Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) is one piece of financial legislation/regulation that changed my workflow. This came about in June of 2020 and added a fiduciary duty to all scenarios of working with clients. Reg BI imposes a best interest standard and also requires a consideration of costs. Because it has four component obligations: care, disclosure, conflict of interest and compliance, it has significantly changed the amount of paperwork that now needs to be provided to all clients before doing business with them. This created a bit more work on the front end to develop the additional disclosures and information that needed to be sent to clients, but once added to the e-sign component, it has become the new way of doing business.
A key financial regulation that changed my workflow was the introduction of new rules for real estate transactions, including the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Before these regulations, agents had more flexibility in negotiating fees and commissions. Now, stricter guidelines govern how fees are structured and disclosed, requiring agents to adapt their workflows to comply. For example, under RESPA, I am now required to provide potential buyers with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) outlining all expected closing costs within three business days of receiving their loan application. Additionally, TILA requires that I provide clients with a Loan Estimate (LE) which outlines the details and costs associated with their mortgage within three business days of applying for a loan. To adapt to these changes, I updated my workflows to ensure that these documents were provided in a timely manner and that all necessary disclosures were made to clients. This required more organization and attention to detail on my part, but it ultimately benefited my clients by providing them with more transparency and understanding of the costs involved in their real estate transaction.