#2021-37, November 19, 2021

Sixth Circuit Appellate Court to Hear Vaccine Mandate Case; OSHA Suspends Work on ETS

After a federal appellate court last week issued a nationwide stay of enforcement of the emergency temporary standard (ETS) that requires all employers with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated or test weekly for COVID-19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it is has “suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement” of the ETS, pending future developments in the litigation.

Challenges to the standard have been brought in 12 circuit courts of appeal and in a random drawing held on Tuesday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals was chosen to hear the complaints filed by governors and private entities challenging the ETS.  It is unclear what the timeline for the litigation will be or how the court will rule.  Therefore, banks may wish to proceed cautiously in developing plans to implement the ETS in the coming weeks. 

To read the court’s consolidation order, click here.  To read the court’s stay order, click here.

OCC Nominee Testifies at Senate Banking Committee Hearing

Saule Omarova, President Biden’s nominee to serve as the next comptroller of the currency, faced tough questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle regarding her views on banking issues.  In particular, several Senators questioned her opposition to the bipartisan S. 2155 regulatory reform law that was signed into law in 2018. 

In addition, lawmakers raised concerns with Omarova’s comments on several other issues, including her position on “debanking” what she referred to as “socially sub-optimal industries” and her past support for transferring private retail banking functions to the Federal Reserve and fully replacing private bank deposits with so-called FedAccounts.  In prepared testimony, Omarova said community banks are crucial to extending credit in local communities, and she pledged that community banks would not find a stronger ally.

Prior to the hearing, the Association joined more than 40 state banking trade associations and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) on a letter to Senators raising concerns with Omarova’s policy positions.  The letter notes that “Professor Omarova has advocated the displacement of community banks with government credit allocation” and that “she stands outside a bipartisan consensus on community banking policy.”

The Senate Banking Committee must now consider whether to hold a vote to send the nomination to the full Senate.  No date has been set for a confirmation vote.

To read the letter, click here.  To read testimony from the hearing and view an archived webcast, click here.

Reg. C Reporting Threshold Decreases on January 1

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) this week issued a reminder to financial institutions that the threshold for reporting data under Regulation C and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) decreases to 200 open-end lines of credit on January 1, 2022.  The new threshold, which is permanent, replaces the temporary 500 threshold.

The Bureau noted that beginning on January 1, institutions that originated at least 200 open-end lines of credit in each of the two preceding calendar years and meets all other Reg. C coverage criteria will be required to collect, record and report data about its open-end lines of credit.  The CFPB recently released a set of frequently asked questions regarding coverage criteria.

To read the FAQs and access additional HMDA resources, click here.

Fed Hosting Interagency Fair Lending Webinar

On December 7, the Federal Reserve is hosting an interagency webinar on fair lending.  The webinar, which begins at 2:00 PM, will include representatives from eight federal agencies discussing a variety of fair lending topics.  Issues covered will include recent fair lending guidance documents, fintech risk management and redlining self-assessments. After the discussion, panelists will answer questions submitted in advance.

To learn more and register for the webinar, click here.