On March 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced the agency’s new initiative to focus on the financial issues individuals in rural America are facing.

On March 16, 2022, the OCC issued a final rule amending SAR requirements. Under the amendment, the OCC is permitted to issue exemptions from SAR reporting requirements upon receipt of a request by a financial institution.

On March 16, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced it had updated its examination procedures manual to expand its view of “unfairness.”

On March 7, 2022, the California Supreme Court ruled in Sheen v. Wells Fargo, that a lending bank owed a borrower a duty relating to general negligence principals to “process, review and respond carefully and completely to a borrower’s loan modification application.”

On February 8, 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued two separate orders that upheld two separate rules from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) “valid-when-made” rules.

On February 22, 2022, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued Bulletin 2022-4 providing responses to FAQs received regarding their previously issued final rule rescinding the OCC’s Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”).

On March 2, 2022, the New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) will take action to increase its enforcement actions in pursuit of Russian sanctions. These enforcement actions include expediting the “procurement of additional blockchain analytics.”

On March 7, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") issued an alert advising financial institutions to be vigilant in protecting their organizations from the potential efforts of bad actors intending to evade the sanctions put in place by the United States.

On June 24, 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) staff issued an Invitation to Comment, Agenda Consultation (“ITC”) seeking broad stakeholder feedback about the FASB’s standard-setting process and its future agenda for standard-setting.

On February 22, 2022, the FASB released a summary of the comments that they received from over 500 stakeholders from this invitation to comment.

On February 23, 2022 the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) held a Small business Advisory Review Panel for Automated Valuation Model (“AVM”) Rulemaking to discuss proposals under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, Section 1125 (“FIRREA”), under the Dodd-Frank Act.

On January 21, 2022, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) published a final rule amending the deposit insurance regulations for trust accounts and mortgage servicing accounts.

On February 22, 2022, the Washington State Legislature Senate Committee on Ways & Means held a public hearing on SB 5967, which was recently amended. The amendments, if enacted, would create new “business and occupation tax” (“B&O tax”) creating Climate Resiliency and Mitigation Surcharges on specified financial institutions.

On February 10, 2022, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) released a blog outlining its recent approach to regulation surrounding overdraft fees and policies, echoing its previous sentiments on such matters and affirmed its commitment to continue fostering change.

On February 15, 2022, the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) released a “synthetic identity fraud mitigation toolkit” to assist financial institutions, consumers, and businesses identify, assess, and mitigate identity fraud.

On February 7, 2022, Acting Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), Martin J. Gruenberg, announced a statement summarizing the FDIC’s regulatory priorities for 2022.

On January 19, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in Alexander v. Carrington Mortgages Services, LLC, indicating that additional fees being attached to a consumer’s charges for the “convenience” of paying for those charges online or by telephone could violate consumer protection statutes.

On February 10, 2022, the FRB released a report of hypothetical scenarios meant to portray a “period of stress” extending more than two years into the future that will be utilized for annual bank stress tests.

On February 7, 2022, the OCC released a schedule of free, virtual workshops that boards of directors of national community banks and federal savings associations can utilize “to support the safe and sound operation of community-based financial institutions.”

In Fall of 2021, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published its semiannual regulatory agenda which it “reasonably anticipates” can be used to identify the regulatory matters that the agency is considering enforcing from November 1, 2021, to October 31, 2022.

On February 2, 2022, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) released a blog regarding fees consumers incur as a byproduct of engaging in the consumer finance sector and is seeking commentary on these experiences.