We’re pleased to offer an early preview of an upcoming episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast—and this is one you won’t want to miss.

In about a week, we’ll be releasing a special episode featuring Max Dubin, Chief of Staff to the Acting Superintendent of Banking at the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) in conversation with our host Alan Kaplinsky, the founder, former Chair and now Senior Counsel of the Consumer Financial Services Group at Ballard Spahr. Max… Continue Reading

In today’s episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Show, our host, Ballard Spahr’s Alan Kaplinsky, was joined by colleagues Steven Burt and Melanie Vartabedian to explore a rapidly evolving and increasingly complex area of consumer financial services: residential solar finance.

Building on prior discussions of the broader solar finance landscape, this episode zeroes in on the regulatory and litigation developments that are reshaping the residential solar market in real time.… Continue Reading

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently sent a letter to Fair Isaac Corporation announcing that as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and as a member of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, he is investigating the company’s pricing practices in the mortgage credit scoring market.

Fair Isaac generates a consumer credit score known as FICO, which the Senator notes “dominates the credit scoring market with a product used by 90% of lenders, potentially commanding an even larger market share for first-time home buyers.”… Continue Reading

On March 6, 2026, President Trump issued Executive Order 14390, a sweeping directive aimed at combating cyber-enabled fraud schemes targeting Americans. The Executive Order was published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2026.

The Order reflects growing federal concern about large-scale cyber fraud operations—often referred to as “scam centers”—run by transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that target U.S.… Continue Reading

Following New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Executive Orders cracking down on so-called “junk fees” and “subscription traps,” city officials have begun taking action against companies and industries they say abuse consumers by imposing such fees, create such traps or otherwise violate the consumer protection laws under DWCP’s jurisdiction. While most of these actions did not involve consumer financial services as such, we felt it important for our readers to be aware of how aggressive and active this agency has become. … Continue Reading

In a decision that delivered a blistering rejection of the Trump Administration’s CFPB plans, a federal judge has ruled that the Bureau must continue to request funds from the Federal Reserve Board.

The administration’s plans amounted to a “transparent attempt to ‘close down the agency,’” Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California said, in a lawsuit filed by three groups challenging the Administration’s decision not to request from the Fed funds for the CFPB. He… Continue Reading

On today’s episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast our host, Alan Kaplinsky, discusses the rapidly evolving landscape of federal financial supervision with Sherra Brown, Head of Regulatory Research and Analysis for the Americas at Vixio Regulatory Intelligence. Our conversation focuses on what may be a fundamental shift in supervisory practices at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the implications of parallel changes at the federal banking agencies.… Continue Reading

Effective April 1, 2026, California Senate Bill 22 (SB 22) will now require businesses to provide cash back on gift cards with a balance under $15 (up from $10 under current law) upon a consumer’s request. Given the nearly twenty-year history of plaintiffs’ firms targeting retailers in class actions for failure to comply with California’s current gift card law, businesses should expect that the plaintiffs’ bar will be ready to test compliance with the new threshold shortly after the law takes effect.… Continue Reading

President Trump recently issued an Executive Order entitled “Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit” seeking to promote mortgage lending by community banks and smaller banks. The Executive Order refers to community banks and smaller banks as banks with assets of less than $30 billion and $100 billion, respectively.

The premise of the Executive Order is that “[o]ver the past two decades .… Continue Reading

Although an interpretive rule that made Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services subject to the Truth in Lending Act has been withdrawn, the issue remains a flashpoint in the industry and among policymakers, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

“Whether BNPL providers should be subject to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA, 15 U.S.C.… Continue Reading