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OBA Staff Blog
FDIC issues final rule providing unlimited coverage to IOLTA accounts -- (Pauli Loeffler)January 24, 2011
The FDIC Board met yesterday, and as anticipated issued a final rule allowing temporary unilimited coverage for IOLTA accounts per Public Law 111-343. Key points are: | |
The S.A.F.E Mortgage Act Registration, an update - - (Pauli Loeffler)January 5, 2011
In a manner that reminds me of the scene from the movie Braveheart (“Hold! Hold! Hold!”), on Jan. 4, 2011, the FDIC issued FIL-1-2011 (http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2011/fil11001.pdf) announcing the expectation that the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry would finally be up and operational by Jan. 31, 2011. If that is indeed the case, MLOs must be registered no later than July 29, 2011, however, there will be additional confirmation from the regulatory agencies when the Registry is in fact ready to accept registrations. | |
Take a look at the December Legal Update! -- (Byron Linkous)December 21, 2010
The December Legal Update can be accessed here. I really enjoyed writing the Legal Update this month, in particular, because it was filled with positive news, as opposed to the normal (albeit necessary) new regulatory requirements. First is the news of the new Frequently Asked Questions feature available exclusively to OBA members. Second, there is an in-depth discussion of a recent court decision that highlights the importance for banks (i) of taking advantage of fraud prevention tools AND (ii) using the account agreement to fullest extent possible to shift the risk of fraud losses away from the bank. This discussion is especially important given the current environment of rampant fraudulent activity. Make sure you take a look at this one! | |
More on ATM changes ... -- (Pauli Loeffler)December 14, 2010
ABA's Dec. 9, 2010, Web Briefing with the Department of Justice provided clarification with regard to the compliance date for 2010 Standards as well as existing Braille keyboards for ATMs. March 15, 2012, is the compliance date for ATMs to comply with the communication-related elements of the 2010 Standards. As indicated in my Aug.27, 2010, blog (http://oba.com/bankers/econ_blog.php?action=story&id=2214), “structural” requirements for existing ATMs are subject to “safe harbor” provisions if they comply with the 1991 Standards. However, “communication” requirements are not subject to the same “safe harbor” provisions. These include requirements for speech output, tactilely discernable input controls, privacy, display screens and Braille instructions. If the ATM does not meet these “communication” requirements, then they must be upgraded to extent that doing so is not an “undue burden.” Undue burden is defined as "significant difficulty or expense" and is subjective. The final rule did not address whether a keyboard is a structural or a communication element, but the ABA's position was that it is structural by definition. The DOJ agreed to this interpretation: the keyboard is a structural element and existing keyboards with a raised vertical lines to indicate the “back” function key will be subject to the “safe harbor” provisions for structural elements rather than require replacement to provide a raised left arrow required under the new provisions. You may access the ABA's Analysis including the updates from the Web Briefing at http://www.aba.com/aba/documents/news/ADAanalysis121010.pdf as well as additional information in the September 2010 Legal Update. | |
Legal Update -- (Byron Linkous)November 29, 2010
Check out the November 2010 Legal Update! Our November 2010 Legal Update is out and contains some important regulatory updates. Topics covered this month include: 1. 2 New Opportunities for Credit Under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) that were effective 11/3/2010. | |
