On August 7, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing federal banking regulators to prevent financial institutions and financial service providers from denying or restricting financial services and products based...more
On August 12, a coalition of banking trade associations sent a joint letter to Congress warning that the recently enacted GENIUS Act contains a loophole that could allow the indirect payment of interest or yield on payment...more
8/15/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Stablecoins ,
Technology ,
The GENIUS Act
On August 4, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice warning financial institutions about escalating illicit activity involving convertible virtual currency (CVC) kiosks. The notice cites...more
8/8/2025
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Convertible Virtual Currencies (CVCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fraud ,
Money Laundering ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Technology
On July 29, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky granted the CFPB’s request to stay litigation challenging its open banking rule. The rule (previously discussed here) aimed to establish industry-wide...more
On July 23, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the Department of Justice’s motion to terminate a consent order requiring a Pennsylvania bank to implement a five-year fair lending...more
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 July 10, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jonathan Gould as Comptroller of the Currency in a 50–45 vote. Gould will serve a five-year term and returns to the OCC, where he previously served as Chief Counsel and Senior...more
On July 1, the CFPB terminated two separate consent orders, one involving a federal credit union and the other involving a national mortgage servicer. Both orders stemmed from 2024 enforcement actions and involved alleged...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 23, the Federal Reserve Board announced that reputational risk will no longer be a component of its bank-examination program. The same day, the Board released a revised edition of its Guidelines for Rating Risk...more
6/27/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
On May 14, the OCC entered into a formal agreement with a New York-based bank after determining that the institution is in “troubled condition.” In its findings, the OCC cited alleged unsafe or unsound practices tied to the...more
6/27/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consent Order ,
Corrective Actions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
New York ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Strategic Planning
On June 9, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood issued a letter rejecting the Conference of State Bank Supervisors’ (CSBS) request that the OCC rescind its 2011 preemption regulations.
The OCC ‘s letter signals...more
6/13/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Government Agencies ,
OCC ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
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 16, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law S. 27, a medical debt relief measure that prohibits the inclusion of medical debt on consumer credit reports and establishes a state-funded initiative to abolish...more
5/30/2025
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Credit Reports ,
Debt Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Medical Debt ,
New Legislation ,
Nonprofits ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government
On May 21, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee granted a joint motion by the CFPB and DOJ to terminate a 2021 redlining settlement with a regional bank, vacating the consent order and dismissing the...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 9, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that President Trump intends to nominate Jonathan McKernan to serve as the Undersecretary of Domestic Finance. McKernan had been awaiting Senate confirmation to lead the...more
On May 9, President Trump signed a Congressional Review Act resolution repealing the CFPB’s final rule restricting overdraft fees at large financial institutions. The rule, originally finalized under the Biden administration,...more
5/16/2025
/ Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On May 7, the OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1184, reaffirming that national banks and federal savings associations may provide cryptocurrency custody and execution services, including through sub-custodians. The OCC...more
5/16/2025
/ Banks ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
New Guidance ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Technology
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 May 1, the CFPB filed a joint motion with two financial trade groups to vacate a Biden-era rule barring most medical debt from appearing on consumer credit reports. The motion comes after lender groups filed a lawsuit in...more
On April 15, Judge Mark T. Pittman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered an Order and Final Judgement vacating the CFPB’s 2024 credit card late fee rule (previously discussed here) for...more