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Weekly Fintech Focus

  • Democratic senators urge CFPB to focus on bank liability for fraud occurring on P2P payment platforms.
  • CFPB and OCC issue $225M fine to a bank for failures related to unemployment benefits payments.
  • UK financial regulators open consultation on oversight of financial institutions’ third-party service providers.

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Continue Reading Fintech Legal Report—Week of July 22, 2022

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The CFPB terminates a no-action letter with an AI credit underwriter.
  • A CFPB circular confirms that AI underwriting models are subject to anti-discrimination laws including adverse action notices.
  • BNPL companies and credit bureaus face urging by the CFPB to properly report consumer information.
  • The CFPB launches an initiative to improve customer service at big banks.

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Continue Reading Fintech Legal Report—Week of June 17, 2022

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The CFPB plans to review CARD Act Rules.
  • The Treasury Department proposes clarifications to regulatory treatment of Earned Wage Access programs.

CFPB Director Chopra Plans to Review CARD Act Rules

The day after a tough hearing with the Senate Banking Committee, on April 27, 2022, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing in which Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra spoke with lawmakers about his plans to explore whether the CFPB should revisit and potentially revise previously written rules to implement the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (the CARD Act).

These rules cover various consumer protection requirements and restrictions such as limits on interest rate increases and certain fees. Particularly, Chopra’s comments suggest that the CFPB could pursue tougher restrictions on issuer fees as part of a broader effort to manage what he refers to as “junk fees.” Chopra did not provide a specific definition on what fees the agency may scrutinize, but his responses to inquiries from lawmakers indicates that it could cover a broad array of charges that are imposed on bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial products, such as late fees and other fees that do not compensate for a specific service.…

Continue Reading Fintech Legal Report—Week of May 6, 2022

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The CA DFPI issued an interpretive opinion on an earned wage access product, finding that the structure of the earned wage access program was not a loan product.
  • The CFPB issued a compliance bulletin outlining and reiterating prohibitions and restrictions under ECOA and Regulation B related to the distribution of government benefits
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FTC Orders an End to Illegal Mastercard Business Tactics and Requires it to Stop Blocking Competing Debit Card Payment Networks

On December 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in a 4-0 vote, ordered Mastercard to start providing competing payment networks with the customer account information they need to process debit payments, alleging that the company…

On December 7, 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a highly-anticipated proposed rule that would implement key provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act, a law enacted earlier this year as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.

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Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The CFPB sent orders to five large BNPL companies seeking information on their business practices and regulatory posture.
  • The CFPB published its Fall 2021 rulemaking agenda, giving some insight into what the next year holds for CFPB activity.
  • The CFPB renewed its call for tech workers to become whistleblowers related to potential violations of consumer financial laws.
  • The CFPB published updated FAQs related to EFTA and Regulation E.

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Continue Reading Fintech Legal Report – Week of December 17, 2021

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • The CFPB and OCC are taking a keen interest in bank overdraft practices.
  • The CFPB is working to encourage coordination with states on enforcement actions and to target repeat corporate offenders.
  • CFPB and HUD once again encourage the use of Special Purpose Credit Programs to remedy historical discrimination.
  • The Kansas City Fed issued a report on Buy Now Pay Later programs.
  • The FTC and DOJ meet with G7 counterparts to discuss competition issues for digital markets.
  • The FTC spotlights a rapid increase in gift card scams.

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Continue Reading Fintech Legal Report – Week of December 10, 2021

Weekly Fintech Focus

  • Acting Comptroller of the Currency gave a speech describing his vision for supervising crypto and fintech firms in similar ways to banks.
  • The FTC issued enforcement policy guidance related to subscriptions and negative option marketing to tighten compliance.
  • The FTC issued a final rule amending the GLBA Safeguards Rule to cover “finders” and to significantly increase certain requirements for financial institution security requirements.

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Continue Reading Fintech Legal Report—Week of November 5, 2021