consumer protection

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On September 10, 2026, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP or Bureau) announced a new BCP Rule Guidance Program (Program) that gives businesses, trade associations, and other stakeholders a new mechanism for bringing problems with FTC rules directly to the Bureau’s attention. The program invites submissions identifying genuine ambiguities in FTC rules, substantive conflicts between an FTC rule and an existing statute or another FTC rule, and other significant problems with the FTC rules.… Continue Reading

On September 1, 2026, Ballard Spahr (through its representative, Adam Maarec), in response to an invitation from the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC or Committee), attended a roundtable at the U.S. Capitol focused on the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The discussion, “Modernizing Consumer Financial Protection: Reform, Accountability, and Opportunity,” featured House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr, Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Lindsey Johnson, and Financial Technology Association President and CEO Penny Lee, with opening remarks from former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger.… Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken a major step toward dismantling two theories of discrimination.

In a new Policy Statement Regarding Disparate-Impact Claims and “Unfair Discrimination” Claims, the FTC announces that it will no longer pursue disparate-impact claims under the FTC Act or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). Just as significantly, although less prominently emphasized in the Policy Statement, the FTC has now repudiated its position that the “unfairness” prong of Section 5 of the FTC Act independently authorizes the Commission to pursue discrimination claims.… Continue Reading

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

In this episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, host Alan Kaplinsky (founder, former chair for 25 years and now Senior Counsel) had the pleasure of speaking with Sam Levine, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), about the agency’s evolving role as one of the most active local consumer protection regulators in the country.… Continue Reading

We were honored to host former New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin on our live webinar on January 17, 2025 where I conducted a “fireside chat” with him that, because of its popularity, was later repurposed on our weekly podcast show, Consumer Finance Monitor. At that time, Matt spoke passionately about the evolving landscape of consumer protection and how his office was preparing to fill the anticipated gap left by efforts to scale back the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).… Continue Reading

Effective October 29, 2025, the CFPB finalized its rule, published at 90 Fed. Reg. 48737-60, rescinding certain amendments to the rules made on February 22, 2022 (prior blog) and on March 29, 2023 (prior blog) (collectively, the 2022 and 2023 amendments).

Under Section 1053(e) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the CFPB is authorized to prescribe rules for hearings and adjudication proceedings.… Continue Reading

On October 29, 2025, CFPB withdrew its proposed rule titled Registry of Supervised Nonbanks That Use Form Contracts To Impose Terms and Conditions That Seek To Waive or Limit Consumer Legal Protections, which was published on February 1, 2023. The proposed rule would have required nonbanks to submit annual reports on the terms and conditions in their form contracts and on related court or arbitrator decisions on the enforceability of those terms and conditions.… Continue Reading

In this episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, Ballard Spahr partners Mike Kilgarriff and Joseph Schuster break down the seismic shifts in consumer financial regulation following the dramatic changes at the CFPB. With the Bureau’s enforcement and supervisory activities on hold, state attorneys general are stepping in to fill the regulatory void.… Continue Reading

Minnesota becomes the latest state to move to pass legislation regulating the processing and controlling of personal data (HF 4757 / SF 4782). If signed into law by Governor Tim Walz, the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act, or MCDPA, would go into effect on July 31, 2025 and provide various consumer data privacy rights and impose obligations on entities that control or process Minnesota residents’ personal data.… Continue Reading