By Porter Wright on Recently, the primary federal bank regulators took the latest step in the long and winding road toward the replacement of credit ratings in the analysis of investment securities by insured financial institutions. You will recall this process began with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in July 2010 that, in the wake of the financial … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Ohio Department of Taxation recently released draft administrative regulations (the “Regulations”) designed to implement the new Ohio financial institutions tax. The new tax takes effect Jan. 1, 2014 and replaces the corporation franchise tax and dealers in intangible tax, which financial institutions have historically paid in Ohio. The Regulations state that the tax has … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on When the new capital rules were issued this summer, there was no dearth of comment and analysis. The federal banking regulators took pains to emphasize how community bankers were treated and much of the 971 page release parsed the distinctions between “advanced approaches” organizations and community banks. In general, the basic conclusion is that the community … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on From time to time we deviate from our normal prose on the banking and finance industry and give you, our reader, insight into other areas of the law that impact your business. A recent post regarding overhauling the Ohio employee-friendly employment discrimination law, Senate Bill 383, tops our list of quality reading material. The post, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In July the second anniversary of the signing of the Dodd-Frank Act passed, giving community bankers an opportunity to consider where things stand. For some banking institutions, particularly larger ones, it has been an active two years even though at least half of the regulatory requirements of the Act remain to be finalized. For smaller institutions, as will … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Financial institutions should apply the same risk management strategies and considerations to outsourced "cloud computing" activities as are required with more traditional forms of outsourcing, according to a statement issued July 10th by the Federal Financial Institution Examination Counsel (FFIEC). The FFIEC’s statement explains that while there is no universal definition of "cloud computing," it … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on With certain limitations, a bank may own real estate it acquires by foreclosure, conveyance in lieu of foreclosure, or other legal proceedings in satisfaction of a debt previously contracted. Ownership of such property can create potential liability for the bank in a number of ways, though most commonly from personal injuries which occur on the property … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published its first supervision examination manual which will be of interest to bankers and other financial service executives. On one level, the manual is fairly pedestrian and may contain little surprising in that most bankers have a fairly extensive appreciation of (and experience with) an examination process. And, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A new interim federal rule effective May 1, 2011 protects from garnishment a portion of certain federal benefits direct-deposited into judgment debtor’s account within two months of the garnishment. The interim rule requires banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to change the way they process and respond to garnishments of accounts containing federal benefits, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed (95–5) the America Invents Act (formerly titled the Patent Reform Act of 2011) (S.23 or AIA), on March 8, 2011. This legislation represents a major patent reform initiative and is quite possibly the most significant patent reform since the 1952 Patent Act. This legislation could have significant impact on financial institutions. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Congress’ recent passage and President Obama’s signing of the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” provides significant incentives for financial industry whistleblowers to assist the government root out fraudulent practices and other unlawful conduct in the industry. Supporters of the Dodd-Frank Act are praising its expansive whistleblower protections as a necessary good corporate-citizen … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”). Although the Act focuses primarily on the financial industry, the Act contains a section that requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to publish rules that direct the national securities exchanges and associations to prohibit … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Is your phone ringing off the hook? Then you’d better check your bank account. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a new “telephone denial-of-service” attack is combining high-tech and low-tech fraud techniques to steal money from the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims. As reported in the alert issued by the FBI, the scam begins with the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on January 21, 2010, President Obama proposed reforms to the financial system designed to ensure no bank, or financial institution that contains a bank, will own, invest in, or sponsor a hedge fund, private equity fund, or proprietary trading operation for the bank’s own profit. The new reforms, known as the Volcker Rule after former chair … Continue Reading
