In a significant but unsurprising move, the CFPB announced today that it was rescinding a policy statement issued in January 2020 that sought to tether the Bureau’s “abusive” authority to certain limiting principles. The...more
President Biden’s nominee to serve as CFPB Director, Rohit Chopra, today testified in front of the Senate Banking Committee about his potential regulatory and enforcement priorities as head of the consumer finance regulator....more
Often when people think about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) they say to themselves, “well, I’m not a bank so that doesn't really apply to me.” But consumer financial protection laws are actually much broader...more
Things are about to change dramatically at the CFPB. President-elect Joe Biden today nominated Rohit Chopra, a current commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission and long-time proponent of aggressive enforcement, to serve...more
The FTC today announced four new enforcement actions and one new settlement alleging deceptive income claims in violation of the FTC Act. The FTC noted that these actions are part of a broader initiative branded as...more
Turns out the best defense may not be a good offense, at least when litigating against the FTC. The Northern District of Illinois yesterday rejected an attempt by multi-level marketer Neora, LLC (formerly Nerium) to obtain a...more
Last week, the FTC sent warning letters to ten multi-level marketing companies alleging that the companies failed to stop their participants from making deceptive product and earnings claims related to COVID-19. The letters...more
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have far-reaching effects on businesses and consumers everywhere. While many states are taking broadly consistent approaches on certain issues (e.g., price gouging, non-essential business...more
This week, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) made a series of announcements in connection with its efforts to address the outbreak of COVID-19. The Agency sought to reassure the American public that the U.S. food supply...more
If you’ve been shopping lately, it’s likely that you’ve encountered empty shelves and shortages of items, such as (for inexplicable reasons) toilet paper. This tends to happen whenever a disaster – whether that’s a hurricane...more
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that Airbnb is violating the FTC Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by assigning “secret...more
The CFPB announced today a policy statement outlining three new principles that it intends to apply when evaluating whether practices are “abusive” under the Dodd-Frank Act. ...more
The FTC today announced two new actions under the Consumer Review Fairness Act against companies (CRFA) that allegedly used non-disparagement provisions in consumer form contracts in connection with selling their respective...more
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) submitted a citizen petition to FDA related to the use of dairy terms such as “milk,” “yogurt,” “cheese,” “ice cream” and “butter” in the statements of identity for non-dairy...more
This morning, the FDA announced its intention to engage in greater oversight of the dietary supplement industry. The announcement also conveyed that the Agency had sent 12 warning letters and five advisory letters to...more
While many today returned to work after the Holiday season, things remained quieter than usual here in the nation’s capital – with many federal workers furloughed until further notice as the federal government continues to be...more
The Senate today confirmed Kathleen Kraninger as CFPB Director by a party-line, 50-49 vote, with Sen. Tillis abstaining. Kraninger will replace current Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, who also currently oversees Kraninger at...more
FDA recently released a new draft guidance, “Innovative Approaches for Nonprescription Drug Products,” that described two “innovative approaches” that sponsors of new drug applications may wish to consider to demonstrate the...more
On June 20, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released draft guidance for companies required to comply with the FDA’s final rule, “Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration” (“IA...more
On June 20, 2018, the FDA released draft guidance regarding the FDA’s Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration Rule (IA Rule). This is the first of three installments of guidance the FDA plans...more
A federal jury in Illinois recently awarded Dyson, Inc. over $16 million in damages after finding that SharkNinja falsely advertised that its Rotator Powered Lift-Away vacuum was better than Dyson’s best-performing vacuum,...more
The FTC announced that it will accept comments and hold a series of public hearings on consumer protection, privacy, and competition policy and enforcement. The hearings will take place during fall and winter of this year...more
The FDA recently announced that it will hold a public meeting entitled, “Foods Produced Using Animal Cell Culture Technology,” on July 12, 2018 to provide the public with an opportunity to offer feedback related to the...more
Both the USDA and the FDA recently released updates to food labeling regulations that will significantly affect food manufacturers. On Friday, May 4, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the USDA proposed a rule...more
On May 4, 2018, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (“AMS”) published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish disclosure requirements for bioengineered foods under a new “National Bioengineered Food...more