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DOJ Charges Community Bank with Discriminatory Pricing of Unsecured Consumer Loans
On February 19, the DOJ announced a settlement with a $338 million Texas community bank to resolve allegations that the bank engaged in a pattern or practice of pricing discrimination on the basis of national origin. Specifically, the DOJ alleged, based on its own investigation and an examination conducted by the FDIC, the bank violated ECOA by charging Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates on unsecured consumer loans compared to the rates charged to similarly situated white borrowers. The consent order requires the bank to establish a $700,000 fund to compensate borrowers who may have suffered harm as a result of the alleged ECOA violations. It also requires that the bank (i) establish uniform pricing policies, (ii) create a compliance monitoring program, (iii) provide borrower notices of non-discrimination, and (iv) conduct employee training. The new requirements apply not only to unsecured consumer loans, but also to all residential single-family real estate construction financing, automobile financing, home improvement loans, and mortgage loans.
House Members Reiterate Small Bank Concerns over Basel III
On February 19, House Financial Services Committee members Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board, the OCC, and the FDIC regarding the lawmakers’ concerns about the implementation of Basel III. Citing potential compliance costs and the potential derivative impact on consumers, Representatives Capito and Maloney ask that the agencies carefully tailor the Basel III capital requirements to ensure they are appropriate for community banks. The House and Senate have in recent months placed significant focus on the Basel III rulemakings, with both houses recently holding hearings on the issue and lawmakers previously sending letters to the regulators.
FDIC Proposes Amended Definition of Insured Deposits
On February 12, the FDIC approved a proposed rule that would amend its deposit insurance regulations to clarify that deposits in foreign branches of U.S. banks are not FDIC-insured. The U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA) has proposed a rule to prohibit banks from non-European Economic Area countries from operating deposit-taking branches in the U.K. unless U.K. depositors in such branches would be on an equal footing in the national depositor preference regime with home-country (uninsured) depositors if a bank were to fail and require a resolution. The FDIC believes that U.S. banks seeking to comply with the FSA proposal likely will change their U.K. deposit agreements so that the deposits are payable both in the U.K. and in the U.S. The proposed FDIC rule is intended to protect the Deposit Insurance Fund against the potential resulting liability that the FDIC could face as a deposit insurer for customers of foreign branches of U.S.-based insured depository institutions. While deposits at foreign branches of U.S. banks would not be insured, they could be treated as deposits for purposes of national depositor preference laws. The proposed rule would not affect deposits in overseas military banking facilities governed by regulations of the Department of Defense. The FDIC is seeking comment on all aspects of the proposal within 60 days of its publication in the Federal Register.
Federal Agencies Announces Numerous Appointments
SEC Names Office of Market Intelligence Chief. On January 22, the SEC announced that Vincente Martinez will serve as the head of the Office of Market Intelligence, a unit of the Enforcement Division that collects and evaluates tips, complaints and referrals. Mr. Martinez rejoins the SEC from the CFTC where he served as the first director of that agency’s whistleblower office. He previously spent eight years in the SEC’s Enforcement Division, most recently helping to develop Enforcement Division and SEC-wide policies and procedures for handling tips, complaints, and referrals. Lori Walsh, who is currently serving as the Acting Chief of the Office of Market Intelligence, will serve as Deputy Chief of the office.
FHFA Announces Deputy Director for Housing Mission and Goals. On January 15, the FHFA announced that beginning in March Sandra Thompson will serve as Deputy Director of the Division of Housing Mission and Goals with responsibility for overseeing the FHFA’s housing and regulatory policy, financial analysis, and policy research and analysis of housing finance and financial markets. Ms. Thompson will leave her current position as Director of the Division of Risk Management Supervision at the FDIC where she led the agency’s examination and enforcement program for risk management and consumer protection. The FHFA also promoted Nina Nichols to serve as Deputy Director of the Division of Supervision Policy and Support.
OCC Announces Chief Counsel. Last week, the OCC announced Amy Friend as the agency’s Chief Counsel beginning in February, replacing Julie Williams who retired last fall. Ms. Friend is a former assistant chief counsel at the OCC and served as chief counsel to the Senate Banking Committee during the development of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Senators Ask Regulators to Halt Bank Payday Lending
On January 2, a group of Democratic Senators sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the OCC seeking action to stop banks from making payday loans. The letter cites the agencies’ “long history of appropriately prohibiting . . . banks from partnering with non-bank payday lenders,” but claims that several banks are currently making payday loans directly to their customers. The products at issue are actually deposit advance loans, which the Senators claim are structured the same as traditional payday loans and put customers in a cycle of debt. The Senators call on the regulators to take “meaningful regulatory action” in response to the problem as they present it, but stop short of identifying specific banks or outlining potential federal legislation.
Fourth Circuit Holds Bankruptcy Trustee Cannot Pursue Former Directors of Bankrupt Holding Company for Alleged Mismanagement of Subsidiary Bank
On December 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court holding that a bankruptcy trustee lacked standing to sue former directors of an insolvent bank holding company for alleged mismanagement of a failed subsidiary bank. In re Beach First Nat’l Bancshares, Inc., No. 11-2019, 2012 WL 6720911 (4th Cir. Jan. 2, 2013). The district court determined previously that the directors and officers of the holding company and the subsidiary bank were one and the same, and that the harm caused to the bankrupt holding company was the direct result of the failure of the subsidiary bank. As such, the district court held that the trustee’s claims on behalf of the holding company are derivative claims that can only be pursued by the FDIC as receiver for the failed subsidiary. On appeal, the trustee argued that the claims are direct, not derivative, claims that fall outside of the FDIC’s purview, and, in the alterative, the claims are proper even if derivative because the FDIC has declined to act. The appeals court agreed with the district court and held that the trustee pled mainly claims deriving from defalcations at the subsidiary bank level, and not a distinct and separate harm specific to the holding company. Further, the appeals court held that the FDIC retains its statutory authority to act, and, in any event, has no statutory authority to transfer to another party its right to act on behalf of the failed subsidiary. The appeals court reversed the district court with regard to one of the trustee’s claims, holding that the trustee’s claim that the directors caused the holding company to improperly subordinate its equity interest in a company that owned real property could proceed on remand as a direct claim against the directors because the alleged actions caused damages unique to the holding company.
FDIC Obtains Jury Verdict and Settlement in Separate Actions in California District Court Against Former Bank Officers and Prohibition Order Against Bank CEO
On December 7, the FDIC, as receiver of a failed bank, obtained a jury verdict in its favor in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against a group of former bank officers. FDIC v. Van Dellen, No. 10-CV-04915, Doc. 596 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 7, 2012). On December 12, the former chief executive officer of the same bank settled a separate FDIC civil action and consented to an order of prohibition from further participation in the banking industry. FDIC v. Perry, No. CV 11-5561 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 12, 2012); In re Perry, No. FDIC-12-642e. In the first case, the FDIC sued the group of former officers, alleging that, in pursuit of bonuses for high loan origination volumes, the officers approved homebuilder loans to unqualified borrowers. The jury found that the former officers breached their duty of care and acted negligently in approving 23 loans and awarded approximately $169 million in damages to the FDIC. In a separate action against the former CEO of the same bank, the FDIC alleged that the CEO was negligent in allowing the bank to generate mortgage loans in 2007 which the bank was then unable to sell, allegedly resulting in $600 million in losses to the bank. The CEO settled the FDIC’s claims for $12 million, $1 million of which is to be paid from personal funds and the remainder from insurance funds. In addition, the CEO consented to an FDIC order prohibiting him from further participation in the conduct of any financial institution or organization.
FDIC Releases Community Bank Study
On December 18, the FDIC released the results of a study of U.S. community banking and other community bank measures resulting from its year-long Community Banking Initiative. The study explores the definition of a community bank, structural changes among community and non-community banks, the geography of community banking, the performance of community banks compared to non-community banks, the performance of community bank lending specialty groups, and capital formation at community banks. Other materials developed by the FDIC as part of the Initiative include the findings of a review of the FDIC’s examination, rulemaking, and guidance processes.
FDIC Supervisory Insights Focuses on Mobile Payments and High-Yield Checking
On December 17, the FDIC published the Winter 2012 issues of Supervisory Insights. The two featured articles focus on mobile payments and high-yield checking. In “Mobile Payments: An Evolving Landscape,” FDIC staff (i) review mobile payment technology, (ii) provide guidance regarding understanding and managing risks, and (iii) include a chart explaining the applicability of various federal laws to mobile payments. The article states that, going forward, non-bank mobile payment providers may start to capture greater market share from financial institutions and alter bank/customer relationships. The article describes the potential for banks to gradually be pushed out of the payment transaction, and identifies potential impacts of such disintermediation, including loss of access to key customer data. A second article, “High-Yield Checking Accounts: Know the Rules,” reviews the features of high-yield checking accounts and identifies problematic disclosures that may accompany their promotion. The article identifies what examiners look for when examining high-yield account offerings and provides best practices for banks.
Federal Banking Regulators Release 2013 CRA Asset-Size Threshold Adjustments
On December 19, the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation jointly announced the adjusted thresholds for asset size used to define small and intermediate small banks and savings associations under the Community Reinvestment Act. Effective January 1, 2013, a small bank or savings association will mean an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the past two years, had assets of less than $1.186 billion. An intermediate small bank or savings association will mean an institution with assets of at least $296 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two years, and less than $1.186 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two years.