Client Alerts & Publications Archive

In this issue:

• Final Remittance Transfer Rule
• CFPB Rules on Gift Cards and Unclaimed Property Laws in Maine and Tennessee
• Prohibition on Financing Credit Insurance Premiums
• Mortgage Rules Update

In this issue: 

• Revision to Guidance on Community Reinvestment
• CFPB Enforcement Action Under RESPA
• New York and Massachusetts Use New Tool to Protect Consumers from Payday Loans

The current suspension of the national debt limit expires on May 19. Accordingly, unless the debt limit is raised, the Bureau of Public Debt may be unable to issue SLGS after May 19, 2013.

In this issue:

• Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending
• Fair Lending and Indirect Auto Lending
• Elimination of Sticker Disclosure Requirement at Automated Teller Machines 

On January 29, 2013, House Bill 983 was introduced in the General Assembly.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management recently published guidance to clarify the obligations of certain investment companies to file for review communications posted on social media sites and in other interactive communications where such communications are not required to be filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

In this issue:

Federal Subsidies to Issuers of Build America Bonds and Direct Pay Tax Credit Bonds Are Being Reduced by Sequestration

IRS Releases Tax Exempt Bonds FY 2013 Work Plan

IRS Releases Report on Avoiding Troubled Tax-Advantaged Bonds

IRS Releases New Voluntary Closing Agreement Program Request Form

Have You Adopted Post-Issuance Compliance Procedures?

In this issue:

• Student Loan Servicers to Be Supervised by the CFPB
• FTC Updates “Dot Com Disclosures”

One of the last steps in the foreclosure process in Illinois, after a judgment of foreclosure has been obtained and the real property has been sold at auction in a judicial sale, involves obtaining a court order approving and confirming the sale.

In this issue:

• Corporate Governance and BSA/AML Compliance

In 2010 the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act gave the Securities and Exchange Commission the power to adopt rules providing for a “harmonized” standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers when they provide advice to retail customers.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board  recently proposed a major revision of MSRB Rule G-19 (Suitability of Recommendations and Transactions). The proposal would harmonize Rule G-19 with the general broker-dealer suitability obligation under Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. Rule 2111 which became effective in July 2012. 

This client alert discusses asset backed commercial paper, developed in the early 1980s as a means for banks to provide their customers with cost-efficient money market financing of trade receivables, lease receivables and similar commercial assets, and the most significant issues now facing the traditional ABCP market.  

In this issue:

• Unearned Discount Points
• New Mortgage Foreclosure Rules in Illinois
• Cybersecurity and Reputational Risk

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued a Risk Alert announcing that it has observed widespread compliance deficiencies related to Rule 206(4)-2 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

As set forth in our Client Alert dated March 4, 2013, President Obama recently issued an order that authorized certain automatic cuts to federal spending. President Obama issued the order under a “sequestration” law previously enacted by Congress.

On March 1, 2013, President Obama issued an order for certain automatic cuts to federal spending. President Obama issued the order under a “sequestration” law previously enacted by Congress.

The ability of state and local governments to incur debt in order to finance structure, or other essential governmental services is well established and fundamental to their basic operation. 

If Congress does not act soon to postpone or avoid automatic cuts to federal spending, the federal government may implement certain automatic spending cuts under a “sequestration” law previously enacted by Congress.

The Internal Revenue Service generally requires issuers (or their agents) to file Form 1097-BTC, Bond Tax Credit, for each tax credit provided by the following tax credit bonds: (i) Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, (ii) New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, (iii) Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, (iv) Qualified Zone Academy Bonds and (v) Qualified School Construction Bonds.

In this issue:

• Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency Federal Trade Commission Staff Report
• Corporate Account Takeover
• CFPB Issues Guidance on Mortgage Servicing Transfers

On January 17, 2013, the IRS released the long-awaited final regulations under Code §§ 1471-1474, generally referred to as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act provisions.

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it will begin to include questions concerning post-issuance compliance procedures and the implementation of such procedures in the information document requests that it sends to issuers of tax-exempt and tax-advantaged bonds.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its final loan originator compensation rule implementing certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

On February 8, 2013, the governor of the State of Illinois signed into law legislation amending the Illinois Conveyances Act providing that the provisions regarding the form of a mortgage are, and have always been, permissive.

In this issue: 

• Important Changes for Business Associates to the Privacy, Security, Breach Notification and Enforcement Rules Implementing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 
• CFPB Seeks Information on Financial Products Marketed to Students
• In re Crane: An Update

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureaui ssued its final mortgage servicing rules under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

In 2012 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission significantly narrowed the CFTC Rule 4.5 exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator available to operators of investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. recently issued a revised proposal to consolidate its rules governing markups, markdowns, commissions and fees. FINRA originally published a rule proposal in March 2011 that would consolidate and materially revise several NASD and NYSE rules. 

On January 7, 2013, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Committee) issued major revisions to the “liquidity coverage ratio” (LCR) it published in 2010.

In this Issue:

• FFIEC Proposed Guidance on Social Media
• Mortgage Servicing Rules
• Mandatory Escrow Accounts for Higher-Priced Mortgages

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards Rule is lengthy and complicated. It is not a disclosure rule but instead requires a creditor to revise loan products and its origination and underwriting practices, including compensation to its employees and third party loan originators. Following is a summary of significant parts of the Rule. The Rule provides compliance options, each which should be analyzed based on the creditor’s customers and its operational capabilities.

The beginning of each year provides an opportunity for investment advisers to review annual compliance and regulatory matters, including issues related to private investment funds and commodity pools. This alert briefly summarizes some of the primary issues that advisers might consider in their 2013 annual review and update processes. Many of these issues apply to unregistered advisers as well as registered advisers.

In this issue: 

• Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule
• Illinois Consumer Installment Loan Act and Payday Loan Reform Act Amendments
• CFPB and Five States Bring Action Against Debt Relief Service Provider
• Deposit Account Disclosures

In this issue:

• Remittance Transfer Rule
• Request for CARD Act Comments
• Project Catalyst and the Trial Disclosures Program

On December 18, 2012 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a consultative document entitled “Revisions to the Securitisation Framework.” The paper contains the Committee’s proposed revisions to the securitization framework following its “fundamental review” of the existing framework.

In a brief, unanimous decision released this week, the Supreme Court clarified in its decision in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel, Inc., Case No. 11-460, that the "flow of water from an improved portion of a navigable waterway into an unimproved portion of the very same waterway does not qualify as a discharge of pollutants" under the Clean Water Act. 

Late in the evening of January 1, 2013, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, avoiding the tax portion of the so-called “fiscal cliff.” President Obama signed ATRA into law on January 2, 2013.

After several years of proposed changes to the rules governing broker-dealer communications with the public, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. announced in June 2012 that the final, modified rule will be effective as of February 4, 2013. FINRA received a number of questions since the announcement and recently released additional guidance on the Advertising Regulation page of its website. This Client Alert summarizes several of the issues addressed in the latest guidance. 

In this issue:

• Advertising Rewards
• In re Crane: An Update
• FTC Revises the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule 

By letter dated December 7, 2012, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight  of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released interpretive guidance significantly expanding the scope of its October 11, 2012 interpretive letter. The October 11 Letter confirmed that securitization vehicles that satisfy five criteria, including a requirement that they operate consistent with either Regulation AB or Rule 3a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, should not be “commodity pools” as a result of holding a swap nor should their operators be required to register as “commodity pool operators” under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC rules. 

New Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. rules governing broker-dealer “know your customer” and suitability obligations (FINRA Rules 2090 and 2111) became effective July 9, 2012. FINRA recently issued additional guidance on the scope of the terms “customer” and “investment strategy”. FINRA also recently created a suitability website that aggregates questions and answers with respect to FINRA Rule 2111. This Client Alert summarizes the issues addressed in the latest guidance. 

In this issue:

• Debt Collection
• Mortgage Banking
• Expiration of the Temporary Unlimited Deposit Insurance Coverage of Noninterest-Bearing Transaction Accounts 
• 2013 Dollar Annual Threshold Adjustments

In This Issue: Expenditure of Build America Bond Proceeds on Bond Insurance Is a Capital Expenditure, IRS Revises Instructions to Form 8038-G, Treasury’s 2012-2013 Priority Guidance Plan 

A recent ruling from the federal district court in Minnesota reinforces the idea that an employer needs to take active steps to assure that an employee does not take otherwise confidential or privileged documents when the employee leaves the company, or the confidentiality or privilege is likely to be waived. In today’s world of electronically stored information and documents, this becomes increasingly difficult. 

In this issue:

• General Purpose Reloadable Pre-paid Cards
• “Commercially Reasonable” Online Banking Security Procedures
• Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act Updates

Earlier this month, the Treasury published its 2012-2013 Priority Guidance Plan for the twelve-month period from July 2012 through June 2013. The 2012 - 2013 Priority Guidance Plan represents projects the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service intend to work on actively during the twelve month period covered by the plan, but does not place any deadline on completion of such projects. The Treasury intends to periodically update and republish the 2012-2013 Priority Guidance Plan during the plan year to reflect additional items that the Treasury publishes during the plan year. Section references below are to the Internal Revenue Code. 

Brent Feller and Anjali Vij wrote an article entitled Employee Costs Related to Capital Projects, Can you Finance Them with Tax-exempt Bond Proceeds?, which was recently published in the October issue of the Dispatch, from the Illinois Government Finance Officers Association. 

This Country Survey aims to provide a balanced view of the equipment finance and leasing market in the US. Although the economic background is universally well documented, some brief indicators are provided regarding the conditions for business.