Table of Contents

• Overview
  • What is RegAdvisor Pro?
  • What are the benefits?
• Scope
  • What does RegAdvisor cover?
  • What agencies are monitored?
  • What rules and regulations are covered?
  • What types of RegAdvisor Alerts are issued?
  • What types of issuances are covered?
  • What types of issuances are not covered?
  • Does RegAdvisor include State issuances or Enforcement Actions?
• Process
  • How are potential RegAdvisor Alerts identified?
  • What are the Service Level Agreements (SLAs)?
  • Why hasn't an announced rule been published?
  • Are there exceptions to the SLAs?

Overview

What is RegAdvisor Pro?

RegAdvisor Pro (RegAdvisor) is a regulatory change management system designed to assist financial institutions (FIs) in identifying, understanding, and implementing regulatory changes issued by Federal regulators.

When a Federal regulatory change is announced that impacts clients, the experts in Mitratech Continuity’s Regulatory Operations Center (ROC) analyze the issuance and distribute a RegAdvisor Alert (Alert). These Alerts include our team’s analysis of the change(s) as well as recommendations for specific implementation steps an FI should take. These recommendations cover the seven components of a Uniform Compliance Management System:

1. Risk
2. Policy
3. Procedures
4. System Upgrades
5. Training
6. Monitoring
7. Audit Program

Through the Mitratech Continuity platform, clients designate the individuals who oversee specific business lines. Using these settings, Alerts are automatically delivered to the designated person based on the subject of the Federal regulatory issuance. If applicable, implementation tasks can be scheduled and assigned to other staff members directly from the Alert. These tasks are distributed via the Mitratech Continuity platform, and progress can be tracked in real time using the RegAdvisor Console. Clients can also create custom implementation tasks and send them to the appropriate individual(s).

What are the benefits?

• Nothing falls through the cracks. Mitratech Continuity’s ROC team monitors all relevant Federal agencies for regulatory issuances, determines which apply to clients, and provides impacted clients with Alerts including our analysis and recommended action steps.
• Short and simple. Alert analysis is written in plain English, and with an average compression rate of over 93%, clients only have to read 7% or less of the original Federal issuance, significantly reducing compliance effort.
• Automatic action. Recommended action steps are assigned automatically and each step is fully documented.
• Never lose track. Using the RegAdvisor Console, management can easily track completion of implementation tasks to determine what is outstanding and coming due, whether an assignment is late, and what has been completed. Reports can be generated in .csv, pdf, or html formats and provided to leadership, examiners, and auditors.

Scope

What does RegAdvisor cover? 

RegAdvisor informs subscribers of changes in Federal laws and regulations that affect FIs in the areas of consumer compliance, safety and soundness, information technology/security, anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism, sanctions compliance, automated clearing house, and more. Note that RegControls and Compliance Support cover the same scope.  

What agencies are monitored?

We receive an automated feed from the Federal Register, the official publication system of the U.S. government, when Final or Proposed Rules are published, and our ROC team monitors the following Federal agencies daily:

• CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
• FCA (Farm Credit Administration)
• FCC (Federal Communications Commission) - limited applicability; i.e., TCPA
• FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
• FFIEC (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council)
• FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)
• FRB (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve)
• FTC (Federal Trade Commission) - limited applicability; i.e., Telemarketing Sales Rule, COPPA
• Nacha (National Automated Clearing House Association) - analysis provided without recommended action steps
• NCUA (National Credit Union Administration)
• OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
• OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control)

Note: Occasionally, an issuance from a Federal Agency not on this list will be directly applicable to clients and an Alert will be published; for example, the Department of Defense’s Military Lending Act rules. 

What rules and regulations are covered?

The following is a representative, non-exhaustive list of the rules and regulations included in the scope:

• Automated Clearinghouse (ACH)
• Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
• Community Reinvestment Act (CRA or Regulation BB)
• Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA or Regulation E)
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA or Regulation B)
• Expedited Funds Availability Act (Regulation CC)
• Flood insurance (Federal Reserve Regulation H)
• GENIUS Act
• Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA or Regulation C)
• Information Security
• Military Lending Act (MLA)
• SAFE Act (CFPB Regulation G for FIs; CFPB Regulation H for non-FIs, such as mortgage companies)
• Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA or Regulation X)
• Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA or Regulation Z)
• Truth-in-Savings Act (TISA or Regulation DD)
• Unlawful Internet Gambling (Regulation GG)

What types of RegAdvisor Alerts are issued?

For the listed agencies, we issue the following four types of Alerts:

• Final Rule Alerts 
• Action Alerts
• Proposed Rule Alerts
• Info Alerts

Each Alert includes an analysis developed by our ROC team of regulatory experts. To help FIs implement new or changing requirements, Final Rule Alerts and Action Alerts also include recommended action steps.

What types of issuances are covered?

A RegAdvisor Alert would typically be published for the following issuance types, unless it is only applicable to FIs with $100 billion or more in assets or does not contain any substantial changes or information FIs would need to know in order to maintain compliance: 

• Final Rules
• Interim Final Rules
• Proposed Rules
• Advisory Opinions
• Bulletins
• Circulars
• Compliance Letters
• Consumer Affairs Letters
• Examination Manual updates
• FAQs/Q&As/Fact Sheets
• Financial Institution Letters
• FinCEN Advisories and Alerts
• Guidance
• Informational Memorandums
• Letters to Credit Unions
• Nacha Operations Bulletins
• Policy Statements
• Press Releases
• Requests for Comment
• Requests for Information
• Supervision and Regulation Letters
• Supervisory Guidance
• Supervisory Letters

What types of issuances are not covered?

The following would not typically result in an Alert:

• Agency Information Collection Activities (OMB requests for approval, Paperwork Reduction Act-related notices)
• Applications for Approval
• Blocking and Unblocking of Persons
• Changes in Bank Control
• Executive Orders
• Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies
• OCC Announcements Permitting Banks to Close During Emergencies
• OFAC General Licenses
• Proposals to Engage in or to Acquire Companies Engaged in Permissible Nonbanking Activities
• Receiverships
• Terminations of Receiverships

Does RegAdvisor include State issuances or Enforcement Actions?

For summaries of changes in State regulatory requirements affecting FIs, clients can subscribe to the RegAdvisor State add-on module.

For summaries of Enforcement Actions issued against FIs, which include the ROC team’s suggestions for compliance professionals to avoid similar violations and deficiencies, clients can subscribe to the RegAdvisor EA add-on module.

Contact your Account Manager for more information regarding these subscriptions.

Process

How are potential RegAdvisor Alerts identified?

Each business day, relevant Final and Proposed Rules are automatically imported from the Federal Register into the Mitratech Continuity platform. Mitratech Continuity also employs rigorous daily procedures to manually identify other relevant items for which a RegAdvisor Alert will be issued.

The RegAdvisor Pro console will display all published Alerts, as well as Final and Proposed Rules that were automatically imported and are under analysis. Manually identified items are not typically entered into the console until they are published.

What are the Service Level Agreements (SLAs)?

The timeframe within which a RegAdvisor Alert for a Federal issuance is published is primarily based on the type, length, and complexity of the issuance. Our target publishing timelines are as follows:

Why hasn’t an announced rule been published?

The regulatory agencies often announce that a Proposed or Final Rule has been approved; however, the rule might not be published in the Federal Register for days, weeks, or even months after that announcement. In such cases, the ROC team includes the item in the internal content queue and begins analyzing the issuance. In certain cases, a RegAdvisor Alert will be issued prior to the item being published in the Federal Register, but most Alerts will be distributed to clients following the timeline above. 

Are there exceptions to the SLAs?

On a case-by-case basis and at Mitratech Continuity’s discretion, there may be exceptions to these SLAs. Some examples of when the publication date may differ from the target publishing date include:

• Extensions for extenuating circumstances, such as an unusually high volume of complex Federal issuances under analysis; and
• Accelerating the schedule for Federal issuances that are extremely time sensitive, such as rules published on or after their effective date(s), or lengthy Proposed Rules with short comment periods.  

When extending timeframes on significant items, we may elect to publish an initial Info Alert that includes a brief summary of the change(s). This Info Alert generally advises clients that a more detailed Alert will be published upon completion of our analysis. We may also stagger release dates if significant changes are being phased-in across a number of different Federal issuances, to promote clarity and organization of implementation tasks.