On June 29, 2017 the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (DBF) adopted Final Rules that were originally proposed in May 2017.  The issued rulemaking addresses a wide range of changes to State banking regulation.  A link to the rules can be found here. 

One BSA related change of note, the DBF slightly amended when state-chartered institutions must send a copy of a filed Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to the Department.  The DBF removed the requirements to forward the SAR when the report involves a loss or potential loss of $100,000 or more and when filing on a money-service business (MSB) that is a customer of the institution.  The DBF also added additional notification requirements.  See below for the current notification requirements.

Chapter 80-9-1-.02 (1) A state chartered financial institution filing a suspicious activity report (SAR) with a federal authority must send a copy of such report to the Department promptly after filing the SAR if:

(a) The SAR involves a director, officer, employee, or principal shareholder of the state chartered financial institution, or a known immediate family member, related interest, or an affiliate of a director, executive officer, or principal shareholder of the state chartered financial institution;

(b) The SAR indicates that a financial institution is a suspect or otherwise indicates the possibility that such financial institution violated the law; or

(c) The SAR involves an affiliate or subsidiary of the financial institution.

(2) Along with any SAR forwarded to the Department, a financial institution shall also notify the Department when law enforcement or the financial institution's insurers, including, but not limited to surety companies, have been notified of the underlying activity.
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It is recommended that state-chartered institutions update their BSA procedures for the changes. 

By: Jeremy Clifton, CRCM, CAMS

On July 10, 2017 the CFPB issued its final rule which limits financial institutions’ ability to utilize arbitration agreements.  The rule prohibits the compulsory waiver of class action suits via pre-dispute arbitration agreements.   The rule takes effect on September 18, 2017 but compliance is not mandatory until on or after March 19, 2018.  Institutions should review consumer deposit, credit card, and loan agreements as pre-dispute arbitration agreements are quite common.  It may be necessary for institutions to update these documents manually or to contact providers to determine if these forms are available without the pre-dispute language.  If an institution is to retain allowable types of pre-dispute arbitration agreements, such agreements must now contain new model language and require submission of certain arbitration records to the CFPB.  See the CFBP’s page for further guidance here. 

​While the House passed a resolution on July 26, 2017 to override the arbitration rule, there is no word from the Senate on an impending vote.  We will provide updates on any changes of the status of these rules.