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On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared COVID-19 a global Pandemic. It is chilling to re-read his comments now and to consider our failures to take simple actions that could have lessened the severity of the crisis. The Director-General’s full comments are reproduced below.   Good afternoon. In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of

After a series of short-term continuing resolutions, on March 10, 2022, Congress passed a federal spending bill that provides funding for the National Flood Insurance Program until September 30, 2022, which is the end of the 2022 fiscal year. The measure has been sent to President Biden for his signature.

On March 9, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets. The Order “gets the ball rolling” on the development of a central bank digital currency and on the regulation of existing digital assets. The principal policy objectives of the United States with respect to digital assets are as follows: We must protect consumers, investors, and businesses in the United States. We must protect United States and global financial

On March 7, 2022, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu delivered a presentation for the Institute of International Bankers. The intended scope of the speech was climate risk, and diversity and inclusion. He added a few comments on the situation in Ukraine. Ukraine Sanctions – It is critically important that all of your members’ Compliance Officers, BSA/AML Officers, and Sanctions Officers are aware of the Executive Orders and the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign

On February 23, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published Factsheet: Prepaid Interest and the General Qualified Mortgage APR Special Rule for Adjustable Rate Mortgages. Creditors that wish to make qualified mortgages (QMs) under the price-based General QM definition must calculate the annual percentage rate (APR) for loans to determine whether they satisfy the price-based General QM definition. The priced-based General QM definition contains a special rule for calculating the APR for loans where