It seems as if using the Internet has become as dangerous as walking alone down a dark alley in a crime infested area of the city. Today, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued the following...more
California limits the amount of interest that may be charged on loans and forbearances. While that is the general rule, there are numerous statutory exemptions. One of those exemptions can be found in California...more
Yesterday, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation published a 74-page report on its oversight and regulation of Silicon Valley Bank. As explained in this earlier post, the bank was a state chartered...more
As has been widely reported, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation announced that it has taken possession of another California chartered bank - First Republic Bank. This is the second California...more
State Senator Nancy Skinner recently rewrote SB 54 to require "institutional investors" to submit annually to the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation reports disclosing the following...more
I have devoted several posts to a California commercial loan disclosure law that was enacted in 2018 - SB 1235 (Glazer). Although the bill became effective on January 1, 2019, lenders were not obligated to comply until the...more
The closure of Silicon Valley Bank has understandably attracted a lot of attention. There are, however, other ways to lose money when banking. The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation recently issued...more
Silicon Valley Bank was chartered by the State of California and was subject to the supervision of the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The DFPI was not the bank's regulator. The bank had adopted...more
The big financial news on Friday was the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. According to the DFPI's order, an announcement of a capital raise by the bank triggered a run on the bank...more
Does California's usury limitations constitute a "strong public policy"? Seemingly, that question was decided over a half-century ago by the First District Court of Appeal in Ury v. Jewelers Acceptance Corp., 227 Cal. App....more
In June of last year, noted the introduction of a bill that would subject digital financial asset businesses to licensing in California. In September, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill stating that it would be "premature...more
The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation recently issued a warning about "individual or individuals on YouTube claiming that individuals can form their own “private banks” and become “individual bankers”...more
The internet facilitates crime in the same way it facilitates legitimate business - it lowers transaction costs. With the internet, a fraudster can steal someone's identity and then use that purloined identity to reach...more
Article IV, Section 12(a) of the California Constitution requires the Governor within the first 10 days of the year to submit to the Legislature, with an explanatory message, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Last...more
Shortly after Christmas, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation began issuing consumer alerts with respect to possible cryptocurrency broker frauds. These alerts generally involved alleged "Advance...more
The Department of Financial Protection & Innovation's website includes a link to an Excel spreadsheet listing the designation of of location(s) for service of legal process on financial institutions. This listing is the...more
Earlier this month, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued a quasi interpretive opinion regarding whether the unnamed requestor must be licensed under California's Money Transmission Act to...more
Some readers may recall that two years ago the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency adopted a "true lender" rule. That rule The rule specified that a bank makes a loan and is the true lender if, as of the date of...more
The California Financing Law prohibits any person from engaging in the business of a "finance lender" without a license from the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. Cal. Fin. Code § 22100(a). The CFL provides...more
The California Financing Law requires each licensed lender, broker, and program administrator licensee to pay its pro rata share of all costs and expenses of the administration of the law, as estimated by the Commissioner,...more
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 2269 (Grayson) which would have created a "Digital Financial Assets Law" to be administered by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The Governor in his veto message...more
In January, 1832, William Learned Marcy rose in the United States Senate to defend Secretary of State Martin Van Buren from criticism by Henry Clay. Clay's attack on Van Buren is not remembered, but the words of Senator...more
The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation recently issued is 2021 Annual Report of Operation of Finance Lenders, Brokers, and PACE Administrators Licensed Under the California Financing Law. The DFPI...more
In this July post, I noted that " if conduct is not ongoing, it is impossible for someone to discontinue or desist". The California legislature, however, sees no such logical problem. Late last month, it enacted and...more
Last Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of Avyark “Avy” Mallik as General Counsel at the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Most recently, Mr. Mallik served as...more