MVA White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog

By Neil Bloomfield and Kristina Whittaker. Operational risk is a continuing and increasing focus of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and, as a result, it needs to be a greater priority of the institutions it regulates. The OCC publishes a "Semiannual Risk Perspective" that addresses key issues facing banks and other federally chartered institutions.

In recent years, the OCC has categorized operational risks as elevated as banks respond to an evolving and increasingly complex environment. The OCC defines operational risk as the risk to current or projected financial ...

By Neil Bloomfield. In another sign of progress, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed easing a rule that requires banks to put cash aside to safeguard derivatives trades among affiliates. The proposal would remove the current requirement for members within the same bank group to post margins upfront when trading derivatives.  According to a 2018 survey conducted by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), the new rule could free up to $40 billion across some of the largest banks. FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams also stated that revoking the ...

By Neil Bloomfield. The Task Force on Consumer Compliance of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recently published the modified interagency examination procedures for the Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA) designed to promote consistency and communication of supervisory expectations in the examination process. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration, and the National Credit Union Administration issued ...

By Neil Bloomfield. The Federal Reserve Board (Federal Reserve) recently announced it will develop a “new round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service”, named the FedNow℠Service to support faster payments in the United States.  FedNow will be a national instant payment system that is designed to offer an option for consumers and businesses to transfer up to $25,000 24x7x365. Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard stated, “FedNow will permit banks of every size in every community across the country to provide real-time payments to their customers.”

By Barbara Meeks and Kristina Whittaker. Last month the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the federal bank regulators issued a Joint Statement aimed at improving transparency into their risk-focused examination and supervision of banks’ compliance with Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-money Laundering (BSA/AML) requirements. 

The statement outlines common supervisory practices for assessing a bank’s BSA/AML risk profile, scope and planning of examinations and evaluating the adequacy of BSA/AML compliance programs.  The risk-focused approach enables federal ...

By Kristina Whittaker and Neil Bloomfield. In the aftermath of sales practices, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently published a bulletin on fraud risk management principles that are applicable to all federally chartered financial institutions. The bulletin supplements existing OCC and interagency guidance and provides a roadmap of OCC expectations.  

The OCC highlights certain risk management principles:

• A bank should have sound corporate governance practices that instill a corporate culture of ethical standards and promote employee ...

Charlotte Financial Regulatory Advice and Response Members Barbara Meeks and Ed O'Keefe's article titled, "Pursuit of a Regulatory Practice Dream: The Story of 2 Powerhouse Bank GCs Uniting," was published by Corporate Counsel on July 26, 2019. In the article, Meeks and O'Keefe share their personal vision for a world-class bank regulatory practice that would provide practical, innovative results while retaining Southeastern rates and culture.

The Article

Historically, financial regulatory lawyers have rooted themselves in New York or Washington, D.C. to develop thriving ...

Colleagues, I hope you are enjoying your summer and have had or are planning a break. Summer breaks help us maintain a healthy balance of rest and work.  

Speaking of balance, over a recent beach vacation, I had time to study Tom Baxter’s article on the current role of lawyers in financial institutions: The Rise of Risk Management in Financial Institutions and a Potential Unintended Consequence – The Diminution of the Legal Function. Tom analyzes the effect of well-intended post Crisis regulatory governance changes on legal departments. Starting with the three lines of ...

On July 12, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) joined the call to prepare for the transition away from LIBOR.  The staff of several Divisions of the SEC (the Divisions of Corporation Finance (DCF), Investment Management (DIM), and Trading and Markets (DTM)) and its Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) issued a public statement regarding the impending transition away from using LIBOR as a benchmark and reference rate for commercial and financial contracts. Warning of the potential risks associated with the transition and the failure to prepare in advance, the SEC ...

By Elena F. Mitchell, Barbara S. Meeks, and Neil T. Bloomfield*

A final interagency rule taking effect on July 1, 2019, provides federally regulated lending institutions with eagerly awaited guidance concerning private flood insurance for improved properties located in special flood hazard areas. Pursuant to the final rule, the OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, Farm Credit Administration and National Credit Union Administration seek to increase availability and use of private flood insurance coverage by instructing regulated lending institutions to accept certain private ...