Public Act 102-160, which was signed into law on July 23, 2021, amends the Illinois Notary Public Act to allow remote notarizations (sometimes called “remote ink notarizations”) and electronic notarizations (sometimes called “remote online notarizations”) for real estate and other transactions. Once these provisions take effect, bankers will be able to obtain electronic notary commissions…

The new Illinois Community Reinvestment Act (Illinois CRA) was signed into law and became effective immediately on March 23, 2021, as part of Public Act 101-657. Find the full text of the law linked to on our Community Reinvestment Act topic page under “Illinois Laws and Regulations.” Coverage. The Illinois CRA is similar to the…

On April 2nd, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an Interim Final Rule clarifying important elements of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) enacted on March 27th. The PPP’s lending period begins April 3rd and runs through June 30, 2020. The SBA’s Interim Final…

By Marc P. Franzen and Melanie J. Gnazzo, Chapman and Cutler LLP The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) went into effect on January 1, 2020 and imposes extensive disclosure and record-keeping requirements on businesses that handle personal information. By its terms, the CCPA only applies to the personal information of consumers. However, it…

The OCC, FDIC, and CFPB have issued statements interpreting a portion of the recently enacted regulatory relief law, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. Among other changes, this law creates new partial exemptions from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The partial exemptions are for: Closed-end mortgage loans, if the institution originated…

How the Recent Executive Actions May Affect Banks The new administration has been issuing a flurry of executive orders and memoranda, several of which are aimed at freezing, limiting and reducing business regulations. While these first executive actions do not apply directly to the federal banking regulators or the CFPB, some of them very well…

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a final rule that significantly broadens customer due diligence requirements. Most importantly, it requires financial institutions to identify and verify “beneficial owners” when opening new accounts for “legal entity” customers. The final rule also requires financial institutions to develop written “customer risk profiles” based on the nature…

The Illinois Secretary of State (SOS) has begun implementing a new, more secure and centralized driver’s license and state identification card program (both types of cards are now referred to as “DL/ID” cards). Illinois is the 39th state to transition to a centralized DL/ID program, which is required by federal law. Earlier this year, the…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has dramatically reduced the requirements for qualifying as small creditor serving rural or underserved areas under Regulation Z. The CFPB’s 2013 Ability to Repay rule permitted small creditors operating predominantly in rural or underserved areas to originate qualified mortgages and high-cost mortgages with balloon-payment features and to exempt them…

The OCC, FDIC and FRB have issued a joint advisory to address questions regarding using evaluations instead of appraisals in real estate related financial transactions. The advisory does not contain new guidance, but it does provide a succinct explanation of existing regulations and highlights certain prudent evaluation procedures described in the Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation…