depository institutions
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has amended the criteria it uses to designate financial institutions as minority depository institutions, including the removal of policy language that the agency said allowed it to continue MDI designation “when the bank no longer met the statutory definition of an MDI.”
Former comptrollers warn against state erosion of federal banking powers
States are increasingly seeking to regulate activities that have historically fallen within the domain of federal supervision, and that threatens the regulatory clarity the nation's dual banking system has long provided, two former comptrollers of the currency write in a new op-ed for American Banker.
FinCEN updates guidance for financial institutions on sharing information about fraud
FinCEN issued an updated fact sheet to clarify how financial institutions can share information with each other about suspected fraud under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Report: Software vulnerabilities become top vector for data breaches
Exploitation of software vulnerabilities has become the most common initial access vector for data breaches, according to the most recent Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon.
FHFA requests authority to take on mortgage market fraud
The Federal Housing Finance Agency asked Congress for expanded authority to take on fraud in the housing finance market. In its latest report to Congress, the FHFA noted it is statutorily required to obtain reports from its regulated entities if they discover or suspect they have purchased or sold a fraudulent loan or financial instrument, and the FHFA may refer suspected fraud to other appropriate state and federal agencies. In the report, the FHFA recommended statutory amendments directing FHFA to make appropriate referrals on discovering suspected fraud and authorizing the agency to bring civil enforcement actions against individuals suspected of engaging in mortgage fraud.