Today’s episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor podcast is centered around a novel and thought-provoking article by David Horton, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. The article, titled “Do Arbitrators Follow the Law? Evidence from Clause Construction, “dives into the intriguing question of whether arbitrators render decisions that align with judicial rulings.… Continue Reading

An earned wage access (EWA) law has gone into effect in Louisiana. The legislation, passed earlier this year, became law without the signature of Gov. Jeff Landry.

The legislation’s sponsor, state Rep. Vinney St. Blanc told the Louisiana Radio Network that if you’re a health care provider or a nurse and your child breaks his arm, “I have something.… Continue Reading

On August 8, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued four advance notices of proposed rulemaking (“ANPR”) inviting comments on whether it should substantially reduce the number of nonbank companies the CFPB supervises in the auto finance, international money transfer, debt collection, and consumer credit reporting markets. An agency spokesperson told Law 360, “As part of President Trump’s overhaul of this abusive agency, ‘Larger Participant’ regulations are open for re-examining after more than a decade.… Continue Reading

Federal banking regulators have issued a joint statement in an effort to provide clarity on banks’ engagement in crypto-asset related activities.

The statement does not create any new supervisory requirements but warns financial institutions that they must be particularly diligent in dealing with crypto-asset safekeeping.

“Given the virtual nature of crypto-assets, and the potentially increased operational risks associated with crypto-asset safekeeping, a banking organization’s cybersecurity environment should be a key focus of risk management,” the agencies said.… Continue Reading

The recent American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators Annual Conference included a presentation highlighting the rising use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the Financial Services industry. As this will clearly be an ongoing focus of all regulators, not just residential mortgage regulators, we thought a short summary of the presentation, and some or our reactions to the presentation, might be of interest.… Continue Reading

A federal judge has dismissed a high-profile case involving allegations that a home appraiser was racially biased in his appraisal.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that Nathan Connolly and the estate of Shani Mott, who passed away in March of 2024, failed to provide an appraisal expert to support their claims against Shane Lanham and his company, 20/20 Valuations, LLC.… Continue Reading

The Trump Administration can, among other things, resume plans to begin firing more than 1,400 employees at the CFPB, two judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled last Friday.

In a 2-1 majority opinion, the D.C. Circuit dissolved a preliminary injunction issued by District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson.… Continue Reading

Today on our podcast, we’re releasing a repurposed recording of our July 23, 2025, webinar titled “Student Lending Legislation and Litigation: 2025 Mid-Year Review.”

The webinar features esteemed partners John Culhane and Tom Burke, who dive into the intricacies of student lending litigation and regulatory developments. As a senior partner in the Consumer Financial Services Group, John Culhane shares his extensive knowledge on higher education finance, focusing on state legislation and private student loan litigation.… Continue Reading

As we previously reported, on August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “EO”) titled “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans” which, among other things, seeks to prohibit depository institutions and other companies from discriminating against potential and existing customers of any and all banking and other consumer financial services products and services (not just loans or extensions of credit) based on their political or religious beliefs or their conducting businesses as long as they are lawful.… Continue Reading

The FHFA has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals for consideration of cryptocurrency as an asset for reserves in their single-family risk assessments, without a conversion to dollars.

“Cryptocurrency is an emerging asset class that may offer an opportunity to build wealth outside of the stock and bond markets,” FHFA Director William J.… Continue Reading