The CFPB has released its Fall 2023 rulemaking agenda as part of the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  The agenda’s preamble indicates that “[t]he Bureau reasonably anticipates having the regulatory matters identified [in the agenda] under consideration during the period from November 2023 to October 2024.”… Continue Reading

We previously reported and released a podcast episode on comments that we and Professor David Sherwyn of Cornell University submitted in opposition to the Petition for Rulemaking filed by a number of consumer advocacy groups urging the CFPB to prohibit pre-dispute consumer arbitration clauses and allow only post-dispute clauses.  Among other things, we argued that the  rule proposed by the Petitioners would be prohibited by the Congressional Review Act (CRA) because it is substantially the same as the Final Arbitration Rule promulgated by the CFPB in July 2017 that Congress overrode in November 2017. … Continue Reading

Last week, by a vote of 221-202, the House of Representatives voted to approve S.J. 32, the resolution introduced under the Congressional Review Act to override the CFPB’s final Section 1071 small business lending rule (1071 Rule).  The Senate voted to approve S.J. 32 in October 2023.  President Biden is expected to veto the resolution and there is unlikely to be sufficient votes to override his veto. … Continue Reading

Tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion will hold a hearing entitled “Fostering Financial Innovation: How Agencies Can Leverage Technology to Shape the Future of Financial Services.”  The witnesses will be:

  • Valerie A. Szczepanik, Director of the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub), Securities and Exchange Commission
  • Donna Murphy, Acting Deputy Comptroller for the Office of Financial Technology and Deputy Comptroller for Compliance Risk Policy, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. 
Continue Reading

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument for January 17, 2024 in the two cases in which the question presented is whether the Court should overrule its 1984 decision in Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc.  That decision produced what became known as the “Chevron framework”–the two-step analysis that courts typically invoke when reviewing a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute.… Continue Reading

Earlier this month, the CFPB filed a notice with the Texas federal district court that it is appealing to the Fifth Circuit the district court’s order granting summary judgment to a group of trade associations in their lawsuit against the CFPB challenging the changes made to its UDAAP Exam Manual in March 2022. … Continue Reading

In September 2023, the CFPB updated its UDAAP Examination Manual to remove the changes it made in March 2022 which provided that unfair acts or practices encompassed discriminatory conduct, even in circumstances to which federal fair lending laws, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, did not apply.

It has been suggested that this update means the CFPB has retreated from its position that discriminatory conduct can be the basis of a UDAAP violation. … Continue Reading

A Nevada federal district court has stayed an action filed by the CFPB to enforce a civil investigative demand (CID) issued to a small-dollar lender pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd. v. CFPB.  The issue in CFSA  v. CFPB is whether the CFPB’s funding mechanism violates the Appropriations Clause of the U.S.… Continue Reading

On November 6, the CFPB filed a notice with the Texas federal district court that it is appealing to the Fifth Circuit the district court’s order granting summary judgment to a group of trade associations in their lawsuit against the CFPB challenging the changes made to its UDAAP Exam Manual in March 2022. … Continue Reading

On November 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument  in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a case in which the respondents are challenging the constitutionality of the SEC’s use of administrative law judges (ALJs).  The outcome of the case could have significant implications for the use of ALJs by all federal agencies, including the CFPB, FTC, and federal banking agencies.  … Continue Reading