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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 18 / Friday, January 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
1992 Safety and Soundness Act.1
FHFA oversees the Enterprises and Banks collectively, the regulated entities and the Office of Finance to ensure that they operate in a safe and sound manner and maintain liquidity in the housing finance market in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. To that end, FHFA is vested with broad supervisory discretion and specific civil administrative enforcement powers, similar to such authority granted by Congress to the Federal bank regulatory agencies.2 Section 1376 of the Safety and Soundness Act 12 U.S.C. 4636
empowers FHFA to impose civil money penalties under specific conditions.
FHFAs Rules of Practice and Procedure 12 CFR part 1209 the Enforcement regulations govern cease and desist proceedings, civil money penalty assessment proceedings, and other administrative adjudications.3 FHFAs Flood Insurance regulation 12 CFR part 1250 governs flood insurance responsibilities as they pertain to the Enterprises.4 FHFAs Implementation of the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 regulation 12 CFR part 1217
sets forth procedures for imposing civil penalties and assessments under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act 31
U.S.C. 3801 et seq. on any person that makes a false claim for property, services or money from FHFA, or makes a false material statement to FHFA in connection with a claim, where the amount involved does not exceed $150,000.5
The Adjustment Improvements Act The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 Inflation
Adjustment Act, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 Adjustment Improvements Act, requires FHFA, as well as other federal agencies with the authority to issue civil money penalties CMPs, to adjust by regulation the maximum amount of each CMP authorized by law that the agency has jurisdiction to administer.6 The Adjustment Improvements Act required agencies to make an initial catch-up adjustment of their CMPs upon the statutes enactment,7 and further requires agencies to make additional adjustments on an annual basis following the initial adjustment.8
The Adjustment Improvements Act sets forth the formula that agencies must apply when making annual adjustments, based on the percent change between the October Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers the CPIU
preceding the date of the last adjustment and the October CPIU for the year before that.
II. Description of the Rule This final rule adjusts the maximum penalty amount within each of the three tiers specified in 12 U.S.C. 4636 by amending the table contained in 12 CFR
1209.80 of the Enforcement regulations to reflect the new adjusted maximum penalty amount that FHFA may impose upon a regulated entity or any entityaffiliated party within each tier. The increases in maximum penalty amounts contained in this final rule may not necessarily affect the amount of any CMP that FHFA may seek for a particular violation, which may not be the maximum that the law allows;
FHFA would calculate each CMP on a
U.S. Code citation
case-by-case basis in light of a variety of factors.9 This rule also adjusts the maximum penalty amounts for violations under the FHFA Flood Insurance regulation by amending the text of 12 CFR 1250.3 to reflect the new adjusted maximum penalty amount that FHFA may impose for violations under that regulation. This rule also adjusts the maximum amounts for civil money penalties under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act by amending the text of 12 CFR 1217.3 to reflect the new adjusted maximum penalty amount that FHFA may impose for violations under that regulation.
The Adjustment Improvements Act directs federal agencies to calculate each annual CMP adjustment as the percent change between the CPIU for the previous October and the CPIU for October of the calendar year before.10
The maximum CMP amounts for FHFA
penalties were last adjusted in 2020.11
Since FHFA is making this round of adjustments in calendar year 2021, and the maximum CMP amounts were last set in calendar year 2020, the inflation adjustment amount for each maximum CMP amount was calculated by comparing the CPIU for October 2019
with the CPIU for October 2020, resulting in an inflation factor of 1.01182. For each maximum CMP
calculation, the product of this inflation adjustment and the previous maximum penalty amount was then rounded to the nearest whole dollar as required by the Adjustment Improvements Act, and was then summed with the previous maximum penalty amount to determine the new adjusted maximum penalty amount.12 The tables below set out these items accordingly.

Previous maximum penalty amount
Description
Rounded inflation increase
New adjusted maximum penalty amount
Enforcement Regulations 12 U.S.C. 4636b1
12 U.S.C. 4636b2
12 U.S.C. 4636b4

First Tier
Second Tier
Third Tier Entity-affiliated party or Regulated entity

11,883
59,413
2,376,518

140
702
28,090

12,023
60,115
2,404,608

11,665
11,665

138
138

11,803
11,803

578

7

585

Program Fraud Civil Remedies Regulation 31 U.S.C. 3802a1
31 U.S.C. 3802a2

Maximum penalty per false claim
Maximum penalty per false statement

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Flood Insurance Regulation 42 U.S.C. 4012af5

Maximum penalty per violation

1 See Safety and Soundness Act, 12 U.S.C. 4513
and 46314641.
2 Id.
3 See 12 CFR part 1209.
4 See 12 CFR part 1250.
5 See generally, 31 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.

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6 See
28 U.S.C. 2461 note.
promulgated its catch-up adjustment of its CMPs with an interim final rule published July 1, 2016. 81 FR 43028.
8 FHFA promulgated its most recent annual adjustment of its CMP with a final rule published January 28, 2020. 85 FR 4903.
7 FHFA

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9 See, e.g., 12 CFR 1209.7c; FHFA Enforcement Policy, AB 201303 May 31, 2013.
10 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.
11 See 85 FR 4903 January 28, 2020.
12 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.

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