On March 14, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) issued an Advisory Bulletin establishing classifications of adverse examination findings for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Banks (“FHLBs”), and the FHLB’s Office of Finance (AB 2017-01). Effective for the 2017 examination cycle, the bulletin establishes three designated “classifications,” which can be used by examination staff to communicate adverse examination findings more effectively. The three classifications are meant both to identify priorities for remediation and also to guide FHFA in the development of supervisory strategies. These supervisory strategies include: (i) Matters Requiring Attention—both high-priority critical supervisory matters that pose substantial risk to safety and soundness and deficiencies that, if not corrected, have the potential to escalate and negatively affect a regulated entity or the Office of Finance; (ii) Recommendations—advisory suggestions regarding changes to a policy, procedure, practice, or control; and (iii) Violations—non-compliance with laws, regulations, or orders that requires action by a regulated entity or the Office of Finance to correct, if possible.

On March 15, FHFA issued an interim final rule, amending its FOIA regulations (12 CFR Part 1202) in an effort to bring its internal policies into accord with guidelines established through the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (Pub. L. No. 114-185) and the “OPEN FOIA Act of 2009” (Pub. L. No. 111-83, 123 Stat. 2142, 2184 (2009)). The new FOIA rules – which are effective as of March 15—require agencies to, among other things, provide a minimum of 90 days (rather than 30 days) for requesters to file an administrative appeal; and provide notification to requesters about the availability of dispute resolution services.