COVID-19

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The CFPB has issued “Supervisory Highlights COVID-19 Prioritized Assessments Special Edition.”

The report indicates that in May 2020, the Bureau rescheduled about half of its planned examinations and instead conducted prioritized assessments (PAs) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Bureau describes PAs as “higher-level inquiries than traditional examinations [that are] designed to obtain real-time information from a broad group of supervised entities that operate in markets posing elevated risk of consumer harm due to pandemic-related issues.” … Continue Reading

Among the unfortunate consequences of the pandemic has been COVID-19-related scams targeting businesses and consumers.  As real-time payments (RTP) become more popular in the U.S., fraudsters can be expected to increasingly engage in fraudulent RTP transactions.

A new article titled “The Effect of COVID-19 on Real-Time Payments” written by Ballard Spahr Of Counsel Judy Mok and Amy Schwartz and published in the Banking & Financial Services Policy Report discusses the new RTP system, the benefits of RTP, the potential for fraud in connection with RTP, and the laws that may bear on loss allocation.… Continue Reading

We are joined by Kelly Cochran, formerly with the CFPB and now Deputy Director of FinRegLab, a non-profit focused on the use of data and technology in financial services.  We examine credit reporting, credit scoring, and underwriting issues arising from the pandemic and CARES Act requirements, including the use of comment codes by furnishers and the treatment of forbearance-related information by creditors, and that are likely to arise in the transition from short-term forbearances to long-term arrangements. … Continue Reading

On August 8, 2020, President Trump signed four executive orders that are designed to provide additional COVID-19 relief as talks on Capitol Hill collapsed on August 7 between White House negotiators and Democratic leaders over a fifth coronavirus stimulus package. One of those actions, which is directed to the Secretary of Education in the form of a memorandum (the “Memorandum”), continues student loan payment relief during the COVID-19 crisis for certain federal student loans held by the Department of Education.… Continue Reading

On August 3, 2020, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”) issued a joint statement to provide prudent risk management and consumer protection principles for financial institutions to consider when working with borrowers as consumer and business loans near the end of initial loan accommodation periods during the coronavirus pandemic. The guidance notes that the principles outlined in the joint statement apply to both commercial and retail loan accommodations and are consistent with the Interagency Guidelines Establishing Standards for Safety and Soundness.… Continue Reading

On July 16, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an updated 2020 Complaint Bulletin and again focused on complaints related to COVID-19.

The Complaint Bulletin reflects 2020 consumer complaint data through June 15, 2020, and focuses on complaints filed through May 31, 2020 that mention COVID-19 keywords. Of the 187,547 complaints received in 2020, 8,357 included a COVID-19 keyword.… Continue Reading

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) just issued another Advisory pertaining to two consumer fraud schemes exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  This Advisory focuses on “imposter schemes” and “money mule schemes, ”which we discuss below.

This most recent Advisory is the latest in a string of pronouncements relating to the pandemic by FinCEN, which has stated that it regularly will issue such documents. … Continue Reading

The CFPB issued ten FAQs for industry that address the CARES Act’s credit reporting requirements and other COVID-19-related credit reporting issues.

Several of the FAQs discuss the Bureau’s Policy Statement issued in April 2020 concerning COVID-19 considerations relevant to how the Bureau will exercise its supervisory and enforcement authority regarding FCRA and Regulation V compliance, especially in light of the CARES Act. … Continue Reading

In Part I of our two-part podcast, we discuss the following topics with Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Malini Mithal, Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Financial Practices: the FTC’s response to COVID-19, important recent FTC enforcement actions and priorities going forward, Director Smith’s recent blog post on using artificial intelligence and algorithms, and recent FTC activity involving fintech and small business lending.… Continue Reading

As the federal regulator with supervisory authority over (non-Federal Reserve member) state banks and savings associations, the FDIC continues to play an important role in the consumer protection arena.  On June 30, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. ET, PLI will offer a one-hour briefing, “Consumer Protection: What’s Happening at the FDIC.”  Leonard Chanin, Deputy to the FDIC Chairman, will discuss a wide range of topics with Alan Kaplinsky and Chris Willis, leaders of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group.… Continue Reading