Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The UK published a report calling for the urgent regulation of BNPL products.
  • The OCC postponed publication of the Fair Access to Financial Services rule.
  • The Acting Director of the CFPB is putting a renewed emphasis on issues of racial equity with a push to enforce fair lending violations.
  • The new administration will take a fresh look at the recently finalized FHA disparate impact rule.
  • The Federal Reserve announced that its FedNow RTP service will be launched sooner than expected.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of February 5, 2021

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • A regulatory freeze imposed by the new administration puts controversial rulemakings on ice.
  • The CFPB finalizes its rule clarifying the role of supervisory guidance.
  • Federal banking regulators issue FAQs on SAR filing obligations.
  • The Federal Reserve continues to support the development of AI in financial services.
  • OCC Issues Ruling Permitting National Banks to Use Certain Blockchain Technologies
  • California issues proposed rules for sharing data on marijuana-related businesses to promote due diligence and KYC efforts.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of January 22, 2021

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The California DFPI begins operating January 2021 and looks to regulate new industries.
  • The OCC finalizes its rule on fair access to financial services, prohibiting large banks from denying services to whole industries.
  • Federal banking regulators publish proposed rule to impose additional notification requirements for a broader range of computer-security incidents.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of January 15, 2021

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • FDIC issues an updated brokered deposit rule, creating new exceptions relevant to fintechs working with bank partners.
  • FDIC issues a final rule clarifying its expectations for ILC charter applications.
  • CFPB issues an advisory opinion on Special Purpose Credit Programs to clarify how creditors can offer these programs to disadvantaged groups.
  • CFPB grants access to its compliance assistance sandbox to an earned wage access company, which meets the CFPB’s recent guidance on such programs.
  • PayPal wins the first round in its efforts to throw out aspects of the CFPB’s prepaid rule, resulting in a court throwing out certain mandatory disclosures and the 30-day waiting period for digital wallets.
  • New York enacts second-in-nation law requiring disclosures for commercial purpose loans.
  • The CSBS goes to court again to stop the OCC from issuing a charter to a fintech company.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of January 8, 2021

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • House Financial Services Committee sets priorities it hopes the incoming Biden administration will enact.
  • First major bank prohibits use of its credit cards for buy-now-pay-later transactions.
  • CFPB issues another no action letter for unsecured, closed-end installment lending model with AI underwriting.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of December 11, 2020

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • FTC files suit against a mobile app that advertised high-interest deposit accounts and easy access to customer funds but failed to deliver.
  • OCC proposes rule to ensure fair access to financial services and to codify the reversal of policies imposed under Operation Choke Point.
  • CFPB issues an advisory opinion clarifying that certain earned wage access services are not credit under Regulation Z.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of December 4, 2020

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • FDIC issues a paper on operational resilience to compile insights from existing regulations, guidance, and best practices.
  • CFPB issues a no-action letter for a small-dollar loan product.
  • CFPB issues consent order to a bi-weekly payment program that deceptively represented its benefits and fees.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of November 13, 2020

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The CFPB issues an ANPR to engage in a rulemaking process on consumer access to financial records under Section 1033 of Dodd-Frank.
  • NYDFS expects regulated financial institutions to assess climate change risks.
  • Federal banking regulators look to codify that supervisory guidance is not binding.
  • The OCC issues its “true lender” final rule.
  • The effective date of the recent HUD disparate impact rule is enjoined by district court.
  • Senate Democrats introduce a bill to prohibit discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for banks and other financial institutions.
  • Quarles discusses the FSB’s growing concern with nonbanks in light of their interconnectedness with the financial system and vulnerabilities manifested during the pandemic.
  • The FDIC finds a shrinking unbanked population and encourages further innovation in banking technologies to create a more inclusive banking system.
  • Digital bank, its API provider, and its licensed bank settles claims related to system service outage.
  • SoFi obtains conditional approval for its national bank charter.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of October 23 and October 30, 2020

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • California passes a new law to help cannabis businesses and their service providers access financial services.
  • NY DFS calls for designating certain social media companies as systemically important to impose cybersecurity regulations.
  • The European Central Bank issues a new report about moving forward with development of the digital euro.

Continue Reading Fintech Week in Review: Week of October 9 and October 16, 2020