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Category Archives: Hot Issues

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How the CFPB’s stance on ECOA in auto finance will raise consumer prices

By Christopher J. Willis on Posted in CFPB Enforcement, Fair Lending, Hot Issues, Vehicle Loans

Ever since the CFPB’s release of its bulletin relating to disparate impact analysis of dealer rate participation last week, the press and consumer advocacy groups have been buzzing about the Bureau’s stance and its potential impact on the industry and consumers.  Alan Kaplinsky and I previously blogged about the bulletin and its associated issues here, here… More >

The CFPB previews its coming auto finance fair lending enforcement actions

By Christopher J. Willis on Posted in CFPB Enforcement, Fair Lending, Hot Issues, Vehicle Loans

Earlier today, the CFPB released its guidance bulletin with respect to automobile indirect finance fair lending issues.  The bulletin’s intent is unmistakably clear from the accompanying press release’s tag line: “CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU TO HOLD AUTO LENDERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATORY MARKUP.”  The bulletin is, in my view, a prelude to the fair lending… More >

The Senate Republicans officially weigh in on Cordray’s nomination

By Alan S. Kaplinsky on Posted in CFPB General, CFPB People, CFPB Rulemaking, Hot Issues

Whatever hope President Obama may have had that his nomination of Richard Cordray to serve a five-year term as Director of the CFPB vanished today when 43 Republican Senators joined in a letter to the President saying that they will oppose Mr. Cordray or any other nominee until major structural changes are made to the… More >

CFPB proposes policy to allow trial disclosure programs

By Mercedes Kelley Tunstall on Posted in Hot Issues, Mobile Payments, Technology

The CFPB has issued a proposed policy under which it would exempt individual companies, on a case-by-case basis, from current federal disclosure requirements to allow those companies to test trial disclosures.  The proposal, which is directed at “banks, thrifts, credit unions, and other financial services companies,” contemplates that participating companies would share test result data with… More >

Before presenting your idea . . .

By Mercedes Kelley Tunstall on Posted in CFPB General, Hot Issues, Mobile Payments, Technology

I regularly work with technology innovators to help them get their ideas cleaned up for financial institutions and to give them a headstart in understanding the types of risk concerns and controls that financial institutions are going to have and want.  To technology innovators who may be intrigued by the CFPB’s request for dialogue, I… More >

Waste not, want not

By Mercedes Kelley Tunstall on Posted in CFPB General, Hot Issues, Mobile Payments, Technology

The CFPB publicly acknowledged yesterday their interest in innovation in consumer financial services by launching Project Catalyst, as already reported in this blog.  It is quite the departure from precedent for a banking regulator to actually express interest in being supportive of new technologies and how they could improve consumer financial services.  For practitioners like… More >

Mobile payments: CFPB suggests new regulations may be needed

By Mercedes Kelley Tunstall on Posted in Hot Issues, Mobile Payments

We frequently hear that regulations take a long time to catch up with the technology.  On June 29, the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing to determine whether regulations need to catch up to cover consumer payments made using mobile devices. According to written testimony submitted by the CFPB’s Marla… More >

Initial analyses of CFPB complaint data show misleading nature of data

By Stefanie Jackman on Posted in CFPB General, Credit Cards, Hot Issues

Recall that when the CFPB launched the Consumer Complaint Database, its expressed hope that “the marketplace of ideas” – i.e., the public – would study and analyze the information disclosed in the database in order to “determine what the data show[s].” 77 FR 37559. The CFPB also stated that the purpose of the database is… More >

CFPB launches consumer complaint database

By Stefanie Jackman on Posted in CFPB General, Credit Cards, Hot Issues

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched its Consumer Complaint Database, which allows the public to view consumer complaints filed against credit card issuers. The Bureau also announced that it is submitting a request to the Federal Register seeking comments on extending the database to include other financial products in addition to credit cards –… More >

Reader of CFPB Monitor reports on April 13 Richard Cordray Q&A with SD community bankers and credit unions

By Jeremy T. Rosenblum on Posted in CFPB General, Hot Issues, Mortgages, Payday Lending

We received an email from one of our readers, reporting on a recent meeting between CFPB Director Cordray and representatives of the South Dakota banking and credit union industries. We very much appreciate the report and encourage other readers to share their observations with us. Topics addressed in the meeting included the impact of consumer… More >

CFPB signals its intent to examine service providers to supervised institutions

By Stefanie Jackman on Posted in CFPB Exams, Hot Issues

On April 13, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released Bulletin 2012-03, which stated that the CFPB will expand its examination scope beyond supervised institutions themselves and examine their service providers as well.  If the CFPB believes that service providers are not complying with a consumer financial services law, or are committing a UDAAP… More >

CFPB now sharing consumer complaints with FTC database

By Barbara S. Mishkin on Posted in Hot Issues

The CFPB announced on March 14 that it has begun sharing consumer complaints with the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database. In addition to the FTC, the database can be accessed by other federal agencies and hundreds of state and local agencies. Last August, the CFPB announced that it had entered into an agreement with the FTC… More >

Let the games begin!

By Jeremy T. Rosenblum on Posted in CFPB General, Hot Issues, Payday Lending

The payday loan industry is abuzz with the news that the CFPB has commenced its initial payday lender exam, operating in tandem with state examiners and providing virtually no advance warning. This news comes on top of a report that the CFPB has begun to examine non-bank mortgage companies. It should serve as yet another… More >

“Penalty box” redux

By Jeremy T. Rosenblum on Posted in CFPB Rulemaking, Deposit Accounts, Hot Issues

One of our favorite readers commented on the CFPB’s overdraft “penalty box,” which was the subject of a prior blog.  Our reader criticizes the CFPB for creating the impression that the concept of an overdraft fee box is new.  In fact, Reg DD currently requires a (shorter) box that lists the amount of overdraft and… More >

CFPB overdraft fee initiative threatens to put banks in a penalty fee box

By Jeremy T. Rosenblum on Posted in CFPB General, CFPB Rulemaking, Deposit Accounts, Hot Issues

Last week, Barbara Mishkin posted generally on the CFPB’s overdraft fee initiative. I found the CFPB’s prototype “penalty fee box” particularly interesting and have a few comments:  While it is certainly possible that the CFPB will both require targeted disclosures and sharply circumscribe consumer choice, I take some hope from the penalty fee box disclosure that… More >

House and Senate Bills offer incomplete “fixes” to privilege waiver issue

By Keith R. Fisher on Posted in CFPB General, Federal Agencies, Hot Issues

In a recent blog on the Bacchus-Capito letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, possible “legislative fixes” to the highly publicized privilege waiver issues involving the Bureau and possible amendments to 12 U.S.C. §§ 1821(t) and 1828(x) were discussed.  The major shortcoming identified with regard to such amendments was the persistent problem of the Bureau’s sharing… More >

Recess appointments challenged in NLRB case in New York

By Christopher J. Willis on Posted in Hot Issues

Shortly after the President appointed Richard Cordray and several members of the NLRB through “recess” appointments, Alan Kaplinsky predicted on this blog that there would be litigation over the validity of the recess appointments first with regard to the NLRB, simply because it was likely to result in a “case or controversy” before anything involving… More >

Is the new House fix for the privilege issue really a fix?

By Christopher J. Willis on Posted in Hot Issues

Last week, a second legislative effort was launched to attempt to fix the much-discussed issue regarding the CFPB’s demands for attorney-client privileged information from banks subject to its supervision.  The new bill, H.R. 3871, seeks to “preserve privilege for information submitted to” the Bureau, but the key text of the legislation may or may not fully… More >

American Bankers Association weighs in on proposed policy for credit card complaint data

By Anthony C. Kaye and Steven D. Burt on Posted in CFPB Rulemaking, Credit Cards, Hot Issues

On January 30, 2012, the American Bankers Association delivered a comment letter  to the CFPB in which it expressed strong disagreement with the CFPB’s proposed policy statement on “Disclosure of Certain Credit Card Complaint Data“. The ABA expressed concern that the complaint data will not help and may actually mislead consumers because it is “incomplete, unrepresentative,… More >

House urges Cordray not to request privileged material pending “legislative fix”

By Keith R. Fisher on Posted in CFPB General, Federal Agencies, Hot Issues

A hearing entitled “How will the CFPB Function under Richard Cordray?” was held on January 24 by the House Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs. At that hearing, Mr. Cordray testified that Congress’s failure to amend 12 U.S.C. § 1828(x) to include the Bureau was an oversight and that… More >