No later than March 21, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it intends to issue an interim final rule that extends Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting deadlines, recognizing the need to provide new guidance and clarity as quickly as possible, while ensuring that BOI, which is highly useful to important national security, intelligence and law enforcement activities, is reported. The Department of Treasury released a similar statement on March 3 announcing the suspension of enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
Last week, a federal judge granted a joint motion to stay proceedings in a lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) section 1033 “open banking” rule. The ruling delays the rule’s implementation dates for 30 days while the bureau determines its position. The order further denied a motion by the Financial Technology Association to intervene in the case on behalf of the Bureau to defend the rule.
ICBA spoke out in opposition to calls to consolidate federal regulators, laying the chatter at the feet of “Wall Street bank executives.” “ICBA and community bankers have long supported the independence of the federal banking agencies and our nation’s dual banking system,” said ICBA CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey. Last week, House Financial Services Chairman French Hill told IBAT members there has been “no real discussion on combining regulators” in Congress.
“It kind of feels you’ve been lined up to be the number one horse at the glue factory,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren to Jonathan McKernan, the nominee to become Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Representative Andy Barr proposed legislation seeking to limit the CFPB’s authority by explicitly defining “abusive” practices under its UDAAP authority, prohibiting the Bureau from considering discrimination as an abusive practice and further defining abusive conduct as actions causing substantial injury that cannot be reasonably avoided.
The March 12 deadline is approaching for IBAT members to apply for a $5,000 scholarship to participate in the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU. The “Women in Community Banking” Scholarship is open to women who have more than three years of employment in banking, are employed by an IBAT member bank and are applying for their first year of study at SWGSB.
