Briefing has now been completed in CFPB v. Great Plains Lending, LLC, et al., the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in which three tribally-affiliated payday lenders are challenging the CFPB’s authority to issue civil investigative demands (CIDs) to entities that are arms of sovereign tribes.

Last July, a California federal court rejected the lenders’ arguments that (1) as arms of sovereign tribes, they were “sovereigns” and therefore were not “persons” to whom the CFPB can issue CIDs under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, and (2) the CIDs were barred by tribal sovereign immunity.  The court did agree, however, to the lenders’ request for a stay pending their appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

Briefs have been filed with the Ninth Circuit by the lenders and the CFPB, and the lenders have also filed a reply brief.