ABA Releases Free Compliance Toolbox on Fair Lending

ABA today released a new, free members-only resource - the ABA Toolbox on Fair Lending - to help member banks ensure continued compliance with fair lending laws and regulations.

“[A] number of cases brought recently by the Justice Department have made some banks anxious to know if their fair lending compliance programs are keeping pace with the latest legal interpretations,” ABA Chairman Kell Kelly says in an introduction to the toolbox. “The goal of this toolbox is to help ensure that your institution is in sync with examiner expectations so that you get the sort of compliance credit you deserve.”

The toolbox, which can be downloaded from aba.com, provides practical how-to’s, templates, examples and insights for bankers to consider as they review their compliance programs. Topics covered include the board’s role in fair lending compliance, fair lending risk assessments, comparative file reviews, second-look programs and managing fair lending exams.

Additional resources will be added over time, including a board presentation, tailored guidance for particular loan products and other specialized tools.

Access the toolbox.

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House Agriculture Committee Postpones Swaps Markup

The House Agriculture Committee has postponed tomorrow’s scheduled markup of three swaps bills (H.R. 4235, H.R. 1838, H.R 3283). Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said yesterday that the Committee “will take the time to gather all relevant information before we proceed to ensure there are no unintended consequences of the legislation that would encourage recklessness in our financial institutions."

CFTC Swap Regulation Temporary Exemptive Relief Amendments

The CFTC has issued a second amendment to their July 14, 2011 Order for Swap Regulation. The amendment would further modify the temporary exemptive relief by:

• Removing references to the entities terms, including ``swap dealer,'' ``major swap participant,'' and ``eligible contract participant'' due to the joint CFTC-SEC final rulemaking further defining these terms;
• Extending the potential latest expiration date to December 31, 2012, or, depending on the nature of the relief, such other compliance date; 
• Allowing the clearing of agricultural swaps; and 
• Removing any reference to the exempt commercial market (``ECM'') and exempt board of trade (``EBOT'') grandfather relief previously issued by the CFTC.

Comments on the proposed amendments are due May 30, 2012.

Read more.

Systemically Important Financial Institutions Hearing

The House Financial Services committee will hold a hearing today at 10 a.m. regarding the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on systemically important financial institutions.

The Committee will hear testimony on the importance of carefully defining, identifying, and regulating systemically important non-bank financial institutions under the Dodd-Frank Act. Concerns will be raised around the lack of transparency, the lack of cost benefit analysis, rules being considered out of order, and the lack of regulatory coordination.

Witness Douglas Elliott of The Brookings Institution stresses the importance of identifying and regulating systemically important non-bank financial institutions in his testimony:

These institutions are the ones most capable of triggering financial crises through mistakes or bad luck, due to their importance as financial intermediaries and their interconnections with the rest of the financial system.

Watch the hearing live and read more.

Senate Banking Committee to Hold New Dodd-Frank Hearings

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) released a statement yesterday that the Committee will hold additional hearings on Dodd-Frank Act issues “over the next few weeks,” including derivatives oversight and enhanced bank supervision. The hearings will feature witnesses from the Treasury Department and the banking and securities regulators.

Other issues to be discussed will include the proposals to reform money market funds and the economic situation in Europe

Read the full press release.

Regulators To Discuss Volcker Rule Final Language

According to a Reuters article, regulators will be meeting today to discuss the final language of the Volcker rule.

The Volcker rule, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, restricts banks from making speculative bets, but includes an exemption for trades done to hedge risk. Regulators have struggled since releasing the proposed Volcker Rule in October to define the hedging exemption.

Read the full Reuters article in the twitter feed on the right of the Dodd-Frank Tracker homepage.