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On August 8, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) issued a press release providing additional information on its Novel Activities Supervision Program (Program) to monitor novel activities in the banks it oversees. Novel activities are defined to include: (1) technology-driven partnerships with non-banks to provide banking services to customers, and (2) activities involving crypto-assets and distributed ledger or “blockchain” technology. According to the Fed, “the Program will be risk-focused and complement existing supervisory processes, strengthening the oversight of novel activities conducted by supervised banking organizations.” The Fed will notify those banking organizations whose novel activities will be subject to examination in writing and will routinely monitor supervised banking organizations that are exploring novel activities.

On August 8, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued guidance on the applicability of the legal lending limit (LLL) to purchased loans. This guidance applies to community banks’ purchases of loans. In short, unless an exception applies, all loans and extensions of credit made by banks are subject to the LLL.

On August 2, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced updates to certain sections and examination procedures in the FFIEC Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual (Manual). The Manual instructs examiners on how to assess a bank’s anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) program and its compliance with other AML/CFT regulatory requirements. The FFIEC cautions that the updates should not be seen as new instructions or an increased focus on certain areas, but instead as offering further transparency into the examination process and supporting risk-focused examination work.

On July 28, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the agencies) issued an addendum to the agencies’ joint policy statement on funding and liquidity risk management, which advises depository institutions to assess and maintain a broad range of funding sources that can be accessed in adverse circumstances. Specifically, the agencies advised depository institutions to regularly test any contingency borrowing lines to ensure the institution’s staff are well versed in how to access them and that they function as envisioned.

On July 27, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking that would revise the capital requirements applicable to large banking organizations (those with $100 billion or more in total…

Today, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a letter to financial institutions (FIL-37-2023) regarding the proper way to report estimated uninsured deposits in accordance with the instructions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report). FIL-37-2023 does not impact institutions with less than $1 billion in total assets that do not report estimated uninsured deposits.

In March , the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submit a brief on whether a syndicated term loan qualifies as a “security.” The brief was highly anticipated after the SEC requested multiple extensions to submit. However, on July 18, the SEC relayed to the court that they will not be filing a brief, stating that “Despite diligent efforts to respond to the Court’s order and provide the Commission’s views, the staff is unfortunately not in a position to file a brief on behalf of the Commission in this matter. We greatly appreciate the Court’s indulgence and regret any inconvenience this may have caused the Court or the parties.”

On July 18, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Senior Deputy Comptroller for Large Bank Supervision Greg Coleman testified on OCC supervision of climate-related financial risks before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy.