Regulatory and Enforcement

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On April 9, 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on credit card competition. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) requested testimony at the hearing from the following Chief Executive Officers who have publicly opposed his Credit Card Competition Act: Ryan McInerney (Visa), Michael Miebach (Mastercard), Scott Kirby (United Airlines), and Robert Isom (American Airlines).… Continue Reading

The American Bankers Association (ABA) has issued a new white paper, “Effective Agency Guidance: Examining Bank Regulators’ Guidance Practices,” that is intended to help agencies issue guidance that complies with legal requirements while providing useful advice and information to regulated entities.  The ABA also sent letters to the FDIC and CFPB in which the white paper serves as the foundation for comments on recently-issued guidance that the ABA believes would benefit from public input.… Continue Reading

On February 8, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized its plan to ban robocalls that feature voices generated by artificial intelligence, aiming to stem the tide of AI-generated scams and misinformation campaigns. 

The FCC’s declaratory ruling formalized its position that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)—specifically, the provision prohibiting the initiation of calls “using an artificial prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party”—applies to the use of AI-generated voices. … Continue Reading

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recently issued a statement of principles related to valuation discrimination and bias for member entities to consider in their consumer compliance and safety and soundness examinations. The member entities of the FFIEC are the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve Board, National Credit Union Administration and the FFIEC State Liaison Committee.… Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently entered into proposed stipulations with a group of student loan debt relief providers to resolve allegations that the group conducted deceptive marketing and sales practices in collecting over $8 million in “junk fees” for nonexistent debt relief services.

Last August, the FTC filed a complaint against Express Enrollment LLC (d/b/a SLFD Processing), Intercontinental Solutions LLC (d/b/a Apex Doc Processing LLC), and their operators Marco Manzi, Ivan Esquivel, and Robert Kissinger alleging violations of the unfair or deceptive acts or practices (“UDAP”) prohibitions of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act , the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”), and Section 521 of the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, which prohibits obtaining a person’s financial information by making false statements, in connection with their deceptive marketing and sale of student loan debt relief services.… Continue Reading

On February 2, 2024, three Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) Chair Martin Gruenberg expressing concern regarding what the congressmen perceive to be the FDIC’s attempts to reduce engagement with industry participants on financial technology and innovation. The letter was sent by the Committee Chairman, Patrick McHenry, the Chairman of the Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee, Andy Barr, and the Chairman of the Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee, French Hill.… Continue Reading

In January 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed two new rules: one restricting overdraft fees and the other prohibiting nonsufficient funds fees on certain declined transactions.  The proposals are the CFPB’s latest moves in furtherance of the Biden Administration’s “junk fees” agenda.  They represent a particularly aggressive use by the CFPB of its regulatory authorities with potentially significant implications.… Continue Reading

The American Fintech Council (AFC), a trade group whose members include providers of earned wage access (EWA) products, has sent a letter to Director Chopra urging the CFPB to take steps towards development of a “pragmatic regulatory approach” for regulating EWA products. 

In its letter, AFC discusses the “patchwork approach” to regulating EWA products that is emerging at the state level.  … Continue Reading

Patrick McHenry, the Republican Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and two other Republican Committee members have sent a letter to Director Chopra regarding the CFPB’s proposed rule to supervise nonbank companies that qualify as larger participants in a market for “general-use digital consumer payment applications.” 

The proposal is based on the CFPB’s authority to supervise nonbank entities considered to be “a larger participant of a market for other consumer financial products or services.” … Continue Reading

In October 2023, the CFPB issued a groundbreaking proposal on personal financial data.  This episode, which repurposes a webinar, begins with a review of the background of the rulemaking.  We then discuss key provisions of the proposal, including the entities, data, and financial products and services that would be covered, the obligations that would be imposed on covered entities, and exceptions to the proposal’s requirements. … Continue Reading