STATE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Indiana General Assembly Winding Down as Deadlines Approach
This week marked the final week of committee work for the regular 2021 General Assembly session. Next Monday and Tuesday bring key deadlines for all remaining legislation. Bills must move from second reading on Monday and must pass a full chamber third-reading vote by Tuesday. The final week and half of session will be largely reserved for conference committee work, a process of reconciliation between changes that the House and Senate made to the respective chamber’s bills.
The 2021 session is expected to conclude all work by April 21. However, lawmakers will have to return to session later this year to enact redistricting legislation, a process that occurs every 10 years based on recent census data.
The past week brought changes to several bills the IBA is monitoring, including Senate Bill 332 (Publications of Claims), Senate Bill 188 (Unclaimed Property), House Bill 1001 (State Budget) and House Bill 1462 (Indiana Securities Division Matters). The IBA continues to monitor legislation for any possible concerns.
Click here for a complete list of bills that the IBA Government Relations Team is tracking in the 2021 Indiana General Assembly.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
IBA Washington Trip - July 18-20
Register now for the IBA Annual Washington Trip, scheduled for July 18-20. Join with fellow Hoosiers as we travel to our nation’s capital to tell the story of Indiana banking to elected officials and regulators. This is an opportunity to discuss the impact legislation has had or may have on your bank, and how currently proposed policies could influence your customers and communities. It is more important now than ever to engage in grassroots advocacy as you share your concerns, your successes and what you believe will allow you to better serve your communities. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!
Treasury Releases Details on Proposed Tax Changes
The Department of the Treasury on Wednesday provided additional details on the Biden administration’s proposed changes to the U.S. tax code. According to a report issued April 7, the changes include: an increase of the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%; a 15% minimum tax on book income that would apply to the largest corporations; a global minimum tax for U.S. multinational corporations; an increase to the global intangible low-taxed income rate; and the elimination of a deduction for foreign-derived intangible income.
In addition to these proposals, the administration is also calling for increased enforcement around corporate tax evasion and increased audits of corporations by the Internal Revenue Service, among other provisions.
CFPB Issues Proposed Rule Prohibiting Foreclosure Notices Until Dec. 31
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday proposed to establish a temporary COVID-19 emergency pre-foreclosure review period under Regulation X that would prohibit servicers from making the first notice or filing required to initiate foreclosure until Dec. 31. This “pre-foreclosure” period would apply to mortgage loans secured by the borrower’s principal residence.
The proposed rule would build on existing rules, which prohibit a servicer from making the first notice or filing required by law until a borrower’s mortgage loan obligation is more than 120 days delinquent. The CFPB issued the proposal in response to concerns that a potentially unprecedented number of borrowers may exit forbearance at the same time this fall when they reach the maximum term of forbearance and could strain servicer capacity, “potentially resulting in delays or errors in processing loss mitigation requests.”
In addition, the proposed amendments would temporarily allow mortgage servicers to offer certain loan modifications made available to borrowers experiencing a COVID-19-related hardship based on the evaluation of an incomplete application. The proposed effective date of the temporary rule is Aug. 31 and, if finalized, it would apply until Aug. 31, 2022.
CFPB Proposes Delay to Effective Date of Debt Collection Rules
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed to extend the effective date of its two recent debt collection final rules from Nov. 30, 2021, to Jan. 29, 2022. Both rules were issued pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which governs the activity of third-party debt collectors. The FDCPA does not generally apply to creditors collecting their own debts and thus does not generally apply to banks; however, banks routinely oversee the activity of third-party collectors. Comments on the extension, including whether the proposed 60-day extension is sufficient, will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
The first rule – issued in October 2020 – addressed the use of text messaging and email to contact consumers regarding debts, and provided for consumer opt-out of these contact methods. It also included provisions on disputes, as well as record retention requirements for FDCPA debt collectors. The second final rule – issued in December 2020 – covered passive debt collection, time-barred debt and required validation notices to consumers.
Blanco to Step Down as FinCEN Director, Acting Director Announced
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network director Ken Blanco will step down on April 9, the agency announced last Friday. Blanco has been director of FinCEN since December 2017. Former FinCEN Deputy Director Michael Mosier will serve as acting director starting on April 11.
Mosier is currently counselor to the deputy secretary of the Treasury and previously worked at the cryptocurrency analytics, compliance and investigations firm Chainalysis, where he was chief technical counsel. Prior to FinCEN and Chainalysis, Mosier was an associate director at Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
FinCEN also announced that AnnaLou Tirol, former associate director of its Strategic Operations Division, is serving as FinCEN deputy director.
Agencies Issue Call Report Instructions for Q1 Reports
The federal banking agencies last Friday issued instructions for institutions required to file Call Report data for the first quarter. Data submissions must be received by Friday, April 30. Institutions with more than one foreign office, other than a “shell” branch or an international banking facility, must file their data by Wednesday, May 5.
The agencies also previously announced several temporary changes to the Call Report to provide relief to banks with under $10 billion in assets. The changes apply to three versions of the Call Report – FFIIEC 031, FFIEC 041 and FFIEC 051 – and will allow banks to use the lesser of the total consolidated assets reported in their Call Reports as of Dec. 31, 2019, or June 30, 2020, when determining whether the institutions have crossed certain total asset thresholds to report additional data items in their Call Reports for report dates in calendar year 2021.
Institutions may submit their data either by using computer software to prepare and edit the report data and then electronically submitting it directly to the agencies’ Central Data Repository, or by completing the report in paper form and working with an external vendor to convert it to an electronic format.
IBA COVID-19 Updates
The IBA has several COVID-19 resources and updates available at our website.