For years, UK-based consumer finance and payments firms have viewed the U.S. regulatory landscape as complex, fragmented, and challenging when it comes to expansion. But 2025 may prove to be a turning point....more
State attorneys general (AGs) have long played a significant role in consumer protection enforcement, often acting as frontline regulators alongside federal agencies. For consumer financial services companies, an AG...more
Financial services companies may feel relief from the aggressive federal oversight and regulation that defined the past decade. However, regulatory risk has not disappeared—it has shifted. ...more
3/13/2025
/ Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
EFTA ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
State Attorneys General ,
State Regulators ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in early February challenging the validity of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB Small Business Lending Rule. The rule is being challenged by various industry...more
2/20/2025
/ Appeals ,
Compliance Dates ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Reports ,
ECOA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Pending Litigation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Small Business ,
Stays ,
Tolling
President Trump issued an executive order last week targeting government regulation of the digital asset industry to support the "responsible growth and use of digital assets." On the campaign trail, Trump promised to make...more
As we move into 2025, anticipation in the financial services industry continues to build for a revitalized mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market. ...more
As political tides shift, so too does the regulatory outlook for consumer financial services. Among the key documents that could shape the direction of U.S. financial regulation is a January 2021 report by the CFPB Taskforce...more
On the eve of a change in administration, the Biden/Chopra CFPB released a "Compendium of Recent CFPB Guidance," a sweeping collection of interpretations of federal consumer financial laws under the current leadership...more
1/23/2025
/ Advertising ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Chevron Deference ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Security ,
Debt Collection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed an interpretive rule aimed at addressing what it views as ambiguities in the application of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and its implementing Regulation...more
1/23/2025
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Platforms ,
EFTA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Online Gaming ,
Online Marketplace ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation E
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather insights on how companies offering financial products and services collect, use, and monetize consumer payment and personal...more
1/17/2025
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Monetization ,
Privacy Laws ,
Request For Information ,
Technology Sector
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposed rule under Regulation AA to address the use of restrictive and coercive clauses in consumer financial contracts. This proposal seeks to prohibit terms in...more
1/17/2025
/ Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Contract Terms ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation A ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The payments industry continues to evolve in response to the demand for flexible, fast, and secure payment options. Innovations have included payment facilitation, push-to-card services, and real time payments, among others....more
1/17/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Data Privacy ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
Merchants ,
Payment Processors ,
Payment Systems ,
Popular ,
Risk Management
On November 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule to supervise nonbank companies that offer digital wallets and payment apps. The rule allows the CFPB to supervise and examine nonbank companies...more
On September 18, the CFPB issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products. These FAQs follow the CFPB's release of the 2024 BNPL Interpretive Rule (Interpretive Rule), which...more
The FDIC has issued a proposed rule that would apply to practically all bank-fintech arrangements that use custodial deposit accounts to provide customers with transactional features (also called "FBO" accounts for short)....more
9/19/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Depository Institutions ,
FBOs ,
FDIC ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
Becoming or owning an industrial loan company (or ILC)—the elusive "nonbank bank" option, as Congress coined the term in 1987— still has an allure for financial services providers that want to (1) lend on a national scale...more
Missouri is the latest state to enact a disclosure requirement for commercial financing, joining the growing number of states that have done the same. California, New York, Utah, and Virginia were the first states to pass...more
The CFPB released its much-anticipated proposed update to the mortgage servicing rules last month that would make permanent many of the temporary servicing rules enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...more
The FDIC recently proposed a rule that would substantially change the 2020 final rule on brokered deposits that largely liberalized the FDIC’s framework. The proposed rule would eliminate many of the changes from 2020 and...more
On July 25, 2024, the federal banking agencies issued a joint statement flagging potential risks in bank-fintech arrangements, along with a request for public information (RFI) on the benefits, risks, and risk management...more
7/31/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Joint Statements ,
Public Comment ,
Request For Information ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management
In a monumental opinion issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., holding (6-3) that deference to an agency's...more
7/1/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Unconstitutional Condition
Over the past several years, many states have considered and enacted requirements requiring commercial financing providers to give disclosures when extending commercial financing....more
It is no secret that the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC have zeroed in on banks' use of third parties for products, services, and other operations, the risks those arrangements may pose, and banks' responsibility to...more
5/14/2024
/ Banking Regulators ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Community Banks ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Guidance ,
Financial Institutions ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Nonbank Firms ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Risk
Recent releases from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) show that the mortgage industry is in the crosshairs of the CFPB's campaign against so-called junk fees. Earlier this year, the CFPB indicated its interest...more
5/6/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Loan Servicing ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgage Servicing Rules ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation X ,
Regulation Z ,
UDAAP
A U.S. District Court recently rejected arguments that banks and institutions with novel charters have a statutory right to obtain a Federal Reserve master account. Master accounts let institutions access key parts of the...more