We have, of course, already blogged about the Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, 25-332 (2026). One aspect of the decision, however, deserves separate attention because it may foreshadow future challenges to one of the FTC’s, and perhaps the CFPB’s, most significant sources of regulatory authority.

Although not necessary to the Court’s holding, Chief Justice Roberts and, even more pointedly, Justice Gorsuch questioned the extraordinary breadth of the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to define by regulation what constitutes an “unfair or deceptive act or practice” under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.… Continue Reading

AI is already part of everyday work at growing companies. Employees use it to draft emails, summarize documents, generate marketing copy, assist with coding, and prepare meeting notes. In some organizations, that adoption has happened informally. The tools arrived first, and internal rules are still playing catch-up.

That sequence may create problems.… Continue Reading

At a May 19, 2026 Ballard Spahr webinar, “Cutting Out the Middleman: The Surge in FinTech Applications to Charter Banks, Industrial Banks and National Trust Companies,” a distinguished panel of banking, fintech, crypto, and consumer financial services experts explored one of the most important developments currently reshaping the financial services industry: the growing movement by fintech companies, payments firms, lenders, and crypto-native businesses to obtain their own banking charters rather than relying on traditional bank partnerships.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has rescinded a December 2020 advisory opinion that addressed Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCP) offered by for-profit entities that use the common characteristics of race, color, national origin, or sex, or any combination thereof, as eligibility criteria. The advisory opinion had addressed the content of the written plan that would have been required for the SPCP and the data that could have been used to support a determination that the SPCP was necessary because people sharing those characteristics probably would not have received credit or would have received it on less favorable terms than those ordinarily available to other applicants. … Continue Reading

A federal judge, at the request of the FTC, recently ordered Cliq Inc., a payment processing company, and its operators to pay $6.5 million for violating a 2015 federal court order intended to prevent the company from assisting in consumer fraud.

U.S. District Court in Nevada entered the order finding Cliq Inc, formerly known as Cardflex Inc.,… Continue Reading

The FTC has continued to crackdown on subscription billing and cancellation practices it considers unlawful.

Recently, at the urging of the FTC, a federal court agreed to temporarily stop a large business enterprise allegedly built on deceptive subscription schemes from continuing to deceive consumers with hidden costs and recurring charges, while failing to provide simple means to cancel their subscriptions.… Continue Reading

On June 25, 2026, DC-based Women in Housing & Finance hosted Senior Advisor and Counsel to the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elie Greenbaum, for a wide-ranging discussion on the Bureau’s current policy priorities and regulatory outlook. Following are notable updates on the CFPB’s agenda for industry participants. This report is based on the input of several members of our Consumer Financial Services Group who attended the meeting. … Continue Reading

In a pair of very important decisions issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court reshaped the constitutional landscape governing independent federal agencies. In Trump v. Slaughter, Court overruled the 91-year-old precedent of Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602( 1935),  and held that members of the Federal Trade Commission may be removed by the President at will, notwithstanding statutory “for cause” removal protections.… Continue Reading

On June 25, 2026, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law the Buy-Now-Pay-Later Loan Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), Public Act 104-475. The legislation establishes a comprehensive licensing and supervisory framework for providers of buy now, pay later (“BNPL”) products operating in Illinois.

The Act, which becomes effective on January 1, 2028 (unless a later effective date is provided by rule), places Illinois among the first states to enact a regulatory regime specifically tailored to BNPL products, although BNPL products are covered by existing laws in a number of states.… Continue Reading

The federal regulation of open banking in the United States has been in an extraordinary state of limbo. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rules implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the product of a long rulemaking journey that began in 2016, remain codified in the Code of Federal Regulations but are effectively unenforceable.… Continue Reading