President Trump on Monday issued an Executive Order that prohibits most federal agencies from issuing proposed rules until an administration-appointed agency head reviews the regulation.

The President also imposed a hiring freeze at most federal agencies through another Executive Order.

The Executive Orders do not expressly exclude independent agencies, such as the CFPB.… Continue Reading

As the Biden Administration came to a close, the CFPB released a compendium of guidance documents issued by the bureau between October 2021 and January 2025.

“CFPB guidance documents have provided clarification on the best interpretations of the federal consumer financial laws for those tasked with enforcing them, as well as the courts,” Brian Shearer, the bureau’s assistant director in the Office of Planning & Strategy and CFPB General Counsel Seth Frotman, wrote in an introduction to the volume.… Continue Reading

The CFPB is calling on state governments to increase their focus on consumer financial protection laws.

“Enforcing consumer protection law has long been a state-federal partnership in which the states have often taken the lead,” the CFPB said, in a report that includes legislative and regulatory language that states may use.… Continue Reading

Earlier this week, the CFPB issued a proposed rule.  Among other things, the proposed rule would “forbid covered persons from including in their consumer contracts any terms or conditions that purport to waive substantive legal rights and protections” or that “reserve to the covered person the right to unilaterally amend a material term of the contract.” … Continue Reading

In today’s episode, we discuss the CFPB’s recent proposed data broker rule—a proposal that would greatly expand the reach of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

On December 3, the CFPB issued a proposed rule promoted as one that would require companies that sell data about income or financial tier, credit history, credit score or debt payments to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has published a proposed rule that would ban companies from using contract clauses that the bureau said limit fundamental freedom, including those that waive a consumer’s legal rights and fine print that suppresses speech.

“For decades, companies have slowly eroded Americans’ rights by slipping clauses into take-it-or-leave-it contracts that seek an unfair leg up by attempting to deny individuals the benefits of a free market,” the bureau said, in releasing the proposed rule.… Continue Reading

In an effort to foster innovation in financial services, the CFPB is reinstituting its programs that allow companies to obtain regulatory safe harbors through no-action letters and sandboxes to test new products and services.

The CFPB had such programs during the first Trump Administration, but the Biden Administration scrapped them, saying that they were ineffective and unfair.… Continue Reading

Borrowers with subprime or deep subprime credit scores make up the majority of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) originations, the CFPB said, in a new report.

From 2021 to 2022, borrowers with deep subprime credit scores accounted for 45% of BNPL originations, while people with subprime credit cards were responsible for 16% of originations.… Continue Reading

In a letter to President-Elect Donald Trump, the American Bankers Association and its 52 affiliates are calling for a halt to all regulatory actions affecting banks and an extension of all effective dates for final regulations impacting financial institutions.

Such a pause is needed “to ensure that the incoming teams in each of these [financial regulatory] agencies has the time and opportunity to review years of rulemaking, guidance, and other policy actions that have the effect of constraining market participants,” the 50 state banking associations and ones representing the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, wrote, in their letter.… Continue Reading

In a 37 page order, Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall in the Northern District of Illinois determined that the Illinois Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, America’s Credit Unions, and Illinois Credit Union League have standing to bring their claims challenging the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (the “IFPA”) and sovereign immunity does not apply to the federal claims.… Continue Reading