The FTC has entered a proposed consent order with Victory Media, Inc. (VMI) to settle the FTC’s charges that VMI violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by engaging in deceptive acts or practices in connection with its promotion of post-secondary schools to military veterans and servicemembers.

According to the FTC’s complaint, VMI creates advertising, marketing, and promotional content for schools that VMI disseminates through various media, such as magazines, and that targets veterans and servicemembers seeking new education and employment opportunities. … Continue Reading

In May 2017, we blogged about press reports that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had accepted a request from Senator Patrick Toomey for a determination concerning whether the CFPB Bulletin 2013-02, titled “Indirect Auto Finance and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act,” is a “rule” within the scope of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). … Continue Reading

In remarks last week at Georgetown University’s Institute of International Economic Law’s Fintech Week event, Acting OCC Comptroller Keith Noreika provided the “latest on our thinking regarding a charter for fintech companies that offer banking products and services.”

The Acting Comptroller began his remarks by expressing his “optimism about banks, fintech companies, and the business of banking as a whole.” … Continue Reading

The District of Columbia Student Loan Ombudsman Establishment and Servicing Regulation Act of 2016 (Servicing Act) became effective February 18, 2017.  The Servicing Act set an October 1 deadline for the Student Loan Ombudsman to prepare course materials to help borrowers understand their student loans and to draft a separate student loan Bill of Rights. … Continue Reading

We are pleased to report that the U.S. Senate voted last night, 51 to 50, to override the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final arbitration rule.  The rule would have prohibited the use of class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements, among other provisions.

The Senate took action pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows the House of Representatives and Senate to override a federal agency’s final rule by passing a resolution of disapproval by a simple majority vote within a specified time period following the rule’s receipt by Congress. … Continue Reading

Enough is enough!

I recognize that reasonable minds can differ with respect to whether the Senate should override the CFPB arbitration rule.  However, it is inexcusable when plaintiffs’ lawyers and consumer advocates blatantly distort the impact that the override of the arbitration rule will have on members of the military.

In a recent article urging the Senate not to override the arbitration rule, Philadelphia plaintiffs’ lawyer James Francis argued that the override would “strip away our right of access to the courts – a right that is especially important for service members.” … Continue Reading

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities issued a letter to “all persons engaged in activity regulated or licensed by the [Department] regardless of the means of delivery of such regulated financial service” which it described as intended to “reiterate[] and remind[]” such persons of its existing licensing guidance. … Continue Reading

In a scathing report released today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury concludes that the CFPB’s final arbitration rule “failed to meaningfully evaluate whether prohibiting mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts would serve either consumer protection or the public interest — its two statutory mandates.”  Moreover, according to the report, the arbitration rule will impose “extraordinary” economic costs on businesses and consumers by generating a “massive” increase in class action litigation that will not benefit consumers but will effect a “large wealth transfer” to their lawyers.… Continue Reading

In an important development in the federal court lawsuit by industry groups seeking to overturn the CFPB’s arbitration rule, the plaintiffs yesterday filed a motion for a preliminary injunction.  The motion requests entry of an order “that (1) enjoins the 180-day implementation period, which commenced on the date the Rule became effective, so that—if the Rule ultimately is upheld—plaintiffs’ members will have the full 180-day implementation period established by the Rule to come into compliance; and (2) prohibits defendants from implementing or enforcing the Arbitration Rule pending the completion of judicial review.” … Continue Reading

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has released a list of 33 companies that will serve as members of its Fintech Industry Advisory Panel.

According to the CSBS, the Advisory Panel’s purpose is “to support state regulators’ increased efforts to engage with financial services companies involved in fintech.”  More specifically, over the next twelve months, Advisory Panel members will participate in at least two in-person meetings with members of the CSBS Emerging Payments and Innovation Task Force and other state banking commissioners “to identify actionable steps for improving state licensing, regulation, and non-depository supervision and for supporting innovation in financial services.” … Continue Reading