On February 4, 2021, acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio published a blog post sharing statements recently made to the staff of the CFPB’s Division of Research, Markets, and Regulations (RMR). In his post, Uejio stressed two policy priorities for the CFPB: “(1) relief for consumers facing hardship due to COVID-19 and the related economic crisis … Continue Reading
This month, a Florida appellate court held that a merchant cash advance (MCA) purchase and sale agreement was not a “disguised loan” and, therefore, was not subject to Florida’s criminal usury statute. MCA purchase and sale agreements, which offer merchants a fast and efficient way to obtain funding for their operations, are not loans. Rather, … Continue Reading
A new year brings new compliance requirements for non-banks and fintechs conducting business in New York, including Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) companies. On December 23, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed SB5470 expanding the New York Financial Services law to require non-banks and fintechs to provide small businesses with lending disclosures similar to those … Continue Reading
On October 22, 2020, the CFPB issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) soliciting comments on implementation of Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. As outlined in the ANPR, Section 1033 will require consumer financial service providers to give consumers access to financial account data in a usable electronic format. This data includes information … Continue Reading
On October 27, 2020, the OCC released its final True Lender Rule. As discussed earlier on this blog, the OCC’s rule is designed to clarify the “true lender” doctrine, a legal test utilized by courts and regulators to determine whether a bank or its non-bank partner is the actual lender in a credit transaction. The … Continue Reading
In early August 2020, several state attorneys general filed suit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) challenging the OCC’s proposed “Madden Fix.” Notably, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) also issued their own Madden Fix, the agency was not named as a defendant in the initial lawsuit. As such, it … Continue Reading
Last Wednesday, the attorneys general of Illinois, California, and New York filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s proposed “Madden Fix.” This proposed rule, which we have discussed in detail, is designed to resolve some of the legal … Continue Reading
Earlier this week, the OCC released a proposed rule designed to address the “true lender” doctrine, a legal test utilized by courts and regulators to determine whether a bank or its non-bank partner is the actual lender in a credit transaction. This doctrine has led to uncertainty in the fintech and bank-partnership spaces, in large … Continue Reading
Recently, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued final rules designed to resolve the uncertainty created by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, 786 F.3d 246 (2d Cir. 2015). In Madden, the court called into doubt the valid-when-made doctrine, … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed plans to create a state version of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as part of the state’s proposed 2020-2021 budget. According to the governor’s Budget Summary, “[t]he federal government’s rollback of the CFPB leaves Californians vulnerable to predatory businesses and leaves companies without the clarity … Continue Reading
Companies that offer innovative consumer financial products and services have new tools to help them stay in compliance with federal consumer financial laws. In a refreshing twist from prior policy, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced last week that it had revamped its No-Action Letter Policy and released a Compliance Assistance Sandbox and a … Continue Reading
California wants to ensure that consumers know what they are talking to. On July 1, 2019, California’s new bot disclosure law will take effect, requiring bots to be upfront about their inhumanity. The law prohibits bots from communicating with a person in California with the intent to mislead as to their artificial identity for the … Continue Reading
Amidst privacy concerns and booming technological innovation, Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) have introduced a bill proposed as the “Commercial Facial Recognition Privacy Act of 2019” (CFRPA) targeting arguably the most “personal” biometric identifier—our face. While several states have enacted legislation relating to protection of biometric identifiers, this is the first federal … Continue Reading
Courts and regulators continue to struggle with how to define cryptocurrencies. The latest installment of this ongoing debate came from an unlikely source: a state appellate court’s opinion on a criminal matter. Specifically, on January 30, 2019, the Third District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida entered an order reversing a trial court’s … Continue Reading
September 11, 2018, was a big day for Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and crypto-related enforcement activity. In the Eastern District of New York, Judge Raymond Dearie issued an order neglecting to dismiss an indictment against Maksim Zaslavskiy for securities fraud relating to Zaslavisky’s involvement with an ICO for “REcoin” and another referred to as “Diamond.” This case … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has filed an administrative complaint against Facebook alleging discriminatory advertising in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). HUD alleges that housing advertisers can use Facebook’s advertising tools and algorithms to exclude applicants based on protected categories such as race, sex, or national origin. Four days … Continue Reading
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced, in a highly anticipated decision, that it would begin to consider special-purpose charter applications from fintech entities. This move, which has been the subject of months of industry speculation, came mere hours after the Department of the Treasury endorsed a national charter for fintech companies. This … Continue Reading
The founder of Mozido, the fintech startup once claimed to be valued at $5.6 billion, has been named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The complaint names Michael Liberty (and others) individually and also names corporate entities related to Mozido as defendants. This action by the … Continue Reading
Privacy is serious business. This was made clear in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent announcement that it had settled its complaint against Venmo, PayPal’s peer-to-peer payment service, for misrepresentations to consumers regarding privacy and security settings. Although the terms of the settlement do not become final until approval by the FTC on or about … Continue Reading
On October 18, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) outlined nine non-binding Consumer Protection Principles (the Principles) for the access and sharing of consumer information between third-party companies. The Principles focus on the consumer experience, specifically consumers’ enhanced control over their financial lives. The CFPB envisions a marketplace in which consumers are in the … Continue Reading
Trade finance, in both domestic and international financial transactions, is often utilized when one company seeks to import a shipment of goods from a supplier (or exporter). These transactions comprise an enormous amount of global trade. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 90 percent of world trade relies on trade finance. In fact, almost … Continue Reading
Much has been written about the consternation and concern of businesses around the world regarding the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which takes effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR applies to companies operating within the EU that control or process data. Notably, it also applies to companies outside the EU that offer … Continue Reading
It is hard to peruse the internet or even mainstream media outlets without hearing about bitcoin. What is this ubiquitous bitcoin? It depends on whom you ask. A CNN Money articled defined bitcoin as “a new currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto.” The IRS has recently … Continue Reading
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued supplemental guidance (Bulletin 2017-21) on third-party risk management. Responding to questions raised by banks and federal savings associations since the release of the OCC’s Bulletin 2013-19 on vendor management issues, the OCC provided additional insight on topics in the 2013 Bulletin and the application … Continue Reading
