Commercial Law & Contracts, Finance & Banking, Antitrust & Trade Regulation

FTC Proposes Banning Telemarketer Use of Remotely Created Checks, Cash-to-Cash Money Transfers, and Similar Payment Methods

by John L. Culhane, Jr., Alan S. Kaplinsky, Jeremy T. Rosenblum, Mercedes Kelley Tunstall | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/24/2013

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed changes to its telemarketing sales rule (TSR) that would prohibit sellers and telemarketers from accepting or requesting remotely created checks or payment orders, cash-to-cash money...more

Advertising Law -- May 23, 2013

by Charles Washburn, Jr. | Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 5/24/2013

SPECIAL FOCUS: CFPB - On May 9, 2013 the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (“CFPB”) that describes its enforcement actions and other activities during 2012 with...more

FTC Submits Financial Acts Enforcement Letter To CFPB

by BuckleySandler LLP on 5/23/2013

On May 14, the FTC released a letter it sent to the CFPB’s assistant directors for fair lending and supervision examinations describing activities related to the FTC’s administration and enforcement of the regulations...more

LIBOR Going Forward: How Will Dismissal of Antitrust Claims Effect Investigations and Private Claims?

by Bill Devinney | BakerHostetler on 5/22/2013

We recently wrote about the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ antitrust claims against banks involved in the LIBOR manipulation scandal for failure to allege an antitrust injury. Since that dismissal, the court has granted...more

FTC confirms continued commitment to vigorous enforcement in letter to CFPB

by Barbara S. Mishkin | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/16/2013

In its annual letter to the CFPB on its 2012 administrative and enforcement activities related to Regulations B (ECOA), E (Electronic Fund Transfers), Z (TILA) and M (Consumer Leasing), the FTC stressed that it is “committed...more

FTC Annual Letter to the CFPB

by Brian J. Hurh | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 5/15/2013

The FTC recently released its annual letter to the CFPB on recent FTC enforcement actions related to the Truth in Lending Act, the Consumer Leasing Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act....more

OCC, FDIC Announce Overdraft Enforcement Actions

by BuckleySandler LLP on 5/13/2013

On April 30, the OCC and the FDIC announced parallel enforcement actions against a national bank and an affiliated state bank to resolve allegations that the institutions violated Section 5 of the FTC Act in their marketing...more

CFPB, FTC Announce Roundtable On Data Integrity In Debt Collection

by BuckleySandler LLP on 5/8/2013

On May 1, the FTC and the CFPB announced a roundtable to “examine the flow of consumer data throughout the debt collection process” and discuss (i) the amount of documentation and other information currently available to...more

CFPB/FTC target debt collection data in June 6 roundtable

by Alan S. Kaplinsky | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/6/2013

The CFPB and FTC have announced that they will co-host a roundtable on June 6, 2013 in Washington, D.C. to examine the flow of consumer data throughout the debt collection process. Titled “Life of a Debt: Data Integrity in...more

Previously Banned Fees Charged to Consumers Now Permissible for Visa and MasterCard Transactions

by Patrick Horan | Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP on 5/1/2013

In November 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York preliminarily approved a settlement agreement in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. As a result,...more

European Commission Opens Antitrust Investigation into MasterCard

by Orrick - Structured Finance Group on 4/18/2013

The Commission initiated an investigation last week into the inter-bank fees charged by MasterCard in relation to payments made by card-holders from non-EEA countries, restrictions placed by MasterCard on retailers attempting...more

Visa/MasterCard Interchange Fee Litigation – May 28, 2013 Deadline to Respond to Class Action Settlement Agreement

by Ropes & Gray LLP on 4/15/2013

All entities that accept Visa- or MasterCard-branded credit and/or debit cards must decide, on or before May 28, 2013, how to respond to the settlement agreement with Visa and MasterCard on behalf of a class covering...more

Did an obscure remark in a recent regulatory publication signal a new interpretation of the anti-tying rules?

by Jason White | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 4/11/2013

As discussed in this Orrick alert, federal bank regulators recently issued guidance to financial institutions concerning leveraged lending practices (the “Lending Guidance”). In most respects the Lending Guidance was...more

CFPB Presents Annual FDCPA Report

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/29/2013

On March 20, the CFPB presented to Congress its annual report on implementation and enforcement of the FDCPA. The report (i) summarizes the Bureau’s Consumer Response function, which does not currently cover debt collection...more

FTC Issues Report On Mobile Payment Consumer Protections

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/20/2013

On March 8, the FTC released a report on mobile payments by consumers. The report, based on a FTC workshop held in April 2012, focuses on financial, security, and privacy consumer protections. The FTC encourages companies to...more

FTC Order Against Fraudulent Payment Processor Joins Growing List of Regulatory Actions Involving Third Party Service Providers

by Brian J. Hurh | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 3/20/2013

Following on the heels of significant regulatory actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Reserve, and the FDIC against regulated companies and their third-party service providers, the Federal Trade...more

Commentary on the new UAE Competition Law (Federal Law No. (4) of 2012)

by Arash Amai, Kayaan Unwalla | Reed Smith on 3/18/2013

Introduction - The UAE’s first antitrust/competition legislation recently came into effect on 23 February 2013. Federal Law No. (4) of 2012 (Law), primarily regulated by the Ministry of Economy, aim to prohibit and...more

FTC Issues New Guidance Addressing Mobile And Social Media Advertising

by Joseph D. Simon | Cullen and Dykman LLP on 3/18/2013

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has released new guidance for mobile and other online advertisers that explains how to make disclosures clear and conspicuous to avoid deception. Although the FTC does not have authority...more

FTC Issues Report on Mobile Payments

by Alan S. Kaplinsky, Amy Mushahwar, Trevor Salter, Mercedes Kelley Tunstall | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/18/2013

The Staff Report on mobile payments recently issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focuses on areas of concern discussed at the FTC’s April 2012 workshop. The report does not break much new ground, but it does...more

U.K. OFT Takes Broad Action Against Payday Lenders

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/15/2013

On March 6, the U.K. Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that it will institute enforcement actions and seek to revoke the licenses of payday lenders that do not change certain business practices within 12 weeks. The...more

Risk Management (March 2013) - The New Rules of Consumer Protection: Six Steps for Banks to Manage Third-Party Compliance Risk

by Richik Sarkar on 3/1/2013

Financial services firms now routinely contract outside companies to market new services that these institutions did not develop internally, such as investment and insurance options. More than ever, third parties are...more