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Financial Services News Roundup
March 19, 2026 – April 2, 2026

OCC Rescinds Recovery Planning Standards and Guidelines

Welcome to Goodwin’s Financial Services News Roundup. Our newsletter highlights important legal, regulatory, and business developments related to financial services and banking.
In this issue
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0OCC Rescinds Recovery Planning Standards and Guidelines

On March 31, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it is amending Appendix E of 12 CFR 30 by rescinding “OCC Guidelines Establishing Standards for Recovery Planning by Certain Large Insured National Banks, Insured Federal Savings Associations, and Insured Federal Branches” effective May 1. In addition, the OCC immediately rescinded Bulletins 2025-35, 2024-31, 2024-16, and 2018-47 relating to recovery planning.

0FinCEN Proposes Rule to Implement Whistleblower Program

On March 30, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule to implement the Anti-Money Laundering Act and Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act by establishing procedures for submitting tips and award applications, setting eligibility criteria and adjudication processes, providing awards of 10-30% of collected monetary penalties for information leading to successful enforcement actions, and implementing protections for whistleblowers who report violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, US sanctions programs, and other specified laws. Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 1.

0DOL Proposes Rule to Expand Alternative Investments In Retirement Plans

On March 30, in response to Executive Order 14330, the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL), in coordination with the US Department of the Treasury and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, proposed a rule to increase potential retirement investment options and allow access to alternative investments in 401(k) plans. The proposed rule establishes steps for 401(k) plan managers to take when considering alternative assets as a component in their investment lineups. In addition, the rule clarifies and provides a process-based safe harbor for plan fiduciaries’ duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when selecting designated investment alternatives, requiring fiduciaries to objectively, thoroughly, and analytically consider, and make determinations on factors including performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, performance benchmarks, and complexity. Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 1.

0Texas Court Vacates FinCEN’s Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule

On March 19, 2026, a federal district court in Texas vacated FinCEN’s residential real estate reporting rule (Rule) which went into effect on March 1, 2026 and would have required reporting of detailed transaction information for most non-financed residential real estate transactions involving transfers to or from legal entities or trusts. The Rule applied across the United States (without any geographical targeting) with limited exceptions for transactions subject to other reporting requirements and did not specify a minimum dollar threshold for reportable transactions. The breadth of the Rule invited industry challenge given the detailed information required to be reported regarding both the transaction and the involved parties. Flowers Title Companies, LLC (Flowers) brought suit against FinCEN challenging the validity of the Rule. The federal district court sided with Flowers in finding that FinCEN exceeded its authority under the Bank Secrecy Act with the Rule by qualifying all transactions as suspicious transactions without adequate basis for finding all such transactions inherently suspicious. An appeal has not yet been filed, and the Rule’s reporting requirements are currently not in effect, though the situation could change on short notice. Persons involved in real estate transactions may also become subject to geographic targeting orders that require reporting of certain real estate transactions, which was the principal means that FinCEN used to obtain information about such transactions prior to adoption of the Rule.

0FDIC Issues 2026 Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights

On March 31, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued its 2026 Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights, identifying some of the most frequent violations as failing to provide consumers with information required under Regulation Z (e.g., good faith estimates, detailed breakdowns of all loan costs), failing to follow error resolution requirements under Regulation E, failing to provide accurate disclosures under Regulation DD, failing to provide sufficient data for one or more data fields required under Regulation C, and failing to provide flood insurance as required under the Flood Disaster Protection Act. The report also noted increased consumer complaints in 2025, with credit cards, checking accounts, and installment loans as the top areas of concern, as well as an increase in complaints involving third-party providers, underscoring compliance risks associated with outsourced banking services.

0Federal Reserve and OCC Approve Morgan Stanley Bank for Internal Corporate Reorganization Involving German Affiliate

On March 26, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) announced joint findings with the OCC to approve a request by Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. (Bank) for an exemption under Section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act (Section 23A) in order to engage in an internal corporate reorganization and acquire its affiliate, Morgan Stanley Europe SE (MSESE). The proposed acquisition of MSESE would otherwise have exceeded the thresholds set forth in Section 23A, which generally limit a covered transaction involving a bank and an affiliate if the value of covered transactions involving the bank and any single affiliate would exceed 10% of the bank’s capital stock and surplus or the value of covered transactions between a bank and all affiliates would exceed 20% of the bank’s capital stock and surplus. The Federal Reserve and OCC jointly found the exemption to be in the public interest and consistent with the purposes of Section 23A based on representations from the Bank that the proposed transaction would strengthen the Bank, balance its risk profile, and improve its ability to provide products and services to customers at a lower cost, as well as finding that the Bank was well capitalized and the transaction was structured to protect the Bank from potential losses should the quality of the assets deteriorate. Dissenting governors warned that the exemption could expand the federal safety net to encompass foreign trading and other nonbank activities funded by insured deposits and increase risk to the deposit insurance fund. In contrast, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman was supportive of the exemption, highlighting competitive considerations and offering assurance that granting the exemption would not create precedent that would bind the Federal Reserve in future cases and that similar exemption requests would be reviewed based on the applicable legal standard and particular facts of the request.

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Consumer Financial Services: 2025 Year in Review
The latest issue of Goodwin’s annual report on consumer financial services, a guide to developments that are driving change in the industry, is now available on our website. These chapters highlight the market trends, legal developments, and enforcement dynamics that defined 2025, and provide insights about the evolving opportunities and challenges stakeholders may experience in 2026. To read the full report, please click here.

Please join us in a complimentary CLE webinar, 'Consumer Finance 2026: What to Watch', featuring partners Kyle Tayman, Viona Harris, Courtney Hayden, and Matthew Riffee, who will discuss key consumer finance developments shaping 2026. The discussion will explore the evolving regulatory and enforcement landscape, including the shift toward decentralized enforcement and changing priorities at both the state and federal levels. To register for this webinar on Monday, April 13 from 12:30 - 1:30 PM ET, please click here.

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This informational piece, which may be considered advertising under the ethical rules of certain jurisdictions, is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute the rendering of legal advice or other professional advice by Goodwin or its lawyers. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

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