In June, New York enacted a ticket transparency law seeking to make sweeping changes to how ticket prices are communicated to consumers and eliminate deceptive ticket pricing practices. The law will go into effect on...more
Through a new interpretive rule announced this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has declared that digital marketing providers can be held liable under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)...more
8/15/2022
/ Advertising ,
Banks ,
Behavioral Advertising ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Covered Entities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Internet Marketing ,
Marketing ,
Nonbank Firms ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
We recently discussed the various ways in which the Federal Trade Commission is focusing on worker protections in the gig economy. Though we didn’t have a crystal ball to foresee it, the FTC announced that it is furthering...more
7/21/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Data-Sharing ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gig Economy ,
Labor Shortage ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Mergers ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Worker Protection Standard
This week, a New York district court, in FTC v. Quincy Bioscience Holding Co., granted an individual defendant’s partial motion for summary judgment, dismissing claims brought by the New York Attorney General (NYAG) for lack...more
The FTC is off to the races with another proposed rulemaking. On June 23, the FTC, by a 4-1 vote, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to combat what it perceives as “junk fees” and “bait-and-switch advertising...more
7/6/2022
/ Advertising ,
Automotive Industry ,
Automotive Loans ,
Car Dealerships ,
Excessive Fees ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Magnuson-Moss Act ,
Marketing ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Warranties
Last week, the FTC brought and settled enforcement actions against two manufacturing companies for allegedly limiting customers’ right to repair purchased products under unlawful warranty terms. The FTC alleged that the two...more
The Federal Trade Commission has requested public input about potential updates to its “Dot.Com Disclosures.” The guidance document was last updated nearly a decade ago and has not addressed much of the new technology that...more
Last week, the United States Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, took action against Twitter, Inc. for allegedly using private account security data to sell targeted advertisements without...more
6/1/2022
/ Advertising ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Misrepresentation ,
Online Advertisements ,
Swiss Privacy Shield ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
Twitter
The Federal Trade Commission’s May 2022 open meeting, Alvaro Bedoya’s first since being sworn in as the agency’s fifth commissioner on May 16, considered a request for public comment on proposed amendments to its Guides...more
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moved to dismiss its long-running enforcement action against Electronic Payment Solutions (EPS) pending in the District of Arizona after the Commission voted 4-0 to approve a...more
“Free” must mean free?
Last week, the attorneys general for all 50 states and the District of Columbia announced a settlement with Intuit, Inc., the owner of TurboTax, which will require the company to hand over $141...more
In recent years, payment processors and other financial intermediaries have faced heightened scrutiny from regulatory agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, for their relationships with companies engaged in...more
5/4/2022
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Best Practices ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Monitor ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
Payment Processors ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Webinars
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ("CFPB") announced that it will examine nonbank financial companies that pose risks to consumers, using statutory authority that until now had gone unused. Additional examinations would...more
The FTC held its most recent open meeting on Thursday, and two major topics were front and center: potential changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and a congressional fix to Section 13(b) after the one-year...more
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against the Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM), an Illinois-based for-profit medical school, claiming its Caribbean medical...more
A lawsuit filed by the CFPB last week against a national credit reporting agency provides some insight into the types of website features and designs that regulators like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal...more
A few weeks ago, we wrote an article discussing two enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission in the Central and Southern Districts of California that highlighted the risks to payment processors and financial...more
4/14/2022
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Breach of Duty ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Payment Processors ,
Receivership ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Wells Fargo
On March 23, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed into law sweeping amendments to the state’s Business Opportunity Disclosure Act (BODA). The amendments expand the scope of the statute to cover a broad spectrum of business...more
4/7/2022
/ Amended Legislation ,
Buyers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchises ,
New Legislation ,
Private Right of Action ,
Registration Requirement ,
Sale of Assets ,
Sellers ,
Small Business ,
State and Local Government
Last month, love was not all lost for the owner of Tinder and OKCupid when a Texas federal district court in FTC v. Match Group, Inc. granted in part the online dating service provider’s motion to dismiss. Specifically, the...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a compliance bulletin regarding potentially illegal practices related to consumer reviews. The bulletin seeks to promote reviews about financial products and services...more
In its much-anticipated cryptocurrency executive order issued earlier this month, the Biden administration called for a coordinated interagency approach to the regulation of digital assets and to the study of their potential...more
We frequently post about negative option marketing in this blog, but our focus has been the FTC’s enforcement actions against businesses that utilize this marketing strategy. We haven’t written as much about a different risk:...more
Last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that online travel agency Fareportal Inc., which operates several travel-related websites and mobile platforms, including CheapOair.com and OneTravel.com, will pay...more
This alert provides an overview of the general licenses and FAQs issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) through March 4, 2022, and the expansion of the Specially Designated Nationals List on March 3, 2022....more
This alert provides an overview of U.S. sanctions imposed against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine up to and including the issuance of Directive 4 and General License 8A on Monday morning, February 28, 2022, and...more