The CFPB rescinded an advisory opinion that had described how one particular type of “earned wage” product did not involve the offering or extension of “credit” as that term is defined in the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z as Rohit Chopra’s term as director was coming to an end.… Continue Reading

Today’s podcast show features a discussion with Julie Andersen Hill about her law review article titled “Regulating Bank Reputation Risk”, 54 GA. L. Rev. 523 (2023). Professor Hill is the Dean and Wyoming Excellence Chair of the University of Wyoming College of Law.

The abstract to Professor Hill’s article does an excellent job of summarizing her thesis:

This Article surveys reputation risk guidance and enforcement efforts.… Continue Reading

Republicans on Capitol Hill are seeking to repeal a section of the Dodd-Frank Act that requires financial institutions to report information contained in loan applications submitted by women-owned, minority-owned and LGBTQI+-owned small businesses.

“My bill seeks to eliminate costly regulatory burdens on financial institutions, ensuring greater access to credit for small businesses,” House Small Business Committee Chairman Rep.… Continue Reading

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the FTC’s controversial CARS Rule, saying that the commission violated its own procedural rules by failing to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”) before publishing the rule.

“The FTC asserts that even if the Commission was required to publish an ANPRM, its failure to do so was ultimately harmless error,” two of the judges on the three-judge panel wrote.… Continue Reading

Contending that he wants to ensure that the CFPB is in line with Trump Administration policies, acting bureau Director Scott Bessent has reportedly ordered the agency to stop virtually all work.

President Trump designated Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury, to be Acting Director of the agency, after firing Director Rohit Chopra this past weekend.… Continue Reading

On January 30, 2025, the CFPB ordered Wise, an international remittance company, to pay almost $2.5 million in connection with allegations of illegal activities, including advertising inaccurate fees and failing to properly disclose exchange rates and other costs.

Pursuant to the consent order, Wise must pay approximately $450,000 in redress to harmed consumers and pay a $2.025 million civil penalty to the CFPB.… Continue Reading

Although many pundits speculated that President Trump would appoint Russell Vought as Acting Director once Vought is confirmed by the Senate to be Director of OMB, the CFPB reported today that, on January 31, Trump actually appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to be acting director. (The Federal Vacancies Reform Act authorizes the President to appoint as an acting director of a federal agency someone who has already been confirmed by the Senate for a position in another agency.)… Continue Reading

Our podcast show today features John Culhane and Mike Kilgarriff, partners in Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services group. They discuss what supervision and enforcement will look like under a new acting director/director appointed by President Trump. This episode is a repurposing of the second half of a webinar that was produced on January 6.… Continue Reading

The New York State Department of Financial Services has released a proposed rule that would regulate overdraft, non-sufficient funds (NSF), and return deposit item fees charged by banks, trust companies, savings banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions and investment companies.

Under the proposal, announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul, state-chartered banking institutions would be prohibited from charging:

  • Overdraft and NSF fees on overdrafts of less than $20.
… Continue Reading

The CFPB and the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts—a group of fifteen securitization trusts that acquire, pool, and securitize student loans—have entered into a proposed final consent judgment that, if approved, would resolve  the CFPB’s allegations that the Trusts unlawfully filed defective debt collection lawsuits to collect on private student loans.… Continue Reading