Executive Summary

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the nationwide organization representing state banking and financial regulators, has endorsed legislation that would clarify a critical issue concerning the scope of Section 525 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA). The development comes as the House Financial Services Committee prepares to mark up H.R.… Continue Reading

Changes at the CFPB have caused a backlog of consumer complaints, the CFPB’s Office of Inspector (OIG) said, in a report.

Stop-work orders also resulted in CFPB staff temporarily not performing enforcement, supervision and other functions, but workforce-reduction actions had limited impact on bureau operations because of court intervention, the OIG said.… Continue Reading

The future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) has rarely been more uncertain. Since its creation, the CFPB has been at the center of intense political and policy debate, with its priorities changing dramatically as administrations change. The events of the past year or so under the leadership of Acting Directors chosen by President Trump, however, have taken that policy whiplash to a new level.… Continue Reading

On August 11, 2026, the Colorado Department of Law published its much anticipated Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) and Conversational AI Service Rules (the “Draft Rules”). The ADMT Draft Rules provide guidance on the newly amended Colorado AI Act.

The Draft Rules – which were required to be written on an expedited basis by the amended Act – cover various different issues that will be critical to deployer and developer compliance.… Continue Reading

Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser and Uniform Consumer Credit Code Administrator Martha Fulford have sued Activehours, Inc., doing business as EarnIn, alleging that EarnIn’s direct-to-consumer “Cash Out” earned-wage-access product is a consumer loan subject to Colorado’s lending laws.

The complaint, filed on August 27, 2026, in the Denver District Court for the City and County of Denver, alleges that EarnIn made more than 3.1 million transactions to Colorado consumers between January 2023 and July 2025, advancing approximately $300 million and collecting more than $16 million in tips and expedited-transfer fees.… Continue Reading

FinCEN and the federal banking agencies have clarified that Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) confidentiality does not prevent banks from communicating with customers about the underlying transactions or conduct that prompted concern, including explaining certain fraud-related restrictions or account closures.

The September 2 joint statement from FinCEN, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA and OCC does not change the Bank Secrecy Act or impose new supervisory requirements.… Continue Reading

Proposed legislation that would clarify the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA) is important to the health of the dual banking system, Kathleen Kraninger, President and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association, told the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing held on September 2, 2026 entitled “Strengthening the American Economy: Promoting Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity.”… Continue Reading

On September 1, 2026, Ballard Spahr (through its representative, Adam Maarec), in response to an invitation from the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC or Committee), attended a roundtable at the U.S. Capitol focused on the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The discussion, “Modernizing Consumer Financial Protection: Reform, Accountability, and Opportunity,” featured House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr, Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Lindsey Johnson, and Financial Technology Association President and CEO Penny Lee, with opening remarks from former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger.… Continue Reading

First and Ninth Circuit decisions conflict with the Second Circuit, while the OCC has concluded that state escrow-interest laws are preempted

National bank preemption is headed toward another Supreme Court showdown. The Second Circuit has held that New York’s mortgage escrow-interest requirement is preempted, directly conflicting with the First Circuit’s decision upholding a comparable Rhode Island requirement and the Ninth Circuit’s decision allowing a similar California law to remain in effect.… Continue Reading

As we have chronicled in our blog, states are increasingly moving to fill the consumer-protection void created by the CFPB’s dramatic retreat from supervision, enforcement and rulemaking. State legislatures are considering and enacting new consumer-finance protections; state attorneys general are bringing more enforcement actions under state UDAP and other laws, often in bipartisan and multistate coalitions; and state financial regulators are expanding their supervisory and enforcement efforts.… Continue Reading