MVA White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog

On October 4, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the next (but not final) chapter of the U.S. Department of Justice’s concerted attempt to promote voluntary corporate self-disclosure of misconduct with a new Mergers & Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy.

Background

The DOJ in recent years has expressed a commitment to creating clear, predicable, and standardized policies that incentivize companies to voluntarily self-disclose misconduct to the government, which the Department describes as the “clearest path for a company to avoid a guilty plea or an ...

From July 20-23, 2023, the South Asian Bar Association of North America hosted its annual conference, “The Next Revolution,” in Boston. SABA’s conference brought together 800 South Asian attorneys from all over the continent, including in-house counsel, government attorneys, and private practitioners.

Palvia was selected for the Class of 2023 of SABA’s Leadership Institute and met many members of the class at the conference, along with SLI graduates from prior years. Learn more about SABA here.

_{[Palvia is second from the left at the SABA Leadership Institute Reception]}

On June 6, 2023, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC, and collectively with the Board and the FDIC, the Agencies) issued their final version of the Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management (the Final Guidance). The Final Guidance is intended to promulgate effective risk management practices by banking organizations with respect to all of their third-party relationships.  

The Final Guidance replaces each ...

When following supervisory scrutiny of fees charged to bank customers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) activities are often the focus. The Minnesota Bankers Association and Lake Central Bank of Minnesota, however, have recently filed a lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Martin Gruenberg (in his capacity as the FDIC’s Chairman) seeking, among other things, declaratory and injunctive relief from the FDIC’s application or enforcement of its recent supervisory guidance on non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees (the ...

On June 1, six Federal financial regulatory agencies[1] (Agencies) jointly issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) requiring the implementation of quality control standards for the use of automated valuation models (AVMs) to estimate the value of real estate. The standards would apply to AVMs used by mortgage originators and secondary market issuers in determining the collateral value of a mortgage secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling. The rulemaking was required by Section 1473(q) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued releases in May and June that reflected their continued focus on consumer protection issues associated with both bank fees and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by financial institutions. On May 10, 2023, the CFPB issued Circular 2023-02 (the Circular) advising that a financial institution’s unilateral reopening of a deposit account to process a debit or deposit received after account closure can constitute an unfair act or practice under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). On June 6, 2023, the CFPB ...

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Members John Fagg and Jim McLoughlin, both Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators and Chambers-ranked practitioners, recently provided commentary to Lawdragon regarding the White Collar Enforcement Under the Biden Administration. They provided their take on the Administration’s enforcement efforts so far, and what might be coming down the pipeline as the Biden Administration follows through on campaign promises to pursue more white collar criminal cases. Federal prosecutors have been pursuing COVID-related frauds, giving ...

Executive Summary

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) has published a final rule implementing the requirements of Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act (the “Final Rule”), which mandated data collection on certain credit applications to facilitate enforcement of fair lending laws and the identification of business and community development needs and opportunities for women-owned, minority-owned, and Small Businesses. Section 1071 directed the CFPB to implement rules necessary to carry out, enforce, and compile these data collection ...

In December 2021, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (or the “CFPB”) issued a notice and request for comment (the “Notice”) on its intention to make a preemption determination regarding the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) and the State of New York’s Commercial Financing Law, which imposes disclosure requirements on certain commercial lending transactions (the “New York CFL”). The preemption determination had been requested by the Small Business Finance Association (the “SBFA”), a non-profit advocacy organization for its members who provide ...

In 2020, we wrote about the increased regulatory attention on financial institutions’ obligations to detect and respond to human trafficking. In 2021, we wrote about how anti-human trafficking programs fit squarely in banks’ risk management and ESG platforms. As 2022 comes to a close, we add to these alerts an area of emerging potential bank liability – civil actions alleging failure to detect and respond to human trafficking.  

A few weeks ago, two sex trafficking survivors filed lawsuits against two international financial institutions including claims under the ...

For those tracking developments impacting the crypto-asset space, the summer has been far from slow and leisurely. Multiple industry alerts flow daily with news of new legislative proposals, enforcement actions, and other events or issues impacting the industry. The news is inevitably accompanied by calls for greater legal certainty regarding crypto-asset characterization and clarity around the regulatory framework governing the industry. While news flows quickly, the pace of substantive developments, however, has been frustratingly slow for many. Unmoved by demands for ...

In a prior post, we discussed the recent proposed rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) regarding certain non-public information reported to the SEC and the CFTC in the Form PF. Most of the rule is discussing information and requirements that are not related to or focused on digital assets. However, in one part, there is a proposal to request information from private funds about their “digital assets”.

The definition from the SEC and CFTC for “digital assets” is broad and all encompassing. As a ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) (collectively, the “Agencies”) jointly proposed a rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that would impact existing confidential reporting obligations of private equity funds and other collective investment vehicles not registered as an “investment company” (referred to as, “Private Funds”). The rule proposes changes to the Form PF, a non-public report for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to Private Funds, which get submitted to the SEC (and CFTC ...

A Bloomberg article last week suggests potentially more bad news is on the way for Coinbase Global Inc. (“Coinbase”). Coinbase is reportedly facing an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) into whether it let customers trade digital assets that the SEC believes should have been registered as securities. Rumors of investigations by the SEC do not necessarily suggest problems for the company at the center of those rumors, but the timing of a recent SEC complaint (SEC v. Wahi) may explain why this report had such a negative effect on Coinbase’s ...

On June 8, 2022, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) released industry guidance applicable to U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins issued by NYDFS-regulated entities (the “Guidance”). The Guidance focuses on NYDFS requirements relating to the redeemability of these stablecoins, the asset reserves that back them (the “Reserves”), and auditor examination and attestations regarding management’s assertions concerning the sufficiency of the Reserves.  

By way of background, a stablecoin is a type of digital asset that is intended to ...

In response to ever increasing reports of forgery and falsification of records in the digital signature space, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-18. This Notice reminds FINRA members of relevant regulatory obligations, while also addressing misuse scenarios and identification methods, in order to help members mitigate risk in this area.

In the Notice, FINRA highlights that forgery occurs when an individual “signs or affixes, or causes to be signed or affixed,” the name of another person to a document without that person’s prior permission. FINRA further stated that ...

On March 17, 2022, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-10 (“Notice”), which reminds FINRA member firms and their associated persons of the scope of supervisory liability for Chief Compliance Officers (“CCO”). The Notice discusses this liability in the context of FINRA Rule 3110, which among other things, requires FINRA member firms to establish and maintain a system (including written procedures) to supervise the activities of each associated person in a manner that is reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws, regulations, and FINRA ...

In the fourteen years since the 2008 financial crisis, significant actions have been taken by Federal banking agencies to make the largest financial institutions more resilient and less likely to fail and to require planning that would facilitate their orderly resolution, if necessary. These risk mitigation measures are tailored, however, with the most stringent requirements, and highest regulatory expectations, appropriately reserved for the eight U.S. banks designated as posing the greatest risk to financial stability (global systemically important banks, or GSIBs ...

On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Examinations released its exam priorities for fiscal year 2022 (the “2022 Priorities”). As in years past, these exam priorities naturally follow from SEC rulemakings, statements, risk alerts and other guidance issued in the past year, and reflect practices or topics that may pose higher risk for referral to the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

The 2022 Priorities include broader thematic “Significant Focus Areas,” which may be applicable to both broker-dealers and registered ...

On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that will require registrants to make certain climate disclosures in their registration statements and periodic filings with the SEC. Chairman Gary Gensler stated that the goal of the Proposed Rule is to “provide investors with consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information for making their investment decisions, and it would provide consistent and clear reporting obligations for issuers.” The Proposed Rule would require three main ...

Background

In February 2014, the Revolution of Dignity or Maidan revolution in Ukraine resulted in the ousting of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. In the months that followed, Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine and supported separatist movements in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. President Obama signed three Executive Orders in March 2014 imposing sanctions and prohibiting certain transactions because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Multiple Executive Orders relating to Russia followed over a period of years.

On February 21, 2022, Russia ...

After extensive retrospective review of FINRA Rule 4370, which covers member firm business continuity plan (“BCP”) requirements during times of business disruption (such as the COVID-19 Pandemic), FINRA issued its Retrospective Rule Review Report entitled “Business Continuity Planning and Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic.”[1]  In doing so, FINRA issued guidance and summarized stakeholder feedback on such topics as the inspection and registration of temporary/remote offices, Membership Application Program (“MAP”) compliance for those offices, and the ...

The global standardization of ESG and, more broadly, sustainability related disclosure requirements may arrive sooner than anyone could have expected. A recent Financial Times article entitled “New Body to Oversee Global Sustainability Disclosure Standards” (paywall) announces that, in response to investors increasing focus on sustainability and the growing need for clearer standardized company disclosures, the IFRS Foundation, the current administrators of the International Accounting Standards Board, are in the process of forming their newest brainchild: the ...

This is an update to a previous post. This update highlights the formal endorsement of Term SOFR by the ARRC, expands the discussion to include Ameribor and dives more deeply into the issues associated with Term SOFR swaps resulting in a mismatch with any related hedge by the Lender.

The ARRC has endorsed (HERE) CME’s Term SOFR. One of the bigger pieces to this announcement and earlier related announcements (Scope of Use Cases), is that U.S. regulators will also permit Term SOFR Swaps, when one of the parties is an “end-user”. When looking only at the loan market, what new reference ...

In a press release (HERE) on June 8th, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) published its first release in a series called the “SOFR First Transition Initiative” as a best practice. One goal for this sort of “best practice” is to impact the liquidity in LIBOR and SOFR swaps, thereby slowly (a) increasing the spread on LIBOR swaps and (b) tightening the spread on SOFR swaps. In other words, make LIBOR swaps more expensive and SOFR swaps less expensive. Even for non-dealers, this announcement is important as it is not only a major step in such non-dealers’ ...

Canada has designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, meaning that banks and other financial services providers will no longer be allowed to deal with or facilitate transactions concerning property controlled by the group. The restrictions will apply to U.S. financial institutions in their activities within Canada and will extend to cover the activities of Canadian institutions outside of Canada.

On October 15, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of Treasury (FinCEN) released its Supplemental Advisory on Identifying and Reporting Human Trafficking and Related Activity (Supplemental Advisory). The last time FinCEN provided guidance on identifying trafficking in anti-money laundering (AML) processes was in Guidance on Recognizing Activity that May be Associated with Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking – Financial Red Flags on September 11, 2014. The evolving tactics of human traffickers and behaviors of victims required ...

A black swan has arrived – the Pandemic of 2020 and with it a bear market. As with previous black swan events, experts and leaders are in learning mode, with the facts and events evolving hourly. As my financial advisor told me, this event cannot be modeled. Nonetheless, there are lessons learned from past crises – we are facing not just a health crisis uprooting lives and businesses, but also we can expect significant economic impact. The event will have effects longer than initially predicted or imagined.

In such circumstances, what should be on in-house lawyers’ and leaders ...

Charlotte White Collar, Regulatory Defense and Investigations Member Valecia M. McDowell and Financial Regulatory Advice and Response Member Edward O'Keefe will both serve as speakers at the 2020 SIFMA C&L Annual Seminar.

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 ...

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 ...

As government authorities around the world create a constantly evolving regulatory environment, conduct overlapping investigations, and bring parallel proceedings, companies are facing perhaps the most challenging regulatory and criminal enforcement environment. Our goal is to serve as a leading-edge resource for companies navigating these waters. Moore & Van Allen’s WCIRA News Clips is a complement to our White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog’s in-depth individual treatment of critical emerging issues. WCIRA News Clips hits the ...

By Kristina Whittaker[1]. Mick Mulvaney was appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) on November 25, 2017.  His term will end on June 22, 2018, unless the President nominates a Director prior to that date, in which case Mr. Mulvaney will remain as Acting Director until a new Director is confirmed.  During his time as Acting Director, Mr.  Mulvaney has sought to change the priorities and culture of the Bureau, starting by changing its name to align with Title X of the Dodd Frank Act to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.  His recent public ...

In a series of interviews, speeches and other public releases, OCC Comptroller Joseph Otting has set out a number of priorities, some substantive, some related to how the agency operates.  It is clear that Mr. Otting intends to roll back or “modernize” regulations that have been viewed as burdensome or ineffective by the financial industry.  In addition, he intends to make changes to the agency in ways that pull back on the Washington-centric structure and puts more authority in the hands of local supervisors.   All of these are works in progress and some require action and/or ...

Moore & Van Allen PLLC is pleased to announce that Kristina (“Kris”) B. Whittaker, former Deputy Comptroller for Special Supervision in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), has joined the firm’s Charlotte office as Counsel. Whittaker will practice on Moore and Van Allen’s growing Financial Regulatory Advice and Response team. *

“Kris’ valuable experience and longstanding esteem within the OCC will greatly benefit our clients and increase our practice capabilities,” said Charlotte Member Edward P. O’Keefe. “Kris brings more ...

By Neil Bloomfield and Nathan White. After the Panama Papers exposed efforts by wealthy individuals and government officials to hide funds offshore, government authorities around the world have responded with new legislation, regulations and enforcement actions that are beginning to reshape the landscape for anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations.  This post will be the first in a series of updates as the world begins to redefine these issues and what that means for companies that need to comply with the new standards. 

United States

In some areas, the ...

By Neil Bloomfield and Lindsey Frye.  This will be our first in a series of updates on the status of regulation and enforcement in the context of cybersecurity related issues.  Regulation and liability in the context of a cyber attack present complex questions.  The easy target is the individual or organization that committed that attack—the criminal hacker.  Unfortunately, the easy target is often beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, and even if they are not, they lack the resources to provide a meaningful recovery.  Secondary targets, which have become the focus of ...