On April 29, 2022, OFAC re-issued the amended the Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 589, renaming it to Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations. This administrative action replaces the regulations that were published in abbreviated form on May 8, 2014 with a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public.

VIDEO: BSA Exam Manual PEPs

In this Compliance Clip, Adam talks about how the section for politically exposed persons (PEPs) in the BSA Exam Manual was recently updated in December of 2021. While the regulators have said that the BSA Exam manual updates shouldn’t be anything new, the changes to the PEP section of the manual are quite interesting as it seems to back peddle from what was said in the 2014 edition. This video is a must watch for your BSA/AML team.

A Transcript of this video is now available.

On April 26, 2022, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in conjunction with the CFPB’s submission of the Semiannual Report to Congress. In his speech, Chopra enumerated the CFPB’s efforts to align with the objectives that Congress set out for the agency.

On April 25, 2022, the CFPB announced that it is invoking a largely unused legal provision to examine nonbank financial companies that pose risks to consumers. Through the use of this dormant authority, the CFPB believes that it will protect consumers and level the playing field between banks and nonbanks. In addition, the CFPB is seeking public comments on a procedural rule to make this process more transparent.

On April 21, 2022, the CFPB and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that they are filing a lawsuit against MoneyGram International, Inc. and MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. for systemically and repeatedly violating various consumer financial protection laws and leaving families high and dry. The lawsuit specifically alleges that the company stranded customers waiting for their money when it failed to deliver funds promptly to recipients abroad.

VIDEO: What is a Lender Credit

In this Compliance, Adam discusses what a lender credit is for purposes of the TRID rule. In particular, Adam specifies items that are considered lender credits and gives examples of payments that not are considered a lender credit. In addition, Adam briefly describes the difference between a specific and a general lender credit. A transcript of this video is now available.