After reviewing how the CFPB has used its abusiveness authority, we look at why such authority has created industry concern, consider implications of the CFPB’s decision to forego rulemaking, discuss the policy statement’s three parts and likely practical impact on the CFPB’s behavior and industry’s assessment of risk, and examine continuing industry concerns about the Bureau’s unfairness and deceptiveness authority.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued its Fall 2019 Semi-Annual Report to Congress covering the period April 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019.

The report represents the CFPB’s third semi-annual report under Director Kraninger’s leadership and continues the practice of the prior two reports of not providing aggregate numbers for how much consumers obtained in consumer relief and how much was assessed in civil money penalties in supervisory and enforcement actions during the period covered by the report.… Continue Reading

PLI’s 25th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute will take place on March 23-24, 2020, in New York City (and by live webcast and groupcast in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and New Brunswick, New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; and Atlanta, Georgia); on May 18-19, 2020, in Chicago; and on December 7-8, 2020 in San Francisco (and by live webcast).… Continue Reading

On Wednesday, February 5, the House Financial Services Committee will hold the first part of a two-part hearing on “rent-a-bank” structures. The hearing is titled “Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps.”  (Part Two is scheduled for February 26.)

The Committee Memorandum for Part One discusses the relevant case law, including Marquette and Madden, and the OCC’s and FDIC’s proposals to undo Madden. … Continue Reading

After denying the defendants’ petitions for panel and en banc rehearing in the Blair v. Rent-a-Center appeals, the Ninth Circuit has granted their motions to stay the issuance of the Court’s mandates for 90 days pending the filing of petitions for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. If petitions for certiorari are filed, the stays will continue until final disposition by the Supreme Court.… Continue Reading

The CFPB announced that the following individuals have joined its executive team:

  • Susan M. Bernard will serve as Assistant Director for Regulations in the Research, Markets and Regulation Division.  Before joining the Bureau, she served as the Director of the Office of Regulations and Policy in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S.
… Continue Reading

We are joined by Diego Zuluaga, a Cato Institute policy analyst, for a discussion of the proposed changes.  After reviewing the current regulatory framework, we examine the proposal’s new qualifying activities criteria and approach to “branchless banking” in determining assessment areas, respond to criticism of its approach to public projects, look at the small bank opt-out and what in the proposal should be revisited, and consider the impact of the Fed’s non-participation.… Continue Reading

The Student Borrower Protection Center has sent a letter to CFPB Director Kraninger urging her to designate the National Student Clearinghouse as a “consumer reporting agency,” supervise it as a “larger participant,” and add it to the CFPB’s public list of CRAs.  The letter is signed by Seth Frotman, who formerly served as the CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman and currently serves as the Center’s Executive Director.… Continue Reading

One of the most important areas of consumer financial regulation today is the use of internet- or social media-based platforms to target advertising for consumer financial products.  Its importance stems from the fact that financial services companies can obtain significant benefits from directing advertising to those consumers most likely to be interested in a product, and to be able to qualify for it. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a policy statement to clarify the Dodd-Frank Act’s abusiveness standard.  The policy statement, which is applicable as of January 24, 2020, states that it describes “certain aspects of how [the Bureau] intends to approach its use of the abusiveness standard in its supervision and enforcement matters going forward.”… Continue Reading