Barbara S. Mishkin

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Special guest Alex J. Pollock, Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute and former Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Financial Research in the U.S. Treasury Department, joins us to discuss his recent blog post published on The Federalist Society website in which he urges Congress to look into the question of whether the Federal Reserve can lawfully continue to fund the CFPB if (as now) the Fed has no earnings.… Continue Reading

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the CFPB’s funding mechanism does not violate the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  This two-part episode repurposes a recent webinar. In Part II, we first discuss the CFPB’s launch of Fair Credit Reporting Act rulemaking, proposed rule to supervise larger payment providers, proposed rule on personal financial data rights, and interpretive rule on buy-now-pay-later. … Continue Reading

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the CFPB’s funding mechanism does not violate the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This two-part episode repurposes a recent webinar. In Part I, we first discuss the SCOTUS decision, the status of the CFPB’s payday lending rule that was at issue in the underlying case, and a potential new challenge to the CFPB’s funding that has been the focus of recent attention.… Continue Reading

Our special guests are Professor Dru Stevenson, South Texas College of Law in Houston, and Brian Knight, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University.  In this episode, we first discuss the history of  “Operation Chokepoint,” the Obama-era initiative in which the FDIC and other federal banking agencies targeted banks serving payday lenders and companies engaged in other “disfavored” industries. … Continue Reading

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that the CFPB’s funding mechanism does not violate the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  The Supreme Court’s decision has far-ranging implications, most immediately for cases involving challenges to CFPB regulations or other CFPB actions. … Continue Reading

Our special guest is Professor Richard Frankel of Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and the author of a recent article on mass arbitration.  In this episode, we first discuss what mass arbitration is, how it relates to class action lawsuits, and the role of public enforcement.  We then discuss the industry and consumer positions on the use of mass arbitration and the empirical study conducted by Prof.… Continue Reading

Our special guest is Brian Johnson, Managing Director of Patomak Global Partners and former CFPB Deputy Director.  In November 2023, the CFPB issued a proposed rule to supervise nonbank companies that qualify as larger participants in a market for “general-use digital consumer payment applications.”  In this episode, we first discuss the CFPB’s authority to supervise nonbank entities considered to be “a larger participant of a market for other consumer financial products or services” and  its previous use of that authority. … Continue Reading

On February 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A., a case involving the effect of the Dodd-Frank Act on the scope of preemption under the National Bank Act (NBA).  The specific question before the Court is whether, post-Dodd-Frank, the NBA preempts a New York statute requiring banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts. … Continue Reading

Our special guest is Andrew Nigrinis of Legal Economics LLC and former CFPB enforcement economist.  The CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule lowers the safe harbor late fee amount that card issuers other than “smaller card issuers” can charge to $8.  We first discuss how the final rule differs from the proposed rule and the existing rule, who are “smaller issuers” not subject to the lower safe harbor amount, and the changes made by the final rule for larger issuers. … Continue Reading

Our special guest is Ian Moloney, Senior Vice President and Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs with the American Fintech Council (AFC).  After reviewing how EWA products are used by consumers and the differences between employer- and provider-based products, we discuss the regulatory challenges faced by the EWA industry, the regulatory approaches states have taken to EWA, actions taken by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau related to EWA, and proposed federal legislation dealing with EWA. … Continue Reading