Earlier this week, by a party-line 34-26 vote, the House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 4861, a bill seemingly intended to ease restrictions on short-term, small-dollar loans made by depository institutions.  The bill is part of the efforts of House Republicans to provide greater regulatory relief to banks than would be provided by S.Continue Reading

Hours after the CFPB released its final payday/auto title/high-rate installment loan rule on October 5, 2017, the OCC rescinded its guidance on deposit advance products.  That guidance, entitled Supervisory Concerns and Expectations Regarding Deposit Advance Products published in November 2013 (OCC Bulletin 2013-40), and substantially identical guidance issued by the FDIC on the same day, had effectively precluded banks subject to OCC and FDIC supervision from offering deposit advance products. … Continue Reading

As expected, the CFPB issued its proposed payday loan rule, in a release running 1,334 pages.  The CFPB also issued a fact sheet summarizing the proposal.  On June 15, 2016, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET, we will hold a webinar on the proposal: The CFPB’s Proposed Payday/Auto Title/High-Rate Installment Loan Rule: Can Industry Adapt to the New World Order? … Continue Reading

On March 26, the CFPB held a public hearing on payday and auto title lending, the same day that it released proposed regulations for short-term small-dollar loans. Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring gave opening remarks, during which he asserted that Virginia is perceived as the “predatory lending capital of the East Coast,” suggesting that payday and auto title lenders were a large part of the problem.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has moved a step closer to issuing payday loan rules by releasing a press release, factsheet and outline of the proposals it is considering in preparation for convening a small business review panel required by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act and Dodd-Frank.  The CFPB’s proposals are sweeping in terms of the products they cover and the limitations they impose. … Continue Reading

In the latest semi-annual update of its rulemaking agenda, the CFPB officially confirmed that it plans to propose a rule to define “larger participants of a market for auto lending.”  The official confirmation follows statements made by Steven Antonakes at a Consumer Bankers Association meeting in April 2014 that the CFPB’s next larger participant rule would relate to auto finance. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced that it will be holding a field hearing on payday loans on
March 25, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee.  The event will feature remarks by Director Cordray and testimony from consumer groups, industry members, and the general public. 

The CFPB’s rulemaking agenda issued at the end of last year included “prerule activities” concerning payday loans and deposit advance products targeted for this month. … Continue Reading

We found much to criticize when the CFPB issued its White Paper this past April on payday and deposit advance loans.  However, we remain hopeful that the CFPB will make good on its commitment that any rule-making on these matters will be evidence-based. 

Unfortunately, the OCC and FDIC have not taken that approach. … Continue Reading

David Silberman, the CFPB’s Associate Director of Research, Markets and Regulations, made the CFPB’s April 2013 white paper on payday and deposit advance loans the focus of his testimony at the hearing held on July 24 by the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging entitled “Payday Loans: Short-term Solution or Long-term Problem?”  … Continue Reading

A friend brought to my attention a two-page comment letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bill Nelson, commenting on the OCC’s proposed deposit advance guidance, the subject of a prior blog.  For a letter co-authored by the single person most responsible for the creation of the CFPB, this is a remarkable. … Continue Reading