The CFPB is the primary regulator of consumer financial products and services in the US, but other state and federal regulators also have authority to enforce some federal consumer financial protection laws. The CFPB is now...more
The CFPB recently updated its examination manual to, in Director Chopra’s words, “combat discriminatory practices across the board in consumer finance.” Under the CFPB’s revised manual, any discriminatory conduct that the...more
7/22/2022
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Banking Examinations ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Examination Manual ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Marketing ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On June 6, 2022, the Federal Reserve Board issued a final rule governing funds transfers through the Fed’s new FedNow Service, an interbank 24x7x365 real-time gross settlement service with integrated clearing functionality to...more
Take-aways From Director Chopra’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress -
On April 6, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its semi-annual report to Congress required under Dodd-Frank....more
7/22/2022
/ Big Tech ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Cards ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
FinTech ,
Housing Market ,
Information Reports ,
Open Banking ,
Racial Bias ,
Sandbox ,
Transaction Fees
Spurred in part by the pandemic, regulators and legislators have been increasingly focused on the accessibility and transparency of loans to small-to-medium businesses. On the federal level, the CFPB is considering a rule...more
5/9/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Commercial Loans ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Finance Lender ,
NMLS ,
Proposed Rules ,
Registration Requirement ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Small Business ,
State and Local Government ,
Transaction Fees
On March 7, 2022, Opportunity Finance (OppFi), a nonbank consumer lender, filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) seeking declaratory and...more
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has authority to require reports and conduct examinations with respect to large...more
5/9/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Authority
In January of this year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a research and analysis paper titled Money and Payments: The US Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, in which the Fed...more
In December 2019, PayPal, Inc. filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the CFPB’s authority to issue two provisions of the so-called prepaid rule, which governs consumer financial products...more
5/9/2022
/ Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Digital Wallets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
EFTA ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lack of Authority ,
PayPal ,
Prepaid Payment Products ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On November 23, 2021, the OCC, Federal Reserve Board, and FDIC issued a joint final rule that requires banking organizations and their service providers to report certain computer-security incidents. A computer-security...more
On December 14, 2021, Wheels Financial, LLC (d/b/a LoanMart) entered into a consent order with the California Department of Financial Products and Innovation (DFPI) in which the company agreed to end its lending partnership...more
1/26/2022
/ Banks ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Access to Credit ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Title Lender ,
Title Loans ,
True Lender ,
UDAAP
On October 21, 2021, the CFPB sent orders to Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, PayPal, and Square requiring them to provide information about their current and planned payments products, practices, and data collection and...more
1/26/2022
/ Advertising ,
Apple ,
Behavioral Advertising ,
Big Tech ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Collection ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Facebook ,
FinTech ,
Google ,
Payment Systems ,
PayPal ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda
The “buy now pay later” (BNPL) market continued its trend of increasing valuations and consumer uptake through the end of 2021. BNPL’s popularity is largely due to its simple repayment terms and low cost relative to...more
In line with the CFPB’s and FTC’s recent scrutiny of big tech companies, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICO Act) on October 18, 2021. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen....more
The explosive growth of “buy now pay later” (BNPL) products is a staple of the fintech news cycle. The model, which gained popularity with point-of-sale financing options offered by straight play providers such as Affirm,...more
10/25/2021
/ Amazon ,
Apple ,
Big Tech ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
MasterCard ,
Point of Sale Terminals ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Visa Inc
Federal banking regulators have again demonstrated their focus on bank oversight and management of risk from third party relationships through a series of guidance and proposed guidance published in the third quarter of 2021....more
10/25/2021
/ Banking Regulators ,
Banking Sector ,
Community Banks ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinTech ,
Internal Controls ,
OCC ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party Risk
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) issued a proposed model money transmitter law on September 9, 2021 as part of its ongoing effort to streamline licensure, supervision and examination processes for money...more
On September 1, 2021, the CFPB issued a proposed rule that would add a new subpart to Regulation B, which implements the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The rule would implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act...more
10/22/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
Biden Administration ,
Commercial Loans ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Collection ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loan Applications ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Proposed Rules ,
Small Business ,
Women-Owned Businesses
In September, Biden nominated Saule Omarova to head up the OCC as Comptroller of the Currency after a months’ long candidate search. Earlier this year, potential nominees for the Comptroller included Michael Barr, who...more
In September 2021, the CFPB took action against Better Future Forward, Inc. (BFF), a provider of student income share arrangements, and LendUp, an online, subprime consumer lender. In both cases, the CFPB alleged that the...more
10/22/2021
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Income Share Agreements ,
Student Loans ,
Subprime Loans ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Industrial bank charters continue to gain momentum with approval of Square’s charter; payments and tech companies have become interested in industrial banks lately since the FDIC started approving them after a moratorium from...more
On March 9, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit heard oral argument on the question of whether the OCC can legally issue national bank charters to non-depository financial technology (fintech) firms. The case is...more
3/16/2021
/ Appeals ,
Banking Sector ,
CSBS ,
Dismissals ,
FinTech ,
Fintech Charter ,
National Bank Act ,
Nonbank Firms ,
NYDFS ,
OCC ,
Oral Argument ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Standing
On July 24, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced plans to issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) regarding consumer-authorized third party access to financial records. The...more
The Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve announced in August 2019 that it will develop a new 24x7x365 real time gross settlement (RTGS) system called FedNow. The new system will allow near-instant settlement of...more
On March 17, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved Square Financial Services, Inc.’s (Square Financial) and Nelnet Bank’s applications for deposit insurance, subject to several conditions. The FDIC...more