On March 7, the OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1183 and an accompanying statement affirming prior guidance regarding whether national banks and federal savings associations may engage in cryptocurrency-related activities,...more
3/17/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interpretive Letters ,
OCC ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Stablecoins
In an order issued in January and made public on February 24, a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted class certification to consumers alleging a fintech lender’s loan...more
3/3/2025
/ California ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Lenders ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On February 25, a federal judge in the United District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky approved a joint motion between the CFPB and banking trade groups to pause litigation over the agency’s 1033 open banking rule....more
On February 27, new CFPB Director Jonathan McKernan testified before the Senate Banking Committee, emphasizing his commitment to enforcing the law while operating within the confines of the law. His testimony focused on his...more
On February 8, the CFPB requested a 90 day stay in a lawsuit filed by a major tech company challenging the agency’s risk-based supervision order. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,...more
On January 22, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a $1 billion settlement with a now defunct cash advance firm and its officers. The settlement resolves allegations that the firm and its officers repeatedly...more
On January 10, 2025, the Maryland Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) issued guidance significantly expanding licensing requirements for assignees of residential mortgage loans in Maryland. The guidance stems from an April...more
On January 20, President Trump issued a memorandum instituting a regulatory freeze pending review. This action, a common practice for new administrations, directs federal agencies to halt any new rulemaking until agency heads...more
1/27/2025
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
On January 3, 2025, the CFPB announced a reboot of its no-action letter and compliance assistance sandbox policy, aimed at promoting consumer-beneficial innovation in financial services. The new policies are designed to...more
On December 19, the U.S. Department of Treasury released a report summarizing key findings from its 2024 Request for Information (RFI) on the uses, opportunities, and risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in financial...more
On December 16, the CFPB released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights, which detailed findings from the Bureau’s recent examinations of student loan markets. The report identifies a range of violations related to...more
12/24/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
New Guidance ,
Regulation E ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Student Loan Servicers Regulation ,
Student Loans
Effective November 23, 2024, the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending (the “DSML”) adopted new rules affecting mortgage loan companies, mortgage bankers, individual residential mortgage loan originators, and...more
12/16/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lenders ,
Lending ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Texas
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 21, the CFPB announced the arrival of its finalized larger participant rule (the “Rule”) regulating nonbank companies offering digital funds transfer and payment wallet applications to consumers....more
On November 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a “pilot study” on the small business lending market revealing “significant disparities” in how lenders treat black and white small business owners. As part of...more
On November 1, a debt collection trade group filed a complaint in federal court challenging an October 1 CFPB advisory opinion that warned debt collectors against seeking payment on unverified or potentially inflated medical...more
On October 31, the CFPB entered into a consent order with a Florida-chartered credit union for harming consumers in connection with the botched launch of a new online banking system, in violation of the Consumer Financial...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 August 28, the CFPB issued a Consumer Advisory warning that it believes video game companies are targeting children for monetary gain. With 45.7 million U.S. children engaged in video gameplay, the agency is concerned...more
9/16/2024
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Privacy Laws ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Video Games
On September 12, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a proposed order which, if entered by the court, will ban a student loan servicer from servicing federal student loans and require it to pay $120...more
On July 25, federal regulators issued a joint statement to further put banking organizations on notice of the inherent risks of collaborating with fintechs in offering deposit products and services. This guidance aims to...more
On July 11, the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the FTC’s request for a temporary restraining order against operators of a debt relief enterprise that unlawfully charged consumers illegal...more
On July 24, 2024, the CFPB issued a circular detailing how companies may be breaking the law by requiring employees to sign broad nondisclosure agreements that could deter whistleblowing. Under Section 1057(a) of the...more
7/29/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Covered Employees ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investigations ,
Whistleblowers
On July 18, the CFPB proposed a new interpretive rule that would characterize earned wage access (“EWA”) products as extensions of credit and subject to the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z. Under the interpretive...more