The OCC announced that its Office of Innovation will host office hours for national banks, federal savings associations, and financial technology (fintech) companies from July 24 through July 26, 2017 at the OCC’s district office in New York City.  According to the OCC, the office hours are intended to “provide an opportunity for meetings with OCC officials to discuss financial technology, new products or services, partnering with a bank or fintech company, or other matters related to financial innovation.”… Continue Reading

The White House announced that President Trump intends to nominate James Clinger to be a FDIC member for a six-year term and to be Chairperson for a five-year term, effective November 29, 2017 when the current FDIC chairperson’s term ends.  Mr. Clinger’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

According to the White House announcement, Mr.… Continue Reading

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum in which he prohibited DOJ attorneys from entering into settlement agreements on behalf of the United States that require a payment or loan to any non-governmental person or entity that is not a party to the dispute.  The AG’s press release explained that the directive was intended to end the use of settlement funds to “to bankroll third party special interest groups or the political friends of whoever is in power.”… Continue Reading

The CFPB will hold a public event on June 22, 2017 in Raleigh, N.C. about student loan servicing. The CFPB’s announcement provides no description other than that the event will feature remarks from Director Cordray and North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.

The CFPB may be labeling the event a “public event” rather than a “field hearing” because it is not inviting “witnesses” to provide “testimony” as it typically does for field hearings. … Continue Reading

In an unusual turn-about, the U.S. Justice Department has reconsidered its earlier position in a set of closely watched arbitration cases that the Supreme Court will decide next term and filed an amicus brief supporting the use of class action waivers in employment agreements.

Previously, under the Obama administration, the DOJ had sided with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in arguing that federal labor statutes prohibit employers from including such waivers in their employees’ contracts. … Continue Reading

The report issued earlier this week by the U.S. Treasury Department to President Trump in response to his February 2017 Executive Order 13772, “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities-Banks and Credit Unions,” recommends numerous CFPB changes.

Entitled “Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System,” the Executive Order was a high-level policy statement consisting of a series of Core Principles designed to inform the manner in which the Trump Administration regulates the financial system. … Continue Reading

In a notice published in today’s Federal Register, the Dept. of Education announced that it is postponing  “until further notice” the July 1, 2017 effective date of various provisions of the “borrower defense” final rule issued by the ED last November, including the rule’s ban on arbitration agreements.  In a second notice also published in today’s Federal Register, the ED announced that it plans to establish two negotiated rulemaking committees, with one committee to develop proposed regulations to revise the “borrower defense” rule and the other to develop proposed revisions to the “gainful employment” rule that became effective in July 2015 and includes requirements for schools to make various disclosures such as graduation rates, earnings of graduates, and student debt amounts.… Continue Reading

On June 7, the CFPB submitted a Rule 28(j) letter to the D.C. Circuit in the PHH case.  In the letter, the CFPB embraced the fact that the Supreme Court’s recent Kokesh v. SEC decision makes the five-year statute of limitations in 28 USC § 2462 applicable to disgorgement remedies in CFPB administrative proceedings. … Continue Reading

The CFPB recently announced that it has entered into a consent order with Fay Servicing, LLC (“Fay”) to settle alleged mortgage servicing violations.  A copy of the consent order can be found here.  As is typical for CFPB enforcement activity in the mortgage servicing space, the focus of this consent order is alleged misconduct in connection with loss mitigation procedures and foreclosure protections.… Continue Reading

An Illinois federal judge ordered Dish Network to pay the federal government $168 million for violating the FTC’s Telephone Sales Rule (“TSR”).  The judgment is the largest civil penalty ever obtained for a violation of the TSR.  The remainder of the civil penalty was awarded to the states of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and various state statutes. … Continue Reading