On March 1, and despite recent policy shifts under the new administration, the CFPB sent a letter to the judge overseeing its lawsuit against a fintech lender in the United States District Court for the Southern District of...more
On February 26, the FDIC withdrew its amicus brief in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals challenging Colorado’s 2023 opt-out law which aimed to restricting higher-cost online lending. The FDIC’s decision follows a shift in the...more
3/3/2025
/ Depository Institutions ,
DIDMCA ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
True Lender
In an order issued in January and made public on February 24, a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted class certification to consumers alleging a fintech lender’s loan...more
3/3/2025
/ California ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Lenders ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On February 25, a federal judge in the United District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky approved a joint motion between the CFPB and banking trade groups to pause litigation over the agency’s 1033 open banking rule....more
On February 23, the CFPB filed a joint stipulation in the United District Court for the Central District of California to dismiss its lawsuit against an online lending platform. The lawsuit, originally filed in May 2024,...more
On February 8, the CFPB requested a 90 day stay in a lawsuit filed by a major tech company challenging the agency’s risk-based supervision order. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,...more
The FDIC will shift its focus and priorities under the leadership of its new Acting Chairman, Travis Hill. In a statement released on January 20, 2025, Chairman Hill signaled a potential departure from some of the initiatives...more
On January 14, 2025, the American Fintech Council (AFC) submitted a letter to the Ohio Department of Financial Institutions, urging it to re-examine its recent guidance on responsible bank partnerships and provide more...more
On January 2, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed an interpretive rule under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E to clarify how emerging payment systems, such as those used in...more
On January 3, 2025, the CFPB announced a reboot of its no-action letter and compliance assistance sandbox policy, aimed at promoting consumer-beneficial innovation in financial services. The new policies are designed to...more
On December 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ), at the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) referral, filed an amended complaint against an online cash advance provider. The complaint now names the company’s CEO as a defendant,...more
1/6/2025
/ Amended Complaints ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Marking ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
FinTech ,
FTC Act ,
Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) ,
Popular
On October 30, two leading fintech industry trade associations submitted comments (see comment letters here and here) in response to a joint Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the...more
11/4/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Request For Information ,
Rulemaking Process
On August 28, the CFPB issued a Consumer Advisory warning that it believes video game companies are targeting children for monetary gain. With 45.7 million U.S. children engaged in video gameplay, the agency is concerned...more
9/18/2024
/ Business Model ,
Consumer Advisory Board ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
eSports ,
FinTech ,
Gaming ,
Online Gaming ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Privacy Laws ,
Technology Sector
On August 28, the CFPB issued a Consumer Advisory warning that it believes video game companies are targeting children for monetary gain. With 45.7 million U.S. children engaged in video gameplay, the agency is concerned...more
9/16/2024
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Privacy Laws ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Video Games
On July 25, federal regulators issued a joint statement to further put banking organizations on notice of the inherent risks of collaborating with fintechs in offering deposit products and services. This guidance aims to...more
On July 22, a Texas-based lease-to-own company filed suit against the CFPB in Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alleging that its “illegal and unconstitutional investigation” into the company’s business...more
An Oklahoma-based bank has been hit with a consent order from the FDIC after posting significant losses in its first year of operation. On June 28, the FDIC announced that it took an enforcement action against the bank...more
On June 14, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) released a cease and desist order against an Arkansas-based banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider for compliance and risk management failures. As part of the order, the bank is...more
7/2/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Noncompliance ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Management
On May 16, the Maryland Office of Financial Regulation (“OFR”) announced a settlement with a Missouri-based bank and its fintech partners for engaging in unlicensed lending, credit repair, and debt collection activities....more
On May 21, the Massachusetts Attorney General entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance (“AOD”) with a California-based fintech alleging that it was the “true lender” of its consumer installment loans. Under the terms of...more
On May 17, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against a California-based fintech that operates a nationwide website and mobile-application based peer-to-peer lending platform through which consumers can obtain small-dollar, short-term...more
On March 28, the FDIC released the spring edition of its consumer compliance supervisory highlights. The FDIC supervises approximately 3,000 state-chartered banks and thrifts that are not members of the Federal Reserve...more
5/13/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
EFTA ,
Fair Lending ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
FTC Act ,
Regulation E ,
Regulation Z ,
Section 5 ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On March 28, the Federal Reserve (Fed) issued a cease-and-desist order to a Wyoming-based bank holding company, citing deficiencies identified in a September 2023 inspection related to its “fintech business strategy, board...more
4/22/2024
/ Bank Holding Company ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Business Strategies ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
In the FDIC’s latest monthly update on enforcement decisions and orders, the agency published recent consent orders it entered against both a New York-based and an Ohio-based bank, the latest in the agency’s series of...more
On March 25, Washington State became the latest in a growing list of jurisdictions to introduce a “true lender” law with the passing of bill SB 6025. The legislation, similar to laws in other states would characterize a...more