Small Business Administration (SBA) Notification: 7(a) Working Capital Pilot Program - On July 15, SBA published a notification of the pilot program and requested comments to provide SBA 7(a) guaranteed lines of credit up...more
On April 16, 2024, the Canadian Government released the 2024 federal budget, including details on the much-anticipated federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program (ILG Program). First announced in the government's 2023 Fall...more
We are pleased to share our annual review of regulatory and legal developments in the consumer financial services industry. With active federal and state legislatures, consumer financial services providers faced a challenging...more
Since May 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued three decisions addressing or potentially impacting issues of bankruptcy law. These included rulings concerning the abrogation of sovereign immunity for Native American tribes...more
The courts have long been split on the question of whether Native American tribes are immune from legal attacks under federal bankruptcy law. Some courts have held that tribes and tribal-owned entities could not be sued for...more
On June 15, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, et al. v. Coughlin. The case involved a tribal entity, “Lendgreen,” that lent an individual, Brian Coughlin, “$1,100 in...more
On June 15, 2023, Justice Jackson led the majority in an 8-1 decision holding that the Bankruptcy Code abrogates federally recognized tribes’ sovereign immunity. The decision has significant implications for tribal creditors...more
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin after the First Circuit barred the Lac du Flambeau Band from seeking to collect on a $1,600 debt obligation...more
On June 15, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians et al. v. Coughlin, No. 22-227, holding that the Bankruptcy Code unambiguously abrogates the sovereign immunity of all...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that because Indian tribes are indisputably governments, the Bankruptcy Code unmistakably abrogates their sovereign immunity to bankruptcy court proceedings....more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued 3 decisions today: Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin,No. 22-227: This statutory interpretation and federal Indian law case addressed the...more
On January 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit concluded that a district court did not abuse its discretion when certifying a class action. The lawsuit alleges an individual who orchestrated an online payday...more
On October 5, 2022, during the Tribal Consultation session in Washington, D.C., the Small Business Administration stated that it will not pursue its attempt to impose a Community Benefit Plan requirement on Alaska Native...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the availability of $500 million in funding through the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) for eligible tribal governments. The LATCF, which was...more
Isabella Casillas Guzman of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced on December 15, 2021, that SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs awarded $1.1 million in grants and contracts to seven entities which will...more
The National Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”) issued guidance this week for tribes and tribal lenders who submit loan documents to the NIGC for a so-called “declination letter.” Bulletin No. 2021-4, “Submission of Loan...more
Arbitration provisions are common features of commercial agreements. Arbitration is often touted as a cost-effective alternative to litigation that provides contract parties the freedom to decide everything from what law the...more
This week, the Court revives an ERISA claim and compels arbitration of a dispute over tribal internet payday loans. WARMENHOVEN v. NETAPP, INC. The Court holds that PowerPoint presentations did not constitute plan...more
On Wednesday, June 30, the Department of the Treasury announced it will open up the second phase of distributions to tribal governments from the $20 billion tribal portion of the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. This...more
In late May, the Connecticut Supreme Court held that the tribal lending entity Great Plains Lending (Great Plains) is protected by tribal sovereign immunity as an “arm of the tribe,” adopting a test first established by the...more
On February 11, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $114 million settlement with the owners and operators of an alleged tribal payday lending scheme. The settlement resolves allegations concerning...more
In Williams v. Medley Opportunity Fund II, LP, plaintiffs Christine Williams and Michael Stermel obtained payday loans from American Web Loan, Inc. (AWL), an online entity owned by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians. The...more
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to enforce an arbitration agreement because it impermissibly limited claims to those available under tribal law at the expense of federal statutory claims. The court also...more
On July 15, 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston issued new guidance expressly permitting tribal businesses that are borrowers under the Main Street Lending Program (“MSLP”) to pay dividends to their tribal government...more
On May 22, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had obtained a temporary restraining order against a payday lending enterprise for alleged violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the...more