On July 18, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS ACT) was signed into law, creating the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The law prohibits the issuance...more
On July 21, the CFPB withdrew its plan to repeal rules that provide procedures for state officials to notify the Bureau before initiating enforcement actions under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB cited...more
On June 25, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a directive ordering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals for treating cryptocurrency held on U.S.-regulated exchanges as assets for reserves in...more
On June 1, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill that, if enacted, will delay the effective date of the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act by one year, from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026.
The law prohibits financial...more
6/13/2025
/ Banks ,
Credit Cards ,
Financial Institutions ,
Illinois ,
Interchange Fees ,
New Legislation ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
On April 7, the FDIC and the Maryland Office of Financial Regulation terminated two consent orders against a regional bank headquartered in Maryland. The termination concludes joint federal and state enforcement actions that...more
On May 15, the CFPB issued an amended consent order against an international remittance provider, reducing its civil penalty from $2.025 million to $44,955. The order alleges violations of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act...more
On May 20, federal merger policy took a sharp turn as the FDIC voted to rescind its 2024 merger guidelines, and the U.S. House passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to repeal the OCC’s 2024 merger rule....more
On May 20, the U.S. Senate voted 66-32 to move forward with the Guardrails and Enforcement for Neutral Issuers of United States Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act (the “Act”), pushing the stablecoin bill past a major procedural hurdle....more
5/23/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Government Agencies ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Stablecoins
On May 6, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act No. 1125 into law, making Indiana the latest state to enact a statutory framework for regulating earned wage access (EWA) products. The Indiana Earned Wage...more
On April 16, the CFPB released an internal memo outlining major shifts in its supervision and enforcement priorities, signaling a retreat from several areas of regulatory activity. The next day, the Bureau issued formal...more
On April 11, North Dakota enacted HB 1127, overhauling its regulatory framework for financial institutions and nonbank financial service providers. The law amends multiple chapters of the North Dakota Century Code and creates...more
On April 23, the CFPB voluntarily dismissed with prejudice its lawsuit, filed in September 2024, against a Pennsylvania-based credit card company that had been accused of unlawfully marketing a high-cost, limited-use...more
On April 7, the FCC issued an order staying the effective date of a key provision in its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules. The provision—originally set to take effect on April 11, 2025—would have required that a...more
On March 20, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) entered into a consent order with a money transmitter, joining a group of state financial regulators acting through a multi-state task force coordinated by...more
4/14/2025
/ Consent Order ,
CSBS ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Transmitter ,
New York ,
NYDFS ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Settlement ,
State and Local Government ,
State Regulators
On March 20, the OCC announced that it will no longer treat reputation risk as a standalone category in its supervision of national banks and federal savings associations. The decision marks a dramatic shift in the agency’s...more
In a March 10 blog post, the new Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to enforcing consumer protection laws through Civil Investigation Demands (CIDs)....more
The CFPB has recently dismissed two more enforcement actions—one against a major credit reporting agency and another against a lease-to-own financing provider. Both lawsuits involved allegations of abusive, unfair, and...more
3/17/2025
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Debt Collection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
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 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 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 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