Author: Steve Shepherd, CRCM

On March 17, 2023, the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) issued corrective technical revisions to several regulations.  These rules generally go into effect on April 19, 2023.  However, the corrections made to Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting Act) go into effect March 20, 2024.  A summary of changes is made below.

• Regulation B (ECOA) – The CFPB is amending appendix A which contains the listed addresses of the Federal Agencies listed on adverse action notifications.  Each of the primary regulators’ addresses have been modified and adverse action notifications should reflect the corrected addresses.
• Regulation E (EFT) – The CFPB has revised its address with respect to the requests for official interpretations.
• Regulation V (FCRA) – The regulation has been amended to change the addresses and contact information of agencies with respect to the “Summary of Consumer Rights”.  The Bureau has amended Appendix K to correct the contact information of the Federal Agencies: OCC, FDIC, NCUA, DOT, STB, USDA-AMS, and SBA.  This disclosure most commonly affects financial institutions when providing the “Summary of Consumer Rights” when credit reports are utilized as part of the new employee screening processes.
• Regulation X (RESPA) – The CFPB has made modifications to RESPA for the mailing address of the CFPB for obtaining certain “Public Guidance Documents” found in 1024.2 that are printed in the Federal Register.
• Regulation Z (TILA) – Amendments were made to Appendix A, Appendix B, and Appendix C to amend the zip codes of the CFPB in all three sections.  Additionally in Appendix C, the name of the contact information has been changed to “Division of Research, Monitoring, and Regulations”.
• Regulation DD (TISA) – Amendments were made to Appendix J and Appendix C to correct the CFPB zip code.

You can read the final rule here for full detail.

Author: Hunter Brown, CAMS
 
On February 27, 2023, FinCEN issued an alert pertaining to a surge in U.S. mail theft-related check fraud. Fraud schemes related to this issue have been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic first began; FinCEN notes that 280,000 check fraud SARs were filed in 2020, 350,000 in 2021, and 680,000 in 2022. Business checks may be more valuable because business accounts are often well-funded and it may take longer for the victim to notice the fraud. Fraudsters may deposit or cash these checks in a variety of ways but ATMs, remote deposit, or the use of money mules are more vulnerable to this type of illicit activity. The alert also includes a list of red flags and a reminder that financial institutions can assist FinCEN in their efforts to stop this activity by including the key term “FIN-2023- MAILTHEFT” in SAR field 2 (“Filing Institution Note to FinCEN”) and in the SAR narrative.
 
In addition to filing a SAR, as applicable, FinCEN is urging financial institutions to refer their customers who may be victims of mail theft related check fraud to the United States Postal Inspection Services (USPIS) at 1-877-876-2455 or https://www.uspis.gov/report.
 
For more information, please visit the link below:
FinCEN Alert, FIN-2023-Alert003, February 27, 2023
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