On May 18, 2016, the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will hold a hearing entitled “Examining the CFPB’s Proposed Rulemaking on Arbitration: Is it in the Public...more
5/16/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Legislative Committees ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Service Contracts
On April 20, 2016, Congressman Sean Duffy sent a letter to Director Cordray indicating that the House Financial Services Committee is investigating “the examination and possible regulation by the [CFPB] of pre-dispute...more
5/6/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
SBREFA
Alan Kaplinsky, who leads Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group, has been asked by the CFPB to testify as an industry representative at the CFPB’s May 5 field hearing on arbitration. We expect the hearing to...more
In a new American Banker article, Alan Kaplinsky, Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group, responded to an article by Professor Jeff Sovern that called into question Alan’s prediction that the...more
The CFPB released its Fall 2015 rulemaking agenda last Friday. The agenda sets the following timetables for key rulemaking initiatives: Arbitration. The Fall 2015 agenda gives a December 2015 date for further prerule...more
This past Sunday, the NY Times published an article carrying the headline, “Efforts to Rein in Arbitration Come Under Well-Financed Attack.” The “well-financed attack” to which the headlined refers appears to be an...more
Daniel Fisher of Forbes has written another article criticizing the NY Times for its stance on arbitration. Last week, Mr. Fisher criticized the first article in the Times’ three-part series on arbitration for disregarding...more
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has issued further criticism of the recent articles on arbitration published in the New York Times. The Chamber’s initial comments focused on the Times’ first article in which Alan Kaplinsky,...more
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has issued strong criticism of the first two articles on arbitration published in the New York Times this past Sunday and earlier this week. (The articles were part of a series of three reports.)...more
The CFPB has issued its third Financial Literacy Annual Report to Congress. The report covers the CFPB’s activities to improve consumer financial literacy during the period from June 2014 through September 2015. The report’s...more
The CFPB has announced that its Consumer Advisory Board will meet on October 22, 2015 in Washington, D.C. The meeting, at which Director Cordray is scheduled to give opening remarks, will include a discussion of arbitration,...more
The CFPB has announced that it will hold a field hearing about arbitration in Denver, Colorado on October 7, 2015 and has asked Alan Kaplinsky, Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group, to...more
9/25/2015
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Loans ,
Payday Loans ,
SBREFA ,
Small Business
A group of more than 80 House and Senate Republicans have sent a letter to Director Cordray asking the CFPB to reopen its arbitration study. The CFPB released the final results of its empirical study of consumer arbitration...more
According to a Politico report, the House Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment to the FY 2016 Financial Services Appropriations bill that would impose new requirements on the CFPB before it can issue a rule...more
Five leading financial services industry trade groups have sent a letter to the CFPB urging it to solicit public comments on the final results of its arbitration study before deciding whether to initiate a rulemaking...more
Senator Al Franken and 57 other members of Congress signed a letter sent to Director Cordray last week urging the CFPB “to move forward quickly to use its authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to issue strong rules to prohibit...more
In its latest report evaluating the checking account practices of the nation’s largest banks, the Pew Charitable Trusts continues to press the CFPB to write new overdraft and other rules for checking accounts. Pew’s new...more
The CFPB has issued its fourth Semi-Annual Report to the President and Congress. Although the report’s cover page indicates that it covers the period April 1 to September 30, 2013, this would appear to be a mistake since the...more
The only new item of information revealed by Director Cordray during his appearance yesterday before the Senate Banking Committee hearing (in response to a question from Senator Elizabeth Warren) was that he feels “quite...more