Alan Kaplinsky, Founder and former chair of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group and founder, and host, of the award-winning Consumer Finance Monitor blog and weekly podcast, recently joined LexBlog’s Real Lawyers podcast hosted by Kevin O’Keefe. This is Alan’s second time on the program, which covers the role of publishing in the legal profession.… Continue Reading

The CFPB is proposing major changes to its final rule that would require financial institutions to report information contained in loan applications submitted by small businesses, including women-owned and minority-owned small businesses.

The rule is better known as the “Section 1071 rule” after the section of the Dodd-Frank Act that required the CFPB to adopt it.… Continue Reading

The legislation reopening the government signed by President Trump, H.R. 5731, also reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until January 30, 2026, the same day the spending measure lapses. The reauthorization is retroactive to October 1 the beginning of the fiscal year and the day the NFIP authorization expired.

Once again, the short-term reauthorization was included in a short-term spending bill, since Congress has been unable to pass a comprehensive NFIP reauthorization bill.… Continue Reading

Today’s episode marks the first of a two-part series, with Part Two scheduled for release on November 20th. In this installment, we examine the sweeping changes in fair lending policy and enforcement under the second Trump administration.

The discussion is moderated by Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel, founder and former chair for 25 years of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group, and features these distinguished experts in the field:

  • Bradley Blower, Founder of Inclusive Partners LLC.
… Continue Reading

The CFPB is running out of money and has no legal way to replenish its coffers, absent Congressional appropriation, the Trump Administration told a federal court.

The bureau “anticipates exhausting its currently available funds in early 2026,” the Justice Department told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of a lawsuit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).… Continue Reading

The FDIC has announced that its Consumer Compliance Examination Manual has been revised to reflect an updated examination schedule for financial institutions. As a result, agency consumer compliance examinations and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluations will occur less frequently for most institutions, according to the FDIC.

Institutions will generally be on an examination cycle of 66-78 months, 54-66 months, or 24-36 months, depending on the asset size of the institution and its Consumer Compliance Rating.… Continue Reading

The quality of the CFPB’s information security program “has decreased since last year, leading us to conclude the program no longer is effective,” the bureau’s Inspector General (IG), said in a report.

The bureau’s overall security program has decreased from “manageable and measurable” to “defined,” the IG said in an annual audit conducted between April 2025 and October 2025, which is only one step above the lowest security rating.… Continue Reading

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Gould is vowing that his agency will take a variety of steps to promote federal preemption, Law360 reported.

Speaking as part of a fireside chat at the Clearing House’s annual conference, Gould said that defending preemption will require rebuilding its political legitimacy, the news service reported.… Continue Reading

Today’s podcast features the second part of a recent webinar produced on September 24, 2025, titled: “A New Era for Banking: What President Trump’s Debanking Executive Order and Related State Laws Mean for Financial Institutions, Government, and Banking Customers.”

In Part 2, we discuss the following topics:

  1. What are the areas of uncertainty with respect to the Executive Order, including: 
    • Defining an “unlawful business” or “religion” and why those definitions are important.
… Continue Reading

The Trump Administration has declined to respond to a Supreme Court petition by the two ousted Democratic NCUA board members who are asking for the court to consider their case.

“The Government hereby waives its right to file a response to the petition in this case, unless requested to do so by the Court,” Solicitor General D.… Continue Reading