REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

FDIC Issues Supplemental Q&A Related to the FDIC Statement of Policy on Applications for Deposit Insurance

On September 23, the FDIC released supplemental question and answer materials regarding certain aspects of the application process for deposit insurance. Pursuant to this guidance, applications and related public notices need not identify the specific physical location of the institution's main office when filed/published, as long as they reasonably describe the anticipated location such that the FDIC and all interested parties can understand the geographic market of the institution. Additionally, while the initial application must identify a chief executive officer, other senior executive candidates can be specified at a later time.

CFPB Announces Changes to the Consumer Complaint Database

On September 18, the CFPB announced plans to enhance its Consumer Complaint Database. The Consumer Complaint Database aggregates consumer complaints about financial products and companies. The CFPB’s enhancements to the Consumer Complaint Database include:

• disclosing that published data is not a statistical sample;
• providing answers to common consumer financial questions for review before submitting a complaint; and
• providing information to assist consumers seeking to contact a financial institution to address questions directly.

The CFPB plans to further enhance the Consumer Complaint Database by integrating visual tools to represent data from the Consumer Complaint Database, highlighting tools for analyzing aggregated data, and exploring ways for companies to respond publicly to complaints in the database.

ENFORCEMENT & LITIGATION

FTC Settles with Operators of Alleged Student Loan Debt Relief Schemes

On September 12, the FTC announced that it had settled lawsuits against the operators of two alleged student loan debt relief schemes and a financing company that assisted them, alleging that they had bilked millions of dollars from consumers. The FTC alleged that the defendants violated the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), and provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310, by charging consumers illegal upfront fees, making false promises that their services would permanently lower or eliminate consumers’ loan payments or balances, and signing up consumers for high-interest loans without making the required disclosures. Read the Enforcement Watch blog post.