The White House has announced the launch of GOLD EAGLE, a new artificial intelligence-powered cybersecurity clearinghouse intended to accelerate the identification, verification, prioritization, and remediation of software vulnerabilities across both the public and private sectors. According to the White House announcement, the initiative is designed to leverage frontier AI capabilities to identify cyber vulnerabilities more quickly than existing methods while reducing duplicative scanning efforts and providing actionable remediation information to government agencies and private-sector organizations.… Continue Reading
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast: Agentic Commerce Is Coming—Will the Legal System Be Ready?
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving from a tool that assists human decision-making into technology capable of acting independently. The next frontier, often referred to as agentic AI or agentic commerce, envisions AI agents negotiating contracts, making purchases, authorizing payments, and completing commercial transactions with little or no human intervention.
While enormous investments are being made to develop this technology, far less attention has been devoted to an equally important question: What legal infrastructure will govern autonomous commercial transactions?… Continue Reading
FTC Takes Aim at AI Accuracy
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a proposed policy statement that could reshape how financial services firms use AI-powered tools. The proposed statement, titled “Proposed Policy Statement Concerning the Suppression of Accuracy in Artificial Intelligence Systems,” puts AI developers on notice that altering AI outputs away from accuracy, even if done to comply with a state law, may constitute consumer deception under Section 5 of the FTC Act.… Continue Reading
Your First AI Policy: Six Burning Issues for Every Growing Business to Consider Before You Scale
AI is already part of everyday work at growing companies. Employees use it to draft emails, summarize documents, generate marketing copy, assist with coding, and prepare meeting notes. In some organizations, that adoption has happened informally. The tools arrived first, and internal rules are still playing catch-up.
That sequence may create problems.… Continue Reading
Today’s podcast episode: Fireside Chat with Simon Taylor and Adam Maarec
In this episode, Adam Maarec sits down with fintech thought leader Simon Taylor for a lively fireside chat focused on the rapidly evolving world of fintech, payments, and banking innovation. Adam, an experienced legal and regulatory advisor in financial services, and Simon, widely recognized for his writing, podcasts, and advisory work with fintechs, banks, VCs, and regulators, delve into some of the most relevant challenges and opportunities shaping the industry today.… Continue Reading
Today’s Podcast Episode: AI Liability Comes Into Focus: A Conversation with Mark Geistfeld on the ALI’s Civil Liability Principles Project
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming consumer financial services and countless other industries. As AI systems become more autonomous, adaptive, and deeply integrated into commercial decision-making, courts, regulators, and industry participants are increasingly confronting a critical question: when AI causes harm, who should be held responsible?
In our latest episode of our award-winning, weekly Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, our host Alan Kaplinsky (the founder, Chair for 25 years, and now Senior Counsel of our Consumer Financial Services at Ballard Spahr LLP) had the pleasure of speaking with Mark Geistfeld, the Sheila Lubetsky Birnbaum Professor of Civil Litigation at New York University School of Law and the reporter for the American Law Institute’s groundbreaking new project, Principles of the Law, Civil Liability for Artificial Intelligence.… Continue Reading
Thursday’s podcast episode: CFPB Finalizes Sweeping ECOA Rule Changes: What Lenders Need to Know About Disparate Impact, Discouragement, and SPCPs
Today’s episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast features a wide-ranging and timely discussion about one of the most consequential fair lending developments in years: the CFPB’s final rule fundamentally reshaping enforcement under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B.
Hosted by Alan Kaplinsky (the Founder, Chair for 25 years and now Senior Counsel of the Consumer Financial Services Group at Ballard Spahr, LLP), the episode brings together an exceptional panel of fair lending authorities: our special guest Bradley Blower (the Principal and Founder of Inclusive-Partners LLC) along with John Culhane, Jr.,… Continue Reading
Today’s podcast episode: White House Executive Order on Scams and Fraud Takes Center Stage
Today, we released a new episode of the award-winning Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast examining one of the most significant recent federal developments in the fight against scams and fraud: Executive Order 14390.
Hosted by Alan Kaplinsky (the founder, chair for 25 years and now Senior Counsel in the Consumer Financial Services Group), the episode features returning guests Kate Griffin and Nick Bourke of the Aspen Institute, who previously joined the podcast to discuss Aspen’s landmark report, United We Stand: A National Strategy to Prevent Scams.… Continue Reading
Maryland Targets “Surveillance Pricing” Is It a Warning Shot for AI-Driven Pricing Across Industries, Including Consumer Financial Services
On April 28, 2026, Governor Wes Moore of Maryland has signed into law the nation’s most aggressive state law aimed at so-called “surveillance pricing” and algorithmic price-setting. House Bill 895, titled the Protection From Predatory Pricing Act, will become effective on October 1, 2026. It restricts the use of personalized pricing, consumer data-driven pricing, and certain AI-enabled pricing practices, particularly in the food retail (operating establishments of at least 15,000 square feet) and delivery sectors.… Continue Reading
Today’s podcast episode: Agentic AI in Consumer Financial Services: Opportunities, Risks, and Emerging Legal Frameworks
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the consumer financial services industry. From underwriting and fraud detection to customer engagement and collections, financial institutions are increasingly deploying advanced AI tools to automate processes, personalize services, and improve operational efficiency. We are releasing today, on our Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast show, a discussion of what may be the next major technological shift for the industry: Agentic AI in Consumer Financial Services — AI systems capable of acting autonomously, making decisions, and interacting directly with consumers.… Continue Reading