#2023-30, December 1, 2023

Fiscal Year 2023 “Close-Out” Budget Deal Reached

An agreement on a $2.8 billion spending bill was reached yesterday. Among the provisions, the bill closes out Fiscal Year 2023 and will allocate $250 million in emergency funding requested by Governor Healey to help alleviate the growing pressures on state and local resources involving the increasing number of migrants seeking aide, medical attention, housing and more throughout the Commonwealth. 

Formal legislative sessions ended before the Thanksgiving holiday until January 2024 and because of that, any piece of legislation that comes up for a vote during informal sessions can be derailed by one dissenting lawmaker, which makes passing any legislation during such time even more difficult. A vote on the bill has not yet been announced.

Separately, the salary range transparency bill that was passed by both the House and Senate remains in conference committee. We will keep you posted on all developments as we learn more. 

To read more about the budget deal agreement, click here.

AG Campbell Releases New “Junk Fee” Regulations

On Thursday, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office released a new set of regulations aimed at prohibiting so-called “junk fees” as reported in the Boston Globe article -- 'Junk fees' are focus of new regulations from AG Campbell (bostonglobe.com). While on their face the newly proposed regulations appear mostly aimed at “junk fees” added in the sale of products, there are some advertising, solicitation and other provisions looped into the proposed regulation that merits industry review. The AG’s regulatory proposal will be subject to a hybrid public hearing on Wednesday, December 20th, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. in Boston. 

The Association is still reviewing this new set of regulations to gauge what impact, if any, they may have on the industry. MBA urges our members to review the proposed regulations and contact Brad Papalardo or Larry Liuzzo with any comments or concerns.

Small Business Administration 2023 Annual Meeting & Lender Awards – Thursday, December 14

The Massachusetts Bankers Association is partnering with the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the SBA’s 2023 Annual Meeting & Lender Awards on Thursday, December 14th at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst. We are excited to announce that Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll will join us for welcoming remarks.

To register for the 2023 Annual Meeting & Lender Awards, click here. 

Massachusetts Division of Banks (MA DOB) Releases the Conference of State Bank Supervisors Ransomware Self-Assessment Tool, Version 2.0 (R-SAT, V2.0 Tool)

On October 26, 2023, Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks, Mary Gallagher, sent the new R-SAT, V2.0 Tool to state chartered banks.  The Massachusetts Division of Banks has been a national leader in helping regulated banks assess their efforts in mitigating ransomware-specific risks and identifying gaps for increased security given that ransomware remains an evolving threat. The R-SAT provides executive management and boards of directors with an overview of the institution’s preparedness towards identifying, protecting, detecting, responding to and recovering from a ransomware attack. 

The R-SAT, which was developed in collaboration with the Bankers Electronic Crimes Task Force, state bank regulators, and the U.S. Secret Service, was originally released in October 2020. It is proven to be a thought-provoking and easy-to-use and repeatable tool to help banks and credit unions periodically assess their own efforts to mitigate risks specifically associated with ransomware and to identify gaps for increasing security. 

Ransomware Self-Assessment Tool 2.0 (R-SAT) - October 24, 2023 (csbs.org)

Pathway to R-SAT 2.0: Why the updates?

As the threats have both increased in frequency and complexity, state banking regulators were curious to evaluate state-chartered banks and credit unions which were victims of ransomware.  MA DOB and other banking departments conducted a study to review attacks on state regulated institutions for the period 2019-2022.  Study findings are summarized in the report Ransomware: Lessons Learned by Banks That Suffered an Attack.  Bankers who were victims of attacks helped to identify helpful prevention measures to prevent future attacks – measures that have informed the R-SAT 2.0 updates.

If you have any questions, please contact MA-DOB Director of Cybersecurity, IT, Fintech Holly Chase at Holly.Chase@mass.gov or 617 838 3696.