Washington Report 360 | July 3 and July 10, 2020

Key Highlights

• Supreme Court ruled on provisions of the CFPB’s single-director, eliminating the so-called "for cause" provision in Dodd-Frank. The Supreme Court has announced it will also hear a similar case for the FHFA.
• Ongoing attention to the Payment Protection Program (PPP), as the President signed the Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act into law, establishing August 8, 2020 as the new deadline to apply for a PPP loan; approximately $130 billion remains available in the program. SBA also published loan-level data for all of the 4.9 million PPP loans approved through June 30, 2020.
• OCC Semiannual Risk Perspective highlights increasing credit, operational, and compliance risks while adding government relief programs as a special topic of emerging risk. 
• FRB focus on resolution planning evidenced by new guidance for targeted plans due next year, and speech focused on the impact of “too-big-to-fail” reforms, resiliency, and resolvability.Focus on LIBOR transition, through FFIEC statement, BIS/FSB paper, and ARRC guidance.
• Increasing attention to digital assets, including FATF report on stablecoins and FINRA request for notification when engaged in activities related to digital assets.

Financial services regulatory and policy news

Banking

• Federal banking agencies (FRB, OCC, FDIC):
  • Finalized a rule amending regulations for swap participants and dealers
    
  • Proposed revisions to interagency Q&As regarding flood insurance
  • Issued a statement (via FFIEC) on LIBOR transition risks
• FRB:
  • Testified about the CARES Act and COVID-19 response
  • Provided guidance, with FDIC, to the eight largest banking organizations for their targeted resolution plans due July 2021
  • Discussed "too-big-to-fail" reforms, resiliency, and resolvability
  • Published a discussion paper about bank complexity, governance, and risk
  • Released a periodic update on the Main Street Lending Program
  • Operationalized the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (PMCCF) (via NY Fed)
• OCC:
  • Issued a new UDAP/UDAAP booklet
  • Issued the Semi-Annual Risk Perspectives Report for Spring 2019
• FDIC
  • Launched a competition to develop innovative approaches for financial reporting
• CFPB
  • Proposed an exemption from escrow account requirements for certain higher-priced mortgage loans
  • Issued a final rule on small dollar lending
  • Ratified previous regulatory actions to provide certainty in light of the Supreme Court decision in Seila Law

Capital markets

• SEC:
  • Adopted an expedited review procedure for exemptive and other applications under the Investment Company Act
  • Provided comment on calls for mandated ESG disclosures
• FINRA:
  • Encouraged firms to provide notice when engaging in activities related to digital assets
  • Provided guidance on retail communications concerning private placement offerings

Other

• Congress
  • Passed legislation to extend the PPP through August 8
• Supreme Court:
  • Ruled on provisions to remove the CFPB's single-director
    
• SBA and Treasury:
  
  • Released detailed loan-level data for all loans made under the PPP
    
• FHFA:
  
  • Announced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow servicers to extend forbearance agreements for multifamily property owners with existing forbearance agreements
    
• FATF:
  
  • Released a report  on Stablecoins
  • Completed a review of revised FATF Standards for virtual assets
• BIS:
  • Issued updated guidelines on sound management of risks related to money laundering and financing of terrorism
  • Set out, along with FSB, supervisory recommendations for benchmark transition
• NYDFS:
  
  • Alerted banks of their responsibilities under New York's Community Reinvestment Act
    
• ARRC:
  
  • Released a tool to help firms move internal systems and processes away from LIBOR
    
• FICO:
  
  • Introduced a new analytic tool, the Resilience Index

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