Hot Issues

Subscribe to Hot Issues via RSS

The official launch of the CFPB’s nonbank supervision program was the subject of a blog post by Peggy Twohig, the CFPB’s Associate Director for Nonbank Supervision, and Steve Antonakes, Associate Director for Large Bank Supervision. While much of the post rehashes comments made by Richard Cordray following his recess appointment as Director, a few items strike us as noteworthy.… Continue Reading

Now that it has a director, the CFPB will waste no time in beginning to exercise its authority to regulate mortgage originators and servicers and payday and student lenders. That’s the message Richard Corday began delivering yesterday following his appointment as CFPB Director. The Dodd-Frank Act gave the CFPB the authority to make rules for and examine these non-bank companies regardless of their size.… Continue Reading

The Internet is alive with the breaking news that President Obama has decided to make a “recess appointment” to name Richard Cordray as the Director of the CFPB.  Unless the appointment is successfully challenged, this move would open up a whole range of powers to the Bureau, including the power to regulate non-bank players and the authority to act under the “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act.… Continue Reading

According to an article appearing last week in The Hill, consumer groups are urging President Obama to end-run the Senate’s failure to confirm his nominee for Director of the CFPB, Richard Cordray, by using the presidential recess appointment power. The exercise of such a power has been made problematic by the use of “pro forma” sessions in the House to keep Congress in session and avoid any period in which there is a recess.… Continue Reading

I share much of Chris’ reaction to the Bureau’s prototype cardholder agreement. The Bureau staff has labored mightily and has managed to produce an agreement that is six-(not two) pages of material. In considering the Bureau’s success or lack of success in producing a short cardholder agreement, it is important to note that the Bureau’s draft utterly fails to comply with the increasingly elaborate and complex regulatory requirements that have contributed greatly over the years to the length and complexity of cardholder agreements.… Continue Reading

On December 7, 2011, the CFPB released its “prototype” credit card agreement, cautioning that it is “not a model form” and that its use is “not mandatory.”  Although the prototype agreement is being referred to as a “2-page agreement,” it incorporates a series of definitions by reference that comprise a further 4 pages of text. … Continue Reading

On November 30, 2011, the CFPB released its interim report on credit card complaints, including some statistics about the complaints, and the conclusions it has drawn from the 5,000 credit card complaints it received since July 21.

One of the most striking things about the data is how little it seems to relate to the CFPB’s regulatory and enforcement functions. … Continue Reading

The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that may require the CFPB to re-write part of its recently-released Mortgage Servicing Examination Procedures. Magner v. Gallagher raises the issue of whether disparate impact claims are even cognizable under the Fair Housing Act, and will require the Supreme Court to decide that issue in the context of deferring (or not deferring) to a long-standing HUD interpretation of that Act to allow disparate impact claims.… Continue Reading

The CFPB’s announcement that it will institute an “Early Warning Notice” process has generally been welcomed in the financial community as an opportunity for pre-litigation communications with the Office of Enforcement. The process, described in CFPB Bulletin 2011-08 [Enforcement] which includes a sample advance notice letter, appears to virtually mirror the SEC’s well-established Wells notice.… Continue Reading

The web has been abuzz about the letter that Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D. Il) and Jack Reed (D. RI) of the Banking Committee rather publicly sent to Raj Date last Thursday.   Purportedly out of concern that banks will try to “sneak fees past” consumers after having mostly abandoned the monthly debit card fee program, Senators Durbin and Reed “urge[d]” the CFPB to “swiftly require financial institutions to post on their websites a standardized, concise and consumer-friendly disclosure form that lists the fees and key terms associated with checking accounts.”… Continue Reading