CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
On Wednesday, April 28, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing, “The Reemergence of Rent-a-Bank?”
In addition to Brian Brooks, the former Acting Comptroller of the Currency, the scheduled witnesses are Josh Stein, North Carolina Attorney General, Lisa Stifler, Director of State Policy, Center for Responsible Lending, Dr.… Continue Reading
After looking at CSBS’s role in the system of state financial supervision, we discuss CSBS initiatives to coordinate state licensing and supervision of multi-state non-bank companies, such as by implementing a “one company-one exam” approach and multi-state licensing program, its work on a model law for money services businesses, why CSBS opposes an OCC fintech charter for non-depository companies, and its position on the OCC/FDIC “Madden-fix” rules and OCC “true lender” rule.… Continue Reading
On April 15, 2021, the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions will hold a hearing titled, “Banking Innovation or Regulatory Evasion? Exploring Trends in Financial Institution Charters.” A topic expected to receive attention at the hearing is the OCC’s decision to accept applications for special purpose national bank charters from non-depository fintechs. … Continue Reading
Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown and Chris Van Hollen have introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the OCC’s “true lender” final rule. The rule addresses when a national bank or federal savings association should be considered the “true lender” in the context of a partnership with a third party.… Continue Reading
On January 5, 2021, the Attorneys General of New York, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and North Carolina filed a voluminous Complaint in federal district court for the Southern District of New York against the OCC and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, seeking to set aside the final “true lender” rule adopted by Acting Comptroller Brooks (the “Rule”), which became effective on December 29, 2020.… Continue Reading
On Monday and Tuesday, PLI held its two-day 25th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, which I co-chaired. During the morning session of the first day, I co-moderated two consecutive panel discussions titled “Federal Regulators Speak,” with the first panel featuring CFPB and FTC representatives and the second panel featuring OCC and FDIC representatives. … Continue Reading
The OCC has issued a final rule to address when a national bank or federal savings association should be considered the “true lender” in the context of a partnership with a third party. The final rule, adopted only 54 days after the close of the comment period, is effective 60 days after the date it is published in the Federal Register.… Continue Reading
After reviewing the legal foundation for federal preemption of state law limits on interest, we discuss the OCC’s proposed approach for determining when a bank is the “true lender” in programs with non-bank agents, our arguments in support of the proposal made in our comment letter to the OCC, key arguments made in support of or against the proposal by other commenters, the OCC’s likely next steps, and the 2020 election’s potential impact.… Continue Reading
We recently published a blog about the OCC’s proposed rule “National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders” (the “Proposed Rule”), which would clarify that a bank (or savings association) is properly regarded as the “true lender” when, as of the date of origination, it is named as the lender in a loan agreement or funds the loan. … Continue Reading
On September 3, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced that it has launched a formal investigation into whether Wheels Financial Group, LLC d/b/a LoanMart, formerly one of California’s largest state-licensed auto title lenders, “is evading California’s newly-enacted interest rate caps through its recent partnership with an out-of-state bank.” … Continue Reading
