To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week.
Federal Activities:
On June 19, the en banc District of Columbia Circuit Court issued its latest order in National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), taking three notable actions. First, the court granted the CFPB’s motion for a limited remand, directing the district court to decide in the first instance whether to modify, suspend, or dissolve the preliminary injunction in light of two developments: (1) the CFPB’s issuance of a revised reduction-in-force (RIF) plan, and (2) other intervening developments identified in the CFPB’s motion. The revised RIF plan would reduce the Bureau’s workforce to roughly 556 employees (a significant reduction from the approximately 1,174 current employees). The plan would concentrate its deepest cuts in the supervision, enforcement, and operations divisions. Second, the CFPB had requested that the remand be subject to a 45-day deadline, which NTEU opposed. The court declined to impose that limit, noting the district court’s track record of moving expeditiously throughout this litigation and expressing confidence that it would continue to do so on remand. Third, the court granted the CFPB’s unopposed motion to hold the appeal in abeyance while the district court addresses the remanded questions. Critically, the en banc court is retaining jurisdiction over the appeal. Once the district court rules, the parties will have 21 days to file motions governing future proceedings before the en banc court. For more information, click here.
On June 18, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), together with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), issued a joint proposed rule to implement provisions of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) requiring that permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) be treated as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and maintain effective customer identification programs (CIPs), including procedures for verifying and recording the identity of account holders, screening against terrorist watchlists, and maintaining related records. The proposal is issued jointly by the five agencies as applied to the PPSIs within each agency’s supervisory jurisdiction and would also apply to PPSIs that opt for state-level supervision under the GENIUS Act’s framework for issuers with $10 billion or less in outstanding issuance. The rulemaking is one component of a broader GENIUS Act implementation effort that also has included separate proposed rules addressing anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) program requirements, sanctions compliance, and prudential standards issued by the individual agencies; the agencies noted that stablecoins have been increasingly exploited by illicit actors underscoring the need for robust customer identification requirements. The comment period closes 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. For more information, click here.
On June 17, the CFPB officially rescinded its December 2020 advisory opinion on special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) under Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The 2020 advisory opinion had addressed regulatory uncertainty regarding how Regulation B applies to SPCPs designed and implemented by for-profit organizations to meet special social needs. The Bureau identified two principal reasons for the rescission. First, the advisory opinion is now outdated. The Bureau’s April 2026 final rule amended the SPCP provisions of Regulation B in material ways, including adding new requirements to the written plan that for-profit organizations must satisfy, that the advisory opinion simply does not address. Second, and more significantly, the advisory opinion contains statements that directly conflict with the April 2026 amendments. Most notably, the advisory opinion’s statement that SPCP participants may share common characteristics such as race, national origin, or sex is now squarely at odds with the amended rule, which prohibits for-profit organizations from using race, color, national origin, or sex, or any combination thereof, as an eligibility criterion for an SPCP. The advisory opinion also applied a “probably would not receive credit” standard to assess the need for an SPCP, while the amended rule tightened that standard to require a showing that participants actually would not receive the credit absent the program. The CFPB also cited the constitutional concerns it flagged in the April 2026 final rule. To the extent the advisory opinion could be read as encouraging private actors to create programs that discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin, the CFPB noted that government encouragement of such private conduct may itself raise serious constitutional questions. The rescission is intended, in part, to remove the CFPB’s imprimatur from programs that could give rise to those concerns. For more information, click here.
On June 17, U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR) and Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Chairman Warren Davidson (R-OH) sent a letter to Andrea Gacki, director of FinCEN, urging the agency to modernize its anti-money laundering framework. Specifically, the lawmakers called on FinCEN to finalize its pending AML/CFT rule with a focus on four priorities: reducing unnecessary compliance burdens on financial institutions, raising outdated reporting thresholds, encouraging the use of artificial intelligence-driven risk monitoring tools, and refocusing the Bank Secrecy Act on generating actionable intelligence for law enforcement rather than producing voluminous reports of limited utility. For more information, click here.
On June 17, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Clearing and Risk, Division of Market Oversight, and Market Participants Division issued Staff Letter No. 26-20, providing no-action relief to three post-trade risk reduction services (PTRRS) providers — Capitolis Partners LLC, Quantile Technologies Limited (part of the London Stock Exchange Group), and TriOptima AB (part of OSTTRA) — in connection with their portfolio rebalancing and basis risk mitigation services for swaps. The letter provides relief to the three firms from the requirement to register as swap execution facilities, noting that they have instead registered with the CFTC as introducing brokers subject to applicable CFTC and National Futures Association rules. The no-action positions also extend to any person engaging in portfolio rebalancing and basis risk mitigation services, relieving them from certain trade execution and clearing requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act, and the letter clarifies that PTRRS meeting the description set forth in the CFTC’s 2020 Part 43 final rule do not constitute publicly reportable swap transactions and are therefore not subject to real-time public reporting and dissemination requirements. The relief is time-limited and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the letter. For more information, click here.
On June 17, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report to congressional requesters (GAO-26-108011) examining the Federal Reserve’s oversight of its COVID-19 emergency lending programs, with a particular focus on the Main Street Lending Program. The report found that the Federal Reserve has addressed all 20 internal control enhancement opportunities it identified across its 13 emergency lending facilities and that its ongoing monitoring plans are generally aligned with federal internal control standards. However, the report highlighted significant repayment challenges within the Main Street Lending Program, which made 1,830 loans to small and midsize businesses and nonprofits. As of January 5, 2026, 70% of loans had been fully repaid, while 30% had experienced or were at risk of loss, including approximately 14% that remained outstanding past their scheduled maturity dates, $1.3 billion in charged-off loan amounts, and $1.4 billion in authorized loan amounts sold back to lenders at a net loss. The GAO noted that elevated interest rates and the timing of principal payment milestones were associated with an increased likelihood of loan impairment, and that loans to larger borrowers and those made by larger lenders generally performed better. For more information, click here.
On June 17, the GAO publicly released its priority open recommendations report for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (GAO-26-108959), highlighting one outstanding priority recommendation related to blockchain technology. The recommendation, originally identified in May 2025, calls on the SEC and other financial regulators to jointly establish an ongoing coordination mechanism to identify and address risks posed by blockchain-related products and services. As of June 2026, the SEC has not yet fully implemented the recommendation, and the GAO emphasized that doing so could help the agency identify and respond to blockchain-related risks in a timely manner in direct support of its investor protection and market oversight mission. For more information, click here.
On June 17, the SEC published a proposed rule that would rescind two foundational provisions of Regulation NMS under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The proposal would rescind Rule 611, the trade-through rule originally adopted in 2005 that requires trading centers to establish policies preventing the execution of orders at prices inferior to protected quotations displayed at other venues, and Rule 610(e), which restricts exchanges and national securities associations from displaying quotations that lock or cross protected quotations. The Commission’s rationale centers on the significant evolution of U.S. equity markets since 2005 such that Rule 611’s intermarket price protection requirements are no longer necessary, have contributed to adverse consequences including exchange proliferation, market fragmentation, increased complexity, and a technology and latency arms race among market participants, and are no longer needed as a backstop to broker-dealers’ existing best execution obligations. The proposal would also make conforming amendments to related defined terms in Rule 600(b) and to other Commission rules, including Rules 15c3-5 and 15b9-1 under the Exchange Act, and the Commission has separately invited public comment on related questions including whether best execution guidance should be updated, whether market data revenue allocation formulas should be revised, and whether the access fee caps under Rule 610(c) should be adjusted. Comments on the proposal are due by August 17, 2026. For more information, click here.
On June 17, the OCC issued a news release clarifying how it makes decisions on filings under 12 CFR 5.13, emphasizing that its approach is consistent with longstanding agency practice. The OCC outlined four possible outcomes for a filing: approval, conditional approval, denial, and return without a decision as materially deficient. A filing may be returned as materially deficient before meaningful processing begins if it lacks required biographical, financial, or corporate information, or if the filer fails to adequately respond to additional information requests, and, in the context of de novo charter applications specifically, if the organizers have not defined proposed products and services with sufficient particularity or have not fully described the associated governance, risk management, and compliance infrastructure. The OCC will deny a filing when it identifies significant supervisory, Community Reinvestment Act, or compliance concerns, when approval would be inconsistent with applicable law, regulation, or OCC policy, or when a filer fails to provide requested information. Denial decisions will be made public to provide industry transparency into how decision criteria are applied, and a denial does not bar the applicant from submitting a subsequent application. For more information, click here.
On June 16, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), chair of the U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, led a bipartisan group of senators (including Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE)) in sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging the Treasury Department to preserve the role of states in chartering and supervising payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The senators expressed concern that Treasury’s initial implementation proposals did not provide a sufficiently clear or flexible process for states to seek certification of their stablecoin regulatory regimes, noting that state legislative schedules vary widely and that some state legislatures operate on biennial cycles. The letter called on Treasury to establish an ongoing certification framework that would allow states to demonstrate that their supervisory standards are on par with federal regulators as demand for state-chartered stablecoin issuers materializes over time. For more information, click here.
On June 16, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee released updated bicameral text of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644), which includes a provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or any substantially similar asset, through December 31, 2030. The prohibition, which amends the Federal Reserve Act, applies to both direct issuance and issuance through a bank or other intermediary, though it does not extend to wholesale CBDCs or tokenized reserves available only to financial institutions. The package carries broad bipartisan backing. The House is expected to take up the bill for a vote around June 23, following lawmakers’ return from recess. A successful House vote would send the legislation to the president for signature. For more information, click here.
On June 16, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) submitted a comment letter to the SEC responding to the Division of Trading and Markets’ April 13, 2026, staff statement on broker-dealer registration requirements for certain user interfaces (CUIs) used to prepare transactions in crypto asset securities. While acknowledging the SEC’s efforts to provide regulatory clarity, SIFMA raised three principal concerns: first, that the staff statement represents a significant departure from the historical interpretation of the broker definition under § 3(a)(4) of the Exchange Act and leaves important questions about what combination of activities triggers registration requirements. Second, that the statement’s market structure implications are significant enough to warrant a formal notice-and-comment rulemaking process rather than staff-level guidance to create a durable and comprehensive regulatory framework. Third, that CUI providers operating within the parameters of the staff statement would remain unregistered and outside the SEC’s existing surveillance frameworks, potentially limiting the Commission’s ability to monitor market development, identify investor harm, and design effective long-term rules for on-chain operating models. For more information, click here.
On June 16, the OCC issued Bulletin 2026-26 announcing an update to its policy statement on minority depository institutions (MDIs), applicable to all national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies. The update was prompted by the OCC’s review of existing regulations under Executive Order 14219, which directed agencies to identify regulations that are not based on the best reading of underlying statutory authority or that address matters of social, political, or economic significance without clear statutory authorization. The principal change revises the definition of an MDI to more closely align with the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), which defines MDI status for national banks and federal stock savings associations based on ownership by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals without presuming that any particular group qualifies. The updated policy statement also describes how the OCC will maintain MDI designations for institutions that currently hold that status but may no longer meet the revised definition to minimize disruption. Additionally, the OCC removed references to specific agency resources and programs that had become obsolete, replacing them with general directions less susceptible to becoming outdated. Institutions are directed to contact their supervisory field office for questions about OCC resources and programs. For more information, click here.
On June 15, the NCUA Board approved a final rule revising the vital records preservation requirements for federally insured credit unions under 12 CFR 749, effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The rule updates a program originally established in 1972 to ensure credit unions maintain duplicate records for reconstruction in the event of a catastrophic act, was prompted by longstanding feedback that existing requirements were unnecessarily burdensome, particularly the previous requirement to maintain physical copies of vital records. The final rule clarifies the regulation’s purpose, removes Appendices A and B, and updates certain definitions. It was adopted largely as proposed following the March 11, 2026, proposed rule, but with two modifications based on commenter feedback: credit unions will have greater flexibility in determining the content of their vital records preservation log rather than adhering to a prescribed list of factors, and the NCUA removed a proposed reference to consulting legal counsel on record retention periods. NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman emphasized that the rule is intended to ease overly prescriptive requirements while ensuring credit unions retain the critical documents needed to serve members in the event of a disaster. For more information, click here.
State Activities:
On June 16, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed H.648, a wide‑ranging financial services bill that, among other changes, brings sales‑based financing and certain factoring arrangements squarely within the state’s regulated financial services framework. H.648 is notable because it does not stop at revenue-based financing‑style sales‑based financing, but also sweeps in traditional factoring products. Covered providers offering sales‑based financing or purchasing receivables from Vermont merchants will be subject to Vermont licensure and ongoing supervision, in many cases on top of any existing licensed‑lender or sales finance company status. Banks and traditional financial institutions, sellers financing their own goods or services, and larger transactions (e.g., above a $1 million threshold) are exempted. Most significantly, H.648 includes a prohibition on establishing a mechanism for automatically debiting a recipient’s deposit account unless the finance company holds a validly perfected first-priority security interest in “the recipient’s account.” H.648 also requires covered providers or brokers to obtain a Vermont lending or lead generation license, comply with standardized disclosures, and comply with conduct requirements tailored to sales‑based financing and factoring. The law also bans confessions of judgment in sales‑based financing or factoring contracts. It also mandates that agreements with Vermont merchants be governed exclusively by Vermont law and that disputes be brought in Vermont courts. Where arbitration is required, in‑person proceedings cannot be held outside Vermont. The commercial financing portions of the law are to take effect July 1, 2027. For more information, click here.
On June 16, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget — the largest in state history — totaling approximately $55.9 billion, roughly $900 million more than the prior year’s approved spending. The budget raises hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue through a series of targeted taxes on businesses, social media companies, fantasy sports operators, and digital assets. Of particular note, the budget includes a new 0.2% tax on digital asset sales, set to take effect January 1, 2027, which is projected to generate approximately $60 million in revenue for the state. The budget passed largely along partisan lines and Pritzker issued limited item and reduction vetoes to address drafting errors that crept into the legislation during its final hours of negotiation. For more information, click here.
On June 15, three major financial services trade associations filed suit in federal court to block Oregon’s HB 4116 from applying its 36% interest rate cap to consumer finance loans made by out-of-state, state-chartered banks. The National Association of Industrial Bankers (NAIB), Online Lenders Alliance (OLA), and American Financial Services Association (AFSA) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon seeking declaratory, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief against Sean O’Day, director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). The complaint targets the recently amended Or. Rev. Stat. § 725.015, which purports to apply Oregon’s Consumer Finance Act, including its 36% interest rate ceiling on loans of $50,000 or less, to loans made by state-chartered banks located outside Oregon when the borrower resides or is domiciled in Oregon. The lawsuit follows a similar challenge to Colorado’s opt-out, which remains pending before the Tenth Circuit on rehearing en banc. For more information, click here.