Insights

In today’s highly competitive lending environment, asset-based lenders face elevated pressure to protect their turf and shield valued borrowers from a new lender’s wiles.

A recent Executive Order from President Biden could have a lasting impact on the ability of your financial institution’s employees to change jobs.

A recent Executive Order from President Biden could have a lasting impact on the ability of your financial institution’s employees to change jobs.

The federal banking agencies (including the FDIC, the OCC, the Federal Reserve, and the CFPB) adopted an important final rule in early 2021 (Rule) relating to how the agencies view and treat the impact and role of “supervisory guidance” (SG) in the regulation and oversight of their constituent institutions.

While there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel with the COVID-19 pandemic, many parts of the economy are still hurting. For lenders, that means there will continue to be more credits being pushed into workouts or special assets.

With the White House and Congress now under Democratic control, the political shift has fueled renewed optimism in the cannabis industry regarding the prospects for wide-scale legalization or, as a consolation prize, cannabis banking reform.

The federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) mandates that U.S. legal entities and non-U.S. legal entities registered to do business in the U.S. report to the federal government specific information about their “beneficial owners” and the persons who form or register those companies, with certain exceptions.

The ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA), the administrator of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), published a consultation on December 4, 2020 requesting public feedback on its intention to cease the publication of (1) the 1-Week and 2-Month USD LIBOR on December 31, 2021 and (2) the Overnight and 1, 3, 6 and 12 Month USD LIBOR on June 30, 2023 (the IBA Consultation).

Even in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff continued to update and streamline disclosure requirements applicable to public reporting companies.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Senate passed multiple phases of federal Coronavirus relief legislation, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act), the third phase of the legislation.

Summer is winding down but on the COVID-19 front, the challenges abound for bankers.

A recent Cease and Desist consent order published by the Federal Reserve Board involving disclosure actions by a (now former) bank employee helps to illustrate the importance of understanding what constitutes “confidential supervisory information” (CSI), the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of CSI, and the importance of educating bank employees, directors and other institution-affiliated parties in that regard.

On July 7, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), primary regulator for national banks and Federal thrifts, published a lengthy proposal for significant and extensive revisions to certain of its current regulations (the Proposal).

On June 29, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued new guidance (2020 Guidance)1 addressing due diligence requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for financial institutions that provide services to hemp-related business customers.

On April 17, the Federal Reserve Board announced an interim final rule that temporarily relaxes lending restrictions on member banks who make Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to businesses owned by certain bank insiders.

On March 31, 2020, the SBA and the Treasury Department released initial guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), providing further key details regarding how the SBA plans to administer the loan program.

With the vast uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the immediate challenges that Ohio’s financial institutions must confront, especially at this time of year, involves how to handle their annual shareholder or member meetings.

In December of 2019, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Jesús García announced the introduction of the Bank Merger Review Modernization Act (the act), which would “…restrict harmful consolidation in the banking industry and protect consumers and the financial system from ‘Too Big To Fail’ institutions.”