The OCC Issues Final Lending Limits Rule

On Wednesday, June 19, 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) finalized its lending limits interim final rule, with revisions.  The interim final rule consolidated the lending limits rules applicable to national banks and savings associations, removed the separate OCC regulation governing lending limits for savings associations, and implemented Section 610 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”).  Section 610 amended the statutory definition of "loans and extensions of credit" to include certain credit exposures arising from derivative transactions, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, securities lending transactions, and securities borrowing transactions.

Read the OCC press release

The CFPB Proposes Amendments to Mortgage Rules

On Monday, June 24, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) proposed amendments to certain mortgage rules issued by the CFPB in January 2013.  These proposed amendments focus primarily on clarifying, revising, or amending provisions on:

• loss mitigation procedures under Regulation X’s servicing provisions;

• amounts counted as loan originator compensation to retailers of manufactured homes and their employees for purposes of applying points and fees thresholds under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act and the qualified mortgage rules in Regulation Z;

• exemptions available to creditors that operate predominantly in “rural or underserved” areas for various purposes under the mortgage regulations;

• application of the loan originator compensation rules to bank tellers and similar staff; and

• the prohibition on creditor-financed credit insurance.

The CFPB also proposed adjustments to the effective dates for certain provisions of the loan originator compensation rules and technical and wording changes for clarification purposes to Regulations B, X, and Z.

Read the CFPB press release

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