Highlights
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a report in September 2020 highlighting the risk that climate change poses to the stability of the U.S. financial system and the economy. The report, Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System, was a detailed study of the topic that will provide insights to the Biden Administration s team of regulators.
The CFTC report emphasized that regulators have sufficient existing legislative authority to begin addressing climate-related risks now, through better oversight, risk management and disclosures.
Major findings in the report include: 1) More consistent, reliable and comparable data is needed to make this task meaningful and manageable, 2) regulators and companies can use scenario planning and climate stress testing to reduce climate risks, and 3) an economy-wide price on carbon would allow financial markets to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions more efficiently.
Weekly Fintech Focus
FDIC issues an updated brokered deposit rule, creating new exceptions relevant to fintechs working with bank partners.
FDIC issues a final rule clarifying its expectations for ILC charter applications.
CFPB issues an advisory opinion on Special Purpose Credit Programs to clarify how creditors can offer these programs to disadvantaged groups.
CFPB grants access to its compliance assistance sandbox to an earned wage access company, which meets the CFPB’s recent guidance on such programs.
PayPal wins the first round in its efforts to throw out aspects of the CFPB’s prepaid rule, resulting in a court throwing out certain mandatory disclosures and the 30-day waiting period for digital wallets.
News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community
The Redwood City robo-advisor s addition of two renowned former chief banking regulators brings legitimacy and guidance that could lead to a margin-fattening bank charter and help solve the robo-advisor s problem of high client acquisition costs.
December 31, 2020 4:37 AM by Oisin Breen
Brooke s Note: Maybe someday we ll talk about Wealthfront as a great bank that got off to two false starts. First, it was founded in 2008 as KaChing with RIAs built in. See: Can Silicon Valley rewire the RIA business? eBay investors think KaChing is the answer. Then, a few years later, it relaunched as Wealthfront to do what we know as robo-advising to tread water for a decade. Finally, founders realized they d been overthinking the model all along and threw in with pop-up web banks in February of 2019. They got as many bank assets in a few months as they had gathered in the previous few years in wealth management. See: Wealthfront adds stag
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OCC Fintech Charters Face Fresh Attack By State Regulators
Law360 (December 23, 2020, 9:27 PM EST) A group of state bank supervisors is seeking to block the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from granting national bank charter status to a blockchain-based financial services provider, arguing that the federal regulator would be setting a dangerous precedent for the future of the banking industry.
The OCC s plans to grant the charter to Figure Technologies Inc. would go far beyond the limited chartering authority the regulator has under the National Bank Act and other federal laws, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors argued in a complaint filed Tuesday in D.C. federal court.
New lawsuit from states over OCC power targets Figure application americanbanker.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from americanbanker.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.