Banking Law

Yesterday, WilmerHale put out one of those short client alerts that doesn't bore bankers with its excruciating in-depth analysis of some esoteric nuance of Dodd-Frank. Instead, it basically points out to bankers who've been living in caves or strung out on a drug of their choice that they've got one month to wake up and smell the deadlines. Three deadlines, to be precise.

First, December 31, 2010 is the red letter day when the FTC will FINALLY (and they mean it this time) start enforcing their Red Flags Rule. If you don't what a "red flag" is by know, pray to the deity of your choice, because you'll need his, her, or its help.

Second, January 1, 2011 marks the day that banks must use the model privacy notice form if they want to have the benefit of the GLBA "safe harbor." Again, if any banker doesn't know what I'm talking about, grab your closest bank regulatory lawyer and ask him about civil money penalties.

Finally, January 1, 2011 is also the day that the FRB/FTC joint rules governing the risk-based pricing notice mandated by the FACT Act will go into effect. The rules set forth what types of information the notices must contain and what alternative information or exceptions might apply.

These deadlines have been approaching for some time now, and you'd think every affected financial institution would have been prepared for them by this point, so that a Chinese fire drill could be avoided during a month when vast quantities of eggnog should be consumed and mistletoe should be hung at completely inappropriate places throughout the office. But as we saw four years ago when the multi-factor authentication "guidance" deadlines approached, then passed, with some bankers taking an "ignorance-is-bliss" or "What, me worry?" attitude toward the whole affair, I'm sure they'll be a few bankers who've patterned their professional careers after John Belusi's character in Animal House, and have spent the last several years smashing beer cans against their foreheads instead of worrying about these petty deadlines.

WilmerHale offers these slackers a helping hand.

If you have questions about compliance requirements for the FTC's Red Flags Rule, use of model privacy notices or compliance with GLBA privacy rules, or proper implementation of the FACT Act risk-based pricing rule, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Or wait, and then hire them later to defend you against regulatory enforcement actions. You can pay them now, or pay them later.