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 ...
Florida's Third District Court of Appeal retreated from one of its most unpopular opinions this morning. The Third DCA surprised many with its original ruling in Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas v. Beauvais ¸ 3D14-575 when it split with the Fourth District Court of Appeal and held that if a prior foreclosure is dismissed without prejudice, the statute of limitations continues to run from the date of the first foreclosure filing. In the year that followed, the Third DCA's Beauvais opinion was universally panned by the First, Fourth, and Fifth District Courts of Appeal and numerous ...
In Edwards v. Macy's, Inc., --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2016 WL 922221 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 9, 2016), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that state law claims arising from plaintiff's enrollment in a debt cancellation program were preempted by the National Bank Act ("NBA") and accompanying regulations promulgated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"). Further, the court held that the claims against both the national bank and the corporation acting on behalf of the national bank were preempted, even though the corporation was not a ...
In a recent opinion, the Second District Court of Appeal explained its approval of agency relationship to establish that a plaintiff is entitled to foreclose as "holder" of the original note under Florida Statute Section 673.3011(1). Phan v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co., Case No. 2D14-3364, 2016 WL 746400 (Fla. 2d DCA Feb. 26, 2016). Recounting the relevant facts of this case, Deutsche Bank initiated a foreclosure action against Ms. Ngoc Phan on April 28, 2009, alleging she failed to make the loan payments on her Pinellas County home since January 1, 2009. Ms. Phan denied the Bank's ...
On March 1, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal held that the assignee of a loan cannot be liable for the failure to provide a payoff statement as required by the Truth in Lending Act, 15 USC 1639g. The case is Evanto v. Federal National Mortgage Association, No. 15-11450 and it has wide reaching implications for all legal post-origination TILA compliance issues. The case revolves around what many consumer advocates argue is a loophole in the TILA statute. The TILA statue requires creditors and assignees alike to provide a payoff statement within seven days of the borrower's ...