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 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Department of the Treasury, issued a joint final rule establishing technical standards for financial regulatory data reporting, as required by the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022. The rule adopts common identifiers for entities, geographic locations, dates, and certain products and currencies, and establishes a principles-based joint standard for data transmission and schema and taxonomy formats, with the goal of promoting interoperability of financial regulatory data across agencies and enabling financial institutions to submit high-quality, machine-readable data. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the CFTC published a request for public comment on two distinct but related developments in energy derivatives markets: the extension of standard futures contracts to 24/7 trading without any change to their fixed expiration, delivery, or settlement terms, and the potential listing of perpetual contracts (derivative contracts with no fixed expiration that use a periodic funding rate mechanism to maintain price parity with an underlying asset’s spot price) referencing physically delivered or storable energy commodities such as crude oil. The CFTC is seeking comment on the implications of each matter for price reliability and manipulation resistance, market surveillance and operational readiness, the federal speculative position-limits regime, margin, clearing and settlement, customer protection, and effects on the underlying physical markets and the commercial participants that rely on them. Comments are due by July 27, 2026. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the CFTC published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on proposed amendments to Parts 15, 16, and 17 of its regulations that would establish an alternate reporting framework for certain fully collateralized event contracts, which have been subject to staff no-action letters since 2017. The proposal would require certain reporting markets, futures commission merchants, clearing members, and foreign brokers to report event contracts pursuant to the regulations in Parts 15 through 18, rather than under the reporting regulations in certain sections of Parts 38, 39, 43, and 45, and would add a new section 16.03, titled “Covered Event Contracts,” to Part 16. The proposal is intended to replace the existing patchwork of no-action letters with a clear, permanent regulatory framework for event contract reporting. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the FDIC Board of Directors approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that would revise the resolution submission requirements currently applicable to insured depository institutions (IDIs) with $50 billion or more in total assets, proposing to streamline filing requirements to focus on information most directly relevant to the FDIC’s ability to resolve an institution in a cost-effective manner, raise the asset threshold triggering coverage from $50 billion to $100 billion with automatic future adjustments using an indexing methodology, and move all covered IDIs to a three-year filing cycle. The Board also approved an exemption from filing requirements in October 2026 and 2027 for all IDIs currently subject to the rule, in light of the ongoing rulemaking process. Comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the FDIC Board of Directors approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that would revise deposit insurance assessment regulations for all FDIC-insured institutions in three principal respects: raising the asset threshold distinguishing small from large institutions for assessment purposes from $10 billion to $30 billion, with periodic future adjustments using an indexing methodology; decreasing initial base assessment rate schedules by two basis points for small institutions and by one basis point for large or highly complex institutions, in recognition of recent growth in the Deposit Insurance Fund and its reserve ratio; and introducing a new downward resolution readiness adjustment of up to one basis point for large or highly complex institutions that successfully complete a virtual data room testing exercise and/or provide the FDIC with temporary access to certain service providers and internal systems. The FDIC has made assessment rate calculators available on its website to allow institutions to estimate their rates under the proposed changes. Comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the FDIC Board of Directors approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend Part 309 of its regulations governing the disclosure of confidential information, with the primary change being an expansion of insured depository institutions’ ability to share confidential FDIC information with third parties, including attorneys, accountants, auditors, and certain other partners, without prior FDIC approval, provided the information is shared for a business purpose and both parties have entered into a confidentiality agreement. The proposal would also simplify the process for the FDIC’s own discretionary disclosure of confidential information and update the FDIC’s rules regarding the Freedom of Information Act, disclosure of information in connection with legal proceedings, and service of process upon the FDIC and its directors, officers, and employees. Comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the NCUA published a final rule, effective July 27, 2026, codifying the elimination of reputation risk from its supervisory framework, following a notice of proposed rulemaking issued on October 21, 2025, and consistent with Executive Order 14331 on fair banking. The final rule amends 12 CFR parts 702 and 791 to formally prohibit the NCUA from considering reputation risk (defined as any risk that an institution’s actions could negatively impact public perception for reasons not clearly and directly related to the institution’s financial or operational condition) whether alone or in combination with other factors, in supervisory determinations, ratings, enforcement actions, or other agency decisions, and prohibits any agency personnel from taking adverse action against a credit union or its institution-affiliated parties to punish or discourage lawful political, social, cultural, or religious activities, constitutionally protected speech, or lawful business activities disfavored by the agency. The rule, which imposes no additional compliance burden on the approximately 4,370 federally insured credit unions subject to NCUA supervision, formalizes as a legal mandate the agency’s existing practice of not examining for reputation risk, which the NCUA had already ceased as of September 25, 2025. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the OCC issued Bulletin 2026-29, publishing the updated “Lending and Loan Portfolio Risk Management” booklet of the Comptroller’s Handbook, which revises and consolidates several previously existing guidance documents, including the April 1998 “Loan Portfolio Management” booklet, several Office of Thrift Supervision Examination Handbook sections, the “Loan Portfolio Management” section of the “Internal Control Questionnaire” booklet, the “Interest on Loans” section of the “Other Consumer Protection Laws and Regulations” booklet, and OTS Thrift Bulletin 78a on investment limitations under the Home Owners’ Loan Act. The updated booklet is designed to provide examiners with guidance on risks associated with lending, risk-based supervision of lending and loan portfolio risk management, common risk management practices across the loan life cycle, and examination procedures applicable to banks of all sizes, complexities, and risk profiles, and is intended to be used in conjunction with other booklets in the Safety and Soundness and Consumer Compliance series of the Comptroller’s Handbook. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the Bank of England’s Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB) launched a public consultation on the future design of the UK’s next-generation retail payments infrastructure, seeking input on payment journeys, key design choices, and priorities that will inform a blueprint to be delivered by a new industry-led Delivery Company. The proposed infrastructure is intended to provide a secure foundation for innovation and greater user choice, supporting existing payment functionality as well as new capabilities such as account-to-account payments at the point of sale and enhanced cross-border payments, while also supporting existing and emerging forms of digital money. The consultation, which closes on September 11, 2026, is part of a broader effort to deliver on the National Payments Vision and the Payments Vision Delivery Committee’s strategy to modernize UK retail payments, with Pay.UK continuing to operate the UK’s existing retail interbank payment systems throughout the transition. For more information, click here.
On June 25, the Bank for International Settlements’ Financial Stability Board (FSB) published an executive summary of its implementation review of the global regulatory framework for cryptoassets and stablecoins, building on the FSB’s July 2023 Crypto Framework and its October 2025 Thematic Review, which found that implementation across jurisdictions remains uneven and incomplete. As of August 2025, only 11 jurisdictions had finalized comprehensive regulatory frameworks for cryptoasset activities and only five had done so for stablecoins. The review identified several critical gaps, including insufficient coverage of cryptoasset activities that give rise to leverage and liquidity risks such as borrowing, lending, and margin trading; fragmented and inconsistent stablecoin regulatory frameworks that lack robust requirements for risk management, capital buffers, and recovery and resolution planning; significant deficiencies in regulatory data and reporting requirements that force authorities to rely on commercial data providers and incomplete sources; and cross-border cooperation mechanisms that remain too limited to address the inherently global nature of cryptoasset markets. Based on these findings, the FSB issued eight recommendations addressed to jurisdictions, standard-setting bodies, and international organizations to promote fuller and more consistent implementation of the framework. For more information, click here.
On June 24, the FHFA published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would rescind its existing Duty to Serve Underserved Markets regulation and replace it with a streamlined new rule, relocating all Duty to Serve requirements from 12 CFR part 1282 to a new standalone part 1283, with the stated goal of enabling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to better serve very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in the manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing markets through greater innovation and reduced administrative burden. The most significant proposed change is the elimination of the existing framework of prescribed Statutory and Regulatory Activities, under which the enterprises were required to address a minimum number of specific activities in their three-year Underserved Markets Plans, and its replacement with a flexible approach permitting each Enterprise to undertake any action consistent with its statutory Duty to Serve obligations that has not been affirmatively determined to be ineligible by FHFA. The proposal also revises the method for calculating median income to better capture families in areas with concentrations of low-income households, removes certain conditions on eligible loan purchases including restrictions on subordinate multifamily liens and the limitation of Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity investments to rural areas, simplifies the affordability calculation for manufactured housing communities, reduces procedural requirements for plan development and review, and shifts the evaluation framework to focus on whether the enterprises actually met the needs of each underserved market rather than whether they met self-identified plan goals. Comments are due by July 24, 2026. For more information, click here.
On June 24, David Chaplin, head of enforcement and litigation at the Bank of England, delivered a speech at the Fifth Conference on Financial Law and Regulation at the University of Leeds examining a significant shift in how subjects of Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Bank of England enforcement investigations are engaging with regulators, describing a move away from the traditional adversarial, defensive model (in which admissions and acknowledgments of regulatory breaches were typically withheld until late in the settlement process) toward earlier, more candid engagement in which firms proactively identify, acknowledge, and remediate breaches at a much earlier stage. Chaplin highlighted the PRA’s Early Account Scheme (EAS), introduced as part of a 2024 enforcement policy update, as a key structural mechanism supporting this shift, offering investigation subjects the opportunity to produce a comprehensive and accurate factual account within six months, make early admissions of regulatory breaches, and receive an enhanced penalty discount of up to 50% where those admissions are made significantly in advance of any settlement proposal. Chaplin characterized these developments as a genuine sea change in regulatory enforcement, one that benefits both regulators, through more focused and efficient investigations and better use of specialist resources, and firms, through shorter periods of uncertainty, reduced cost and disruption, and stronger incentives for governance, escalation, and remediation. For more information, click here.
On June 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, by a bipartisan vote of 358 to 32, sending the bill to the president for signature. The legislation revises a range of federal housing programs, including increasing statutory maximum loan limits for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgage insurance programs, increasing the maximum eligible income for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and establishing a new grant program to assist regional, state, and local entities in developing affordable housing strategies. The bill also exempts certain residential construction, improvement, and rehabilitation activities from federal environmental review requirements, excludes veterans’ disability benefits from income calculations for the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, eliminates the requirement that manufactured homes be constructed with a permanent chassis, establishes a pilot program for temperature sensors in federally assisted housing, and expands oversight requirements for HUD and public housing agencies. For more information, click here.
On June 23, HUD announced 14 policy changes to the FHA Single Family mortgage insurance program, continuing the Trump administration’s effort to streamline the FHA program, which has now taken more than 150 actions since January 2025. The changes span mortgage origination through servicing and quality control and include streamlining appraisal field review requirements (expected to save the industry approximately $3.3 million annually) expanding contractor draw request flexibility under the Limited 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program, permanently exempting early payment defaults resulting from natural disasters from required quality control review samples, eliminating the duplicative requirement for lenders to use the Important Notice to Homebuyers Form 92900-B, and clarifying loss mitigation requirements governing trial payment plans to protect the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund while ensuring that proactive borrowers are not penalized. For more information, click here.
State Activities:
On June 25, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law the Buy-Now-Pay-Later Loan Consumer Protection Act, establishing the first Illinois-specific licensing and regulatory framework for buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) lenders, administered by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (DFPR), with compliance required by January 1, 2028. The act applies broadly to any person that offers, makes, arranges, or services BNPL loans, defined as closed-end credit payable in four or fewer installments or with a term of 120 days or less, and includes an anti-evasion provision relevant to bank partnership and third-party origination structures, while exempting banks, credit unions, and other depository institutions, as well as merchants and merchant platforms that make BNPL loans available through a licensed lender without originating, underwriting, servicing, or holding an ownership interest in the loans. Licensed lenders must comply with a range of operational requirements covering disclosures, risk-based underwriting, dispute resolution, refund procedures, payment practices, prepayment rights, and fee limitations, and all BNPL loans are subject to the rate cap under the Illinois Predatory Loan Prevention Act. The DFPR secretary has broad examination, investigation, and enforcement authority, including civil penalties of up to $25,000 per offense, and violations also constitute unlawful practices under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, with loans made by unlicensed non-exempt lenders rendered null and void. Persons already providing BNPL loans in Illinois that submit a license application on or before January 1, 2028 will be deemed provisional licensees authorized to continue operating while their application is pending. For more information, click here.
On June 19, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed House Bill 2321 into law, amending Arizona Revised Statutes to require the Arizona Department of Child Safety to automatically place a security freeze on the credit report or record of any child within 30 days of the child being adjudicated dependent and placed in the department’s care, without requiring a representative to initiate the request. The security freeze remains in effect until the child reaches age 16, at which point the child may elect to maintain or remove it, and the department is required to notify the child’s parent or guardian when a freeze is placed and again when the child leaves the department’s custody. The law also expands the definition of “protected person” under Arizona’s existing security freeze statute to expressly include children in the care of the Department of Child Safety, adding them alongside minors under age 16 and incapacitated persons or those for whom a guardian or conservator has been appointed. Violations of the security freeze requirements constitute unlawful practices under Arizona’s consumer protection statute and are subject to enforcement by both private action and the attorney general. For more information, click here.