There are widespread expectations that the Supreme Court, following an oral argument last week, may rule that part of the law that created the CFPB is unconstitutional. As a result, many business executives, in particular, have been asking their lawyers about the likely impact of such a ruling. These questions have included ones like: Could
Financial
Fintech Company Avoids Murky Regulatory Landscape by being the First U.S. Fintech Company to Acquire a Regulated Bank
For the first time, a U.S. fintech company is acquiring a regulated U.S. bank, which will give it access to a stable and cheaper source of funding – as well as a national bank charter.
On February 18th, LendingClub, one of the largest providers of personal loans in the U.S., announced that it will pay…
FINRA 2.0: FINRA Releases Its 2020 Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities
FINRA’s examination program has undergone its most significant reorganization in decades. As stated in a press release, Oct. 1, 2018, FINRA’s goal for the reorganization was to “consolidate its Examination and Risk Monitoring Programs, integrating three separate programs into a single, unified program to drive more effective oversight and greater consistency, eliminate duplication and…
SEC 2020 National Exam Program Examination Priorities
On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released its 2020 examination priorities. OCIE is prioritizing practices, products, and services that it believes present heightened risks to investors or market integrity. The examination priorities are organized around seven themes, many of which build on OCIE’s priorities…
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same –Joint Statement by FINRA and the SEC on the Customer Protection Rule and Digital Asset Securities
On Monday, July 8th, FINRA and the SEC took the unusual step of issuing a joint statement on broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities. In doing so, the Staffs of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets and of FINRA’s Office of General Counsel made clear that the SEC and FINRA will continue to apply…
SEC 2019 Fintech Forum
Members of the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“FinHub”) and experts in Fintech came together on May 31st for the SEC’s public forum focusing on distributed ledger technology and digital assets. As a whole, the panelists grappled with the challenge of regulating an emerging technology that does not fit neatly within the…
The CFPB’s Debt-Collection Proposal: Key Details and Webinar
This post follows up on our earlier “primer” and flash alert on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule (the proposal) to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which the CFPB released with a Fact Sheet and a Table of Contents to the proposal. Below, we describe key details of the proposal, and provide further…
Court Refuses to Dismiss Claim Based on Allegations that a Real Estate Marketing Company’s Co-Marketing Program Violated RESPA’s Anti-Kickback Provision
A federal district court recently refused to dismiss a complaint alleging that a real estate marketing company operated its “co-marketing program” among real-estate agents and mortgage lenders in a manner that violated the anti-kickback provision of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”). In particular, the court concluded that plaintiffs in the case had plausibly…
New York Launches New Consumer Protection and Financial Enforcement Division
On April 29, the New York Department of Financial Services (NY DFS)—the state’s principal banking and insurance regulator—announced that it is creating a new Consumer Protection and Financial Enforcement (CPFE) division. The new division, described by commentators as a state-level version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), or “mini CFPB,” will have responsibility…
Primer on the CFPB’s Imminent Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Rule Proposal
As soon as next week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected to propose the first substantive regulations under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) since the law’s enactment in 1977. This rulemaking has the potential to substantially clarify and modernize many of the FDCPA’s requirements, with important implications not only for debt…