Speaking Engagements

At the June 17th, 2021 meeting of the Central Florida Compliance Association (CFCA), Heidi Wier presented a webinar entitled, HMDA: Keys to Successful Data Integrity.

On June 10, 2021 Tracey Levandoski presented a webinar for the American Bankers Association (ABA) entitled Avoiding UDAAP Pitfalls: Recognizing and Addressing Risk in Marketing and Advertising. Enforcement actions for UDAAP violations are likely to increase, and UDAAP risk should be on the minds of every bank’s marketing manager. Supervisory highlights from the CFPB include references to misleading advertisements of bonus offers on deposit accounts, misleading representation about the ability to apply for a loan online, and false representations that no credit check will be conducted on loan applicants. When examiners review the bank’s UDAAP risk as part of compliance examinations, you will need to explain to examiners, with supporting documentation, how UDAAP risk has been mitigated.  Now is the time to review the bank’s marketing and advertising plans, including policies and procedures, with an eye to potential UDAAP pitfalls. If you missed it the first time, the recording of this webinar is available for purchase on the ABA’s website.

On June 9, 2021  Tracey Levandoski presented a webinar for the Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA). Her presentation focused on the factors bank management should consider in selecting a fintech lending partner, and then after making the selection, how the bank can help their fintech strategic partners develop a compliance roadmap and compliance infrastructure that meets the regulator’s requirements as well as the bank’s expectations under its third-party risk management program. Tracey described the areas of caution, potential detours, roadwork ahead and speed bumps to reinforce the concepts that the development of a compliance roadmap is a journey that needs to be mapped out and at times adjusted for changes in conditions and unforeseen events.

On May 20, 2021, Heidi Wier and Jim Treacy presented The Compliance/Audit Partnership webinar for the American Bankers Association (ABA). During this webinar, The Compliance-Audit Partnership, participants learned how auditors can collaborate with compliance officers to fully understand the bank’s compliance risk and develop an audit plan to best address that risk while maintaining independence as the third line of defense. CERP 1.25, CRCM 1.25 was available. The recording of this webinar can be purchased through the ABA.

In March 2021, Jim Treacy taught TRID and ATR/QM for the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s Real Estate Compliance School.

In March 2021 Heidi Wier presented a Compliance Bootcamp for the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association.

In March 2021, Heidi Wier taught HMDA for the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s (WBA) Real Estate Compliance School. Heidi has been a long-standing teacher for the WBA.

On January 20, 2021 Heidi Wier presented a webinar for the Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA) – HMDA: Submit with Confidence, Keys to Successful Data Integrity. Heidi discussed strategies for validating HMDA data prior to submission and ways to keep your HMDA data accurate going forward. The agenda included the following topics: verifying your data, performing final reviews, understanding key data fields, regulatory expectations, building a process with sustainable integrity, data integrity testing, and understanding outliers, red flags analyses, and performance analyses.

On January 12, 2021 at the California Mortgage Bankers Association’s Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, Monika McCarthy moderated a General Counsel Roundtable. The other general counsel panelists included Ann Savage-Davis, Mountain West Financial, Inc., Lauren Ingersoll, Inspire Home Loans, Inc., Marc Ely, Paramount Residential Mortgage Group, Inc. and Philip Schild, Homebridge Financial Services, Inc. This year’s event included remarks from some of the top policy makers, including Manual P. Alvarez, Commissioner, California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation; Brian P. Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, and Kyle Thomas, VP, State Examination Systems (SES), Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).

At the MBA’s 2020 Regulatory Compliance Conference, Monika McCarthy co-presented with Laura LaRaia, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation. Their presentation, Reviewing Processes for Compliance Professionals, was part of the CMCP Track and provided guidance on advertising and marketing compliance.

At the Utah Bankers Virtual Compliance Conference, Liza Warner moderated the Compliance Officers Roundtable. The panel discussed hot topics that compliance officers are facing. Overall the conference offered a mixture of general and breakout sessions designed to help compliance professionals stay current with and function confidently in the rapidly changing regulatory environment.

Tracey Levandoski presented at the Utah Bankers Compliance virtual conference at one of the breakout sessions on Tuesday October 27, 2020. Tracey’s topic was Developing a Fintech Compliance Roadmap. Her presentation focused on the factors bank management should consider in selecting a fintech lending partner, and then after making the selection, how the bank can help their fintech strategic partners develop a compliance roadmap and compliance infrastructure that meets the regulators’ requirements as well as the bank’s expectations under its third-party risk management program.

On September 22nd, 2020 Todd Krell participated on a quality control panel for ACUMA’s Annual Conference. The theme, “Celebrating Credit Union Mortgage Heroes”, was dedicated to all the front-line financial workers who play a vital role in making it possible to put people in homes every day, especially during the pandemic. Panelists included Todd Krell, Managing Director at Cross Check Compliance, Duane Gilkison, Director of Credit Risk at Fannie Mae, and Michael Christians, attorney and VP of Risk Management at myCU Mortgage in Dayton OH, a mortgage CUSO serving credit unions across the nation. The panel was moderated by Russell Francom, the Mortgage Compliance and QC Manager at Mountain America Credit Union in Salt Lake City, UT.

A part of the ABA’s Risk and Compliance Virtual Conference, July 28-30, 2020 Karen Cullen participated in an on-demand webinar regarding how servicers can manage the risk of fair lending and UDAAP concerns as they navigate through the COVID-19 national emergency and its aftermath – Fair Servicing During the COVID-19 Emergency and Beyond. Karen was joined by Greg Schwager, Senior Counsel, PNC Bank. The panel was moderated by Kitty Ryan, Vice President, Senior Counsel, Fair and Responsible Banking, Regulatory Compliance and Policy, American Bankers Association.  You can also read about fair servicing in an article Karen co-authored for ABA Bank Compliance.

On July 17, 2020 Tracey Levandoski and Jim Treacy presented a webinar for the Northern California Compliance Association (NICA) about TRID, including TRID challenges, common regulatory findings and recent TRID updates.

On July 15, 2020 Todd Krell was a Special Guest in a subprime auto market webinar offered by the Davis & Gilbert Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Products practice group. The focus of this webinar was on how subprime RMBS serves as a roadmap for future subprime auto ABS litigation. Davis & Gilbert speakers included Joseph Cioffi, Chair of the practice, and Seiji Newman, Partner.

On June 3rd, 2020 Debbi Roberts participated on a panel discussing initial considerations for the small dollar lending businesses as consumers re-enter the world. The issues discussed include qualifying consumers who were recently unemployed or underemployed, addressing forthcoming consumer bankruptcies and having policies and procedures in place for the future. The other panelists included Jeremy Pope of Pope/Partners LLC, Blake Sims of Hudson Cook, LLP and Justin Hoise, also of Hudson Cook, LLP. This webinar was presented in conjunction with the Financial Service Centers of America (FISCA).

Check out the latest episode of the California MBA’s Connect podcast program. Monika McCarthy spoke with Dustin Hobbs, about her journey in the mortgage industry, how the new forbearance requirements have impacted lenders and servicers, what to look out for in the legal/regulatory space, and much more!

On June 18th, 2020 Tracey Levandoski, CRCM, and Jim Treacy, CPA and Certified BSA Officer, presented a webinar for the Central Florida Compliance Association (CFCA). Both Tracey and Jim have deep compliance backgrounds in the financial services industry.  

On February 19, 2020 Karen Cullen of CrossCheck Compliance LLC and Richard Horn of Garris Horn PLLC led a  one-hour webinar regarding the CFPB’s fair lending focus on redlining and marketing discrimination claims. The CFPB has noted in recent public reports that its fair lending efforts in the mortgage industry are focused on redlining and marketing discrimination. This webinar covered what a redlining or marketing discrimination claim looks like under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act, past cases by the CFPB and DOJ, and potential steps you can take to evaluate and mitigate your risk.