FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ADVISORY & FINANCIAL REGULATORY GROUP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 6, 2017 Financial Regulatory Developments Focus In this week’s newsletter, we provide a snapshot of the principal US, European and global financial regulatory developments of interest to banks, investment firms, broker-dealers, market infrastructure providers, asset managers and corporates. Click here if you wish to access our Financial Regulatory Developments website.
Yesterday the Joint Forum, a group established in 1996 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to deal with issues common to the banking, securities, and insurance sectors, released “Review of the Differentiated Nature and Scope of Financial Regulation – Key Issues and Recommendations”, which addresses key issues and recommendations on the differenti
The first of three compliance deadlines for US regulations requiring resolution-related amendments to qualified financial contracts is January 1, 2019, and delaying compliance until the subsequent deadlines creates additional risk. Compliance programs may not be able to eliminate this risk due to the scope of contracts to be remediated and the staggered compliance period that looks back to the first compliance date.
Two years ago, after a slew of bankruptcies in the energy sector triggered by a dramatic drop in commodity prices during the worst downturn for U.S. energy producers since the 1980’s, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued new guidance that proposed changes to underwriting analysis and loan risk rating determinations by national banks and federal savings associations of loans secured by oil and gas reserves (RBLs).
1 Driven by a concern that banks were not appropriately capturing risks associated with increased
On September 1, 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Federal Reserve) adopted a rule (the Rule)1 that will require global systemically important U.S. bank holding companies (U.S. GSIBs)2 and most of their subsidiaries to amend a range of derivatives, short-term funding transactions, securities lending transactions and other qualifying financial contracts (QFCs). The required amendments will limit counterparty termination rights related to certain U.S. GSIB resolution and bankruptcy proceedings.
It is fair to say that not many, if any, banks have internal controls or policies and procedures to identify and mitigate deficiencies in the bankruptcy practices of banks. Indeed, banks typically rely on their Legal Department or external counsel to make sure banks protect their interests when bank customers file bankruptcy. While the Compliance Department and the Risk Management Department track compliance and risks related to numerous laws, rules and regulations, the Bankruptcy Code and its rules are typically not among those laws and rules.
On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and request for public comment (the Proposed Rule) introducing a regulatory regime to govern the receivership of national banks that are not insured (uninsured banks) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). See OCC, Receiverships for Uninsured National Banks, 81 Fed. Reg. 62,835, 62,835 (Sept. 13, 2016) (the Proposed Rule).
Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Amcore Bank, National Association, headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, and the FDIC was appointed receiver.
Yesterday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed BC National Banks, headquartered in Butler, Missouri, and appointed the FDIC receiver.