Debt and Lending Markets: Current Trends Impacting Private Equity Sponsors — PE Pathways Podcast
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Prof. Hal Scott Doubles Down on His Argument That CFPB is Unlawfully Funded Because of Combined Losses at Federal Reserve Banks
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Did the Supreme Court Hand the CFPB a Pyrrhic Victory?
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Understanding the Federal Reserve Board Proposal to Lower Interchange Fee Cap for Debit Card Transactions
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Community Reinvestment Act Reform: A Close Look at the Final Rule
The Future of Payments: Exploring FedNow With the Payments Professor — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Federal Banking Interagency Final Guidance on Third-Party Relationships - The Consumer Finance Podcast
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: What is FedNow and its Role in the U.S. Payments System?
Breaking (Down) the Debt Ceiling
Podcast: 2023 Deal Cycle - Considerations for Transactions in Uncertain Economic Times - Diagnosing Health Care
Crypto Year in Review 2022: Federal Reserve and Central Bank Digital Currencies and FDIC/OCC Regulatory Developments - The Crypto Exchange Podcast
Is the U.S. Payments System Failing Business and Consumers? A Discussion with Special Guest Dan Awrey, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
DE Under 3: Latest Monthly Jobs Report, Unemployment & the US BLS JOLTS Report
Stablecoin Regulation in an Unstable Time: The Fed and Treasury Address a Stablecoin Regulatory Framework
Congressional and Federal Agency Action Following Executive Order on Digital Assets Policy
The Return of TALF Fund Opportunities Via COVID-19 Relief
Regulators Tackle Board Effectiveness and Overdrafts
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): Recap and What to Expect in 2014
According to a recent press release, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin has submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, First National Digital Currency...more
On June 17, 2025, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1582 (GENIUS Act) with bipartisan support (68–30), creating the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoin regulation. This landmark legislation establishes clear...more
Bank-fintech partnerships have transformed the financial services landscape, creating new opportunities and challenges for traditional banking institutions and innovative technology companies alike. In a typical arrangement,...more
We are pleased to share with you our latest publication, “Navigating Change: First 100 Days under the Trump Administration,” authored by our Digital Assets + Blockchain team. This retrospective examines the pivotal...more
The federal banking regulators have each recently adopted a more permissive approach to the regulation of cryptocurrency activities within the banking sector. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal...more
U.S. Companies Continue Stablecoin Payment Integrations, Product Launches - According to a recent press release, a major multinational payment card services company has announced several new programs to support global...more
FRB eases crypto restrictions on supervised entities in alignment with the new administration’s support for the digital asset industry....more
Lowenstein Crypto advises leading digital asset and cryptocurrency projects, exchanges, and trading firms. Our practice covers regulatory advice, transactions and structuring advice, investigations, and adversarial matters...more
This is the first in a series of articles in our "So, You Want to Be a Bank?" series. More than 1,000 new banks were formed in the eight years before the Great Recession began in 2008. In comparison, the past 15 years...more
The Federal Reserve has announced multiple decisions to rescind existing requirements for crypto-asset activities. The April 24 announcement included the rescission of a 2022 supervisory letter that required state member...more
The Federal Reserve Board ("Board") softened its stance on regulation of crypto activity by banking organizations by rescinding supervisory letters that created hurdles for crypto-asset activities and by joining the Office of...more
On March 13, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act through committee. According to Chairman Tim...more
On April 9, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City published a research briefing examining how video game platforms are reshaping the digital payments landscape. As in-game purchases and platform-based transactions grow in...more
With the change of presidential administrations in January, there has been a significant shift in the landscape for financial technology companies in the United States for 2025 and beyond. First, the new administration...more
On April 4, Fed Governor Michael S. Barr spoke at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco about how banks and fintech companies can work together to accelerate the adoption of generative AI in financial services....more
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal and state events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week....more
On March 17, the OCC announced it had conditionally approved an application of a fintech to change the business model of a nationally chartered bank upon acquisition of the bank by the fintech, specifically allowing the...more
On March 14, 2025, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland declined to grant a temporary injunction to the City of Baltimore and the Economic Action Maryland Fund. The plaintiffs had requested an...more
On March 17th, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) conditionally approved the application for the newly renamed SmartBiz Bank N.A. (“SmartBiz Bank”) to change its business model in support of its fintech...more
On March 13, 2025, the US Senate Banking Committee passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act of 2025 or “GENIUS Act,” out of committee by a vote of 18-6....more
A federal banking agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), has smoothed the way for national banks and federal savings associations to engage in crypto-related activities with the issuance of Interpretive...more
March 13, 2025- The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs voted to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, legislation that establishes a regulatory...more
The Klaros Group’s Michele Alt joins Orrick partners Jerry Buckley, Caroline Stapleton and Walt Zalenski to explore actions needed to facilitate new bank formations, which have slowed to trickle in recent years. The...more
The OCC has reiterated that certain crypto-related activities—crypto-asset custody, distributed ledger, and stablecoin activities—previously determined to be permissible remain so. The OCC has also rescinded a Biden-era...more
On March 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published Interpretive Letter 1183, which is expected to clarify and streamline national banks’ ability to engage in cryptocurrency activities....more