Exercising “exceptive” relief authority, FinCEN has extended permanent relief from the beneficial ownership requirements of its new Customer Due Diligence (CDD) rule to existing autorenewing CDs and safe deposit boxes, as well as existing autorenewing commercial lines of credit and credit cards that do not require underwriting review and approval.  FinCEN reasoned that these products pose such a low risk for money laundering and terrorist financing activity that the benefits of requiring the collection of this information does not outweigh the impacts of compliance on financial institutions and their customers.  Specifically, institutions need not treat rollovers or renewals of such products as “new accounts” requiring the

On July 31, 2018, the OCC announced that it had finalized parameters for its new limited-purpose financial technology national bank charter and is ready to begin taking applications.  This release follows several years of formal deliberation on the topic and coincided with the release of a 222-page U.S. Treasury report on innovation.  Industry reactions have been wide-ranging – will this level the playing field or usher in a FinTech “apocalypse“?

Highlights of the OCC notice include:

• Designation of the charter type as a national bank.  Like its other special-purpose charters, including the non-depository trust company or the
  

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The temporary exception that FinCEN extended to autorenewing CDs and loans established prior to the May 11, 2018 compliance effective date of its beneficial ownership requirements was scheduled to expire on August 9, 2018.  On August 8, FinCEN published a short release in which it announced the extension of this relief through September 8, 2018.  FinCEN noted that it was providing this extension

In a unique administrative ruling under delegated “exceptive” authority, on May 16, 2018 FinCEN issued relief from its new beneficial ownership requirements through at least August 9, 2018, for “certain financial products and services that automatically rollover or renew (i.e., certificate of deposit (CD) or loan accounts) and were established before the Beneficial Ownership Rule’s Applicability Date, May 11, 2018.”

FinCEN acknowledged

Just in time for the effective date of FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Beneficial Ownership Rules, on May 11, 2018 the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) published updates to its Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual.  The FFIEC is an interagency body comprised of representatives of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, OCC, CFPB, NCUA, and state banking regulators.  The agencies’ changes (1) replace existing CDD sections of the manual and (2) add new Beneficial Ownership overview and exam procedures sections, in each case corresponding to the new CDD and Beneficial Ownership requirements.

The publication of this new content was announced through separate press releases by

The May 25, 2018, compliance effective date of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is just weeks away, and many U.S.-based companies have at least by now taken stock of their EU customer base and operations, and developed a baseline set of compliance plans.  For many, that might only entail a data inventory and controls that would ensure that changes to the company’s

Jonathan and I discuss two major deals for our us: the formation of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) and the return or Barry Hester in this latest episode of The Bank Account.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP is the result of the mergers of historically U.S.-based Bryan Cave LLP and historically U.K.-based Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.  As a truly global firm

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published long-awaited additional Frequently Asked Questions on April 3, 2018 (the “Guidance”) relating to its Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule, which FinCEN promulgated pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act (the “CDD Rule”).  This comes at a time when most covered institutions are in the final stages of implementing plans to comply with the CDD Rule by

With offices all over the world, Bryan Cave attorneys are often quoted in the news.  Recent Media Mentions of Financial Institutions Group attorneys include:

Andreassen, Hester in Bank Safety & Soundness Advisor

DC Associate Kristine Andreassen and Atlanta Associate Barry Hester were quoted extensively Feb. 20 by The Bank Safety & Soundness Advisor concerning recently revised guidance from the FDIC that, among other things, attempts to keep unsteady community banks from taking too much payment processor risk. The revised guidance doesn’t contain anything “shocking,” but it does signal that payment processing will be a higher exam priority, Andreassen said. Hester confirmed that

Recent media mentions of attorneys in Bryan Cave’s financial institutions practice include:

Atkinson in Virginian-Pilot Charlotte Partner B.T. Atkinson was quoted June 7 by The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., concerning private-equity firms that are investing in troubled banks. Hampton Road Bancshares, parent company of Hampton Road Bank and Shore Bank, recently announced that private equity firms will invest in the company. Click here to read the article.

Hester in American Banker Atlanta Associate Barry Hester was quoted June 10 by American Banker on a controversial provision of the financial reform bill that would tighten capital restrictions