Starting in February 2025, providers of (1) debt settlement services, (2) student debt relief services, (3) private postsecondary education financing, and (4) income-based advances (a/k/a earned wage access (EWA) products)...more
On November 5, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a complaint against a company in connection with its mobile banking app, alleging violations of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and Section 4 of the Restore Online...more
On October 30, two leading fintech industry trade associations submitted comments (see comment letters here and here) in response to a joint Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the...more
11/4/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Request For Information ,
Rulemaking Process
On October 18, a fintech trade group filed a complaint in a D.C. federal court challenging the CFPB’s interpretive rule on Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products. The rule, released last May, treats BNPL providers as credit card...more
On October 10, the CFPB settled an action against a California-based private arbitration company permanently banning it from arbitrating disputes related to consumer financial products or services. The company operates an...more
On September 17, the CFPB issued a circular stating that financial institutions can be found liable for violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by charging overdraft fees if the there is no proof of consumers’ affirmative...more
On September 4, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) released enforcement actions against a Texas-based bank, addressing regulatory violations and compliance lapses.
The Fed, joined by the Texas Department of Banking (TDB),...more
On August 29, the CFPB issued a consent order against a non-bank direct mortgage lender for misrepresenting the cost of its cash-out refinance loans, which are guaranteed under the VA home loan program, to active-duty...more
9/9/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Military Lending Act ,
Military Service Members ,
Misleading Statements ,
Mortgages ,
Refinancing ,
Veterans
On August 21, the CFPB entered into a consent order with a nonbank mortgage servicer for mortgage servicing violations and for violating an earlier 2017 CFPB consent order for deficient foreclosure practices.
In 2017, the...more
9/3/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Foreclosure ,
Homeowners Protection Act ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Insurance ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
RESPA ,
Settlement ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On August 7, the CFPB issued a report and a consumer advisory highlighting predatory practices in solar lending. On the same day, the FTC released a blog post emphasizing similar concerns....more
On May 21, less than a month after Kansas, South Carolina has become the fifth state to enact comprehensive earned wages access (EWA) legislation, which is set to take effect on November 21, 2024....more
On April 19, less than a month after Wisconsin’s enacted legislation, Kansas has followed suited by enacting comprehensive earned wages access legislation. Kansas’ law is set to take effect immediately upon publication....more
4/29/2024
/ Commercial Loans ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Kansas ,
Lenders ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
On March 28, the Federal Reserve (Fed) issued a cease-and-desist order to a Wyoming-based bank holding company, citing deficiencies identified in a September 2023 inspection related to its “fintech business strategy, board...more
4/22/2024
/ Bank Holding Company ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Business Strategies ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
In the FDIC’s latest monthly update on enforcement decisions and orders, the agency published recent consent orders it entered against both a New York-based and an Ohio-based bank, the latest in the agency’s series of...more
On March 21, Wisconsin enacted into law Assembly Bill 574, positioning it as the third state, following Nevada and Missouri, to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for earned wages access (EWA) services and...more
4/1/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licensing Rules ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wisconsin
On March 6, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed into law SB 255, a sweeping consumer privacy bill. The Act gives consumers broad rights regarding their privacy and control over their personal data....more
On March 5, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against a network of over 30 lending companies and their officers alleging their involvement in a predatory “merchant cash advance” lending scheme that exploited New...more
On February 22, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed Jonathan Mayer as the Justice Department’s inaugural Chief Science and Technology Advisor and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer. Mayer will sit in the Justice...more
On January 30, a Tennessee-based community bank entered into a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. following the agency’s allegations that the Bank engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices relating to...more
On February 16, the CFPB issued revised rules updating its internal supervisory appeals process for institutions seeking to appeal a compliance rating or an adverse material finding. The updated rules open up new avenues for...more
In a move to bridge significant data gaps identified through its February 2023 Auto Finance Data Pilot where it sent information requests to nine large auto lenders about their lending portfolios, the Consumer Financial...more
On January 12, South Dakota’s Division of Banking issued a mandate setting March 31, 2024 as the deadline for all South Dakota licensed money lenders and non-residential mortgage brokers to comply with their Bank Secrecy...more
2/19/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
FDIC ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
FinTech ,
NCUA ,
Non-Depository Institutions ,
OCC ,
OTS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)