Earned wage access (“EWA”) programs are financial products that allow workers to receive payment for wages they have already earned before their next scheduled payday. Many of these programs are integrated into their...more
8/7/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Payday Loans ,
Payroll Advances ,
Regulation Z ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
Increased regulation of commercial financing shows no signs of stopping. California SB 1482, which would require commercial financing providers and brokers to register with the California Department of Financial Protection...more
6/6/2024
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
NMLS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Agenda
On May 16, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd., holding that the CFPB’s unique funding...more
On April 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) continued its assault on fees in the consumer finance industry. In its most recent edition of Supervisory Highlights, the CFPB reported that mortgage...more
5/6/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgage Servicing Rules ,
Supervisory Highlights ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On February 16, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a procedural rule revising its supervisory appeals process for the first time since 2015. This Rule makes several important changes...more
On October 19, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its highly anticipated notice of proposed rulemaking to implement Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Personal Financial Data Rights Rule would require...more
11/8/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Consumer Data Requests ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Management ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
NPRM ,
Open Banking
July 5 is the deadline for submitting comments on the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s (DFPI) proposed regulations on complaint handling and reporting, which would impose significant obligations...more
6/14/2022
/ Banking Sector ,
California ,
California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) ,
Comment Period ,
Consumer Complaint Management ,
Consumer Complaint System ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Burden
Merchant Cash Advance providers, commercial litigation funders, online SMB lending platforms and other nonbank small-business lenders, take note: Following the lead of California and New York, Utah is now the third state to...more
While credit-related products have long been subject to the anti-discrimination requirements of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), providers of non-credit financial products, such as payments, credit reporting services,...more
3/21/2022
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Agreements ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Disparate Impact ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UDAAP
In the largest fair lending enforcement action in several years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on August 30 announced simultaneous settlements with a national banking...more
9/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Regulatory Violations
For at least the past 20 years, Maine has capped interest rates for most closed-end unsecured loans at 30% for loans of $2,000 or less, and at 18% on loans of $4,000 or more. See, e.g., 9-A M.R.S.A. Sec. 2-401....more
As its name suggests, California’s new Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) isn’t just about protecting consumers—it also has an important mission to foster responsible innovation. What exactly is DFPI...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is finally moving forward with rulemaking under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which will require “financial institutions” to collect, maintain and report to the CFPB data on...more
6/28/2021
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Collection ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SBREFA ,
Section 1071 ,
Small Business ,
Women-Owned Businesses
Another day, another major pronouncement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), which just took two important actions. First, it rescinded seven different policy statements that offered flexibility to...more
As we previously reported, the newly established California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) starts the new year with greatly enhanced powers, and it is making sure consumers, industry and the general...more
As we prepare to put 2020 in the rearview mirror, many of us will not have fond memories of the year. Quarantines, masks, social distancing, unspeakable tragedy, economic ruin for some industries. But the fintech world proved...more
1/7/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Lenders ,
Madden v Midland Funding ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securitization
California is poised to enact broad new legislation creating an entirely revamped financial protection regimen, including a powerful new Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). In this article, we provide...more
More than ever before, banks are relying on third-party vendors for important services such as marketing, underwriting assistance, technology, collections, settlement services and even outsourcing of product lines. These...more
9/3/2020
/ Banking Sector ,
Due Diligence ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
RESPA ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Vendors
On August 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered a consent order with a national bank over the sales and marketing practices for its optional overdraft service called Debit Card Advance (DCA). DCA...more
On July 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry input on the future of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B. While fair lending...more
8/18/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ,
Loan Officer ,
Machine Learning ,
Regulation B ,
Request For Information ,
Texas Dept of Housing v Inclusive Communities ,
UDAAP
New York may soon be joining California in requiring consumer-like disclosures on commercial financing transactions. On July 23, 2020, the New York State legislature passed SB 5470 (S.5470/A.10118-A), which closely follows...more
On the heels of finalizing its Madden-fix rule, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on July 20, 2020, issued a proposed regulation to address bank-partnership uncertainty arising from the so-called true lender...more
7/28/2020
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Madden v Midland Funding ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Standards ,
True Lender
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal and state governments and regulators have taken hasty actions that are arguably beyond the scope of their authority in order to provide assistance to businesses and consumers...more
Aiming to encourage financial institutions to accommodate borrowers affected by COVID-19, federal and state regulators issued an interagency statement on loan modifications.
The statement recognized the “unique and...more
On February 3, 2020, Maryland State Senator Benjamin Kramer introduced a bill that would completely prohibit merchant cash advances (MCAs) in Maryland.
What Happened -
MCAs are a form of small-business financing in...more