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 July 10, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was signed into law. The law addresses the nation’s housing shortage — estimated at up to 5.5 million units — by tackling three core areas: removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to new home construction (including allowing pre-approved home designs to accelerate permitting), modernizing Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs (including updates to manufactured housing standards, the HOME Program, and federal environmental review exemptions for small-scale developments), and enhancing community banking operations by cutting regulatory red tape to enable local banks to more freely deploy capital for housing construction and mortgages. The legislation incorporates more than 45 provisions targeting construction and zoning constraints, nine community banking relief bills, and, notably, a prohibition on the issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) through December 31, 2030. The bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support (358-32) after a lengthy legislative journey dating back to December 2025, reflecting broad consensus that expanding housing supply — across single-family, multifamily, and factory-built homes — is essential to addressing affordability challenges facing American families. For more information, click here.
On July 9, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking public comment on potential regulatory changes aimed at reducing burdens and promoting access to mortgage credit, consistent with Executive Order 14393 signed by President Donald Trump on March 13, 2026. The RFI focuses on three key areas: integrated mortgage disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) — commonly known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules — the right of rescission under TILA, and reverse mortgage disclosure requirements under Regulations X and Z. Specifically, the Bureau is soliciting input on whether current timing standards — such as the three-business-day and seven-business-day waiting periods — create undue burdens, whether materiality-based standards could replace or supplement existing timing rules, whether tailored requirements for small banks and credit unions are warranted, and whether reverse mortgage disclosures should be modernized and integrated. Comments are due by August 10, 2026. For more information, click here.
On July 9, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued Bulletin 2026-30 highlighting updated guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on voluntary information sharing under § 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act, which allows financial institutions to share information with one another under a liability safe harbor to improve the identification and reporting of money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, and other illicit financial activity. FinCEN’s updated § 314(b) Fact Sheet clarifies that financial institutions may share information about suspected fraud and other criminal activity, including video surveillance footage, cyber-related data such as IP addresses, and fraud indicators like newly added payees followed by large transfers or login activity from geographically distant locations, with any other eligible § 314(b)-registered financial institution or association, even when the sharing institution has no reason to believe the information relates to a specific customer, account, or transaction of the receiving institution. The OCC reaffirmed its commitment to combating fraud and encouraged all national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches and agencies, and community banks participating in the § 314(b) program to take advantage of this voluntary information-sharing framework as part of the administration’s broader whole-of-government efforts to combat fraud. For more information, click here.
On July 9, Swift announced that its blockchain-based ledger is ready for initial use, with 17 banks from six continents preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenized deposits for cross-border payments — a milestone the cooperative achieved just nine months after announcing the initiative. Swift is a global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, connecting more than 200 markets and moving the equivalent of world GDP every two to three days. The shared ledger provides participating banks with a secure orchestration layer enabling them to move funds for customers around the clock, including overnight and on weekends, before completing final settlement through existing systems, improving liquidity efficiency and client experience without compromising compliance or risk controls. Built on Swift’s existing trusted global infrastructure, the ledger represents the first step in a broader vision that includes future innovations in programmable money and agentic commerce, with expanded functionality and availability planned following the initial controlled go-live phase. For more information, click here.
On July 7, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the creation of a new Retail Fraud Working Group within its Division of Enforcement. The initiative represents a structural expansion of the SEC’s enforcement capabilities and has direct implications for broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other regulated entities that serve retail clients. The Retail Fraud Working Group will consolidate staff and resources across the SEC to identify and pursue fraud targeting retail investors. The group’s stated mandate covers offering frauds, pump-and-dump schemes, market manipulation, and breaches of duties to customers by investment advisers and broker-dealers. In addition to proactive case generation, the working group will coordinate with domestic regulatory partners and foreign counterparts and will engage in investor education outreach through the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance. This is consistent with prior statements made by SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins about focusing the SEC’s Division of Enforcement on protecting retail investors. For more information, click here.
On July 7, the Federal Reserve Board issued a proposal requesting public comment on amendments to its requirements for banks to maintain anti-money laundering (AML) programs, with the changes intended to align with similar amendments separately proposed by four other federal agencies. Among the key proposed changes, banks would be required to focus their AML resources based on risk — directing greater attention to higher-risk customers and activities — and to incorporate the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s AML priorities into their risk assessment processes. The proposal also provides that once a bank has established an AML program, the Federal Reserve would concentrate its supervision and enforcement activities on significant program failures rather than technical deficiencies. Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. For more information, click here.
On July 7, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina against Trevor L. Vernon and his company Argent Capital Management LLC, a Delaware company based in Franklin, NC, charging them with fraud in connection with the operation of a fraudulent commodity pool. According to the complaint, from at least March 2022 through February 2026, the defendants fraudulently solicited over $14 million from at least 60 participants to invest in a pool purportedly trading equity index futures contracts, options on equity index futures, and crypto assets, while falsely representing that Vernon was a successful trader generating extraordinary profits — when in reality his trading consistently produced catastrophic losses. The complaint further alleges the defendants concealed those losses by sending participants fictitious monthly and quarterly account statements showing fabricated gains, misappropriating pool funds, and operating a Ponzi-like scheme in which money from new participants was used to make payments to existing participants. Additionally, Vernon is alleged to have made false statements during sworn testimony in the CFTC’s investigation, and both defendants are alleged to have violated multiple registration provisions under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations. For more information, click here.
On July 6, the CFPB released its 2026 regulatory agenda, outlining its planned rulemaking initiatives across the pre-rule, proposed rule, and final rule stages. The agenda reflects the Bureau’s continued shift under the current administration toward deregulation, regulatory streamlining, and reconsideration of rules issued under prior leadership. The CFPB releases regulatory agendas twice a year in voluntary conjunction with a broader initiative led by the Office of Management and Budget to publish a Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions across the federal government. The Bureau’s 2026 regulatory agenda is actually the Fall 2025 agenda, which was delayed, and some of the actions described are no longer current, as explained below. The CFPB’s 2026 agenda signals an active rulemaking period ahead, despite limited staffing, and continues a trend that has been building since the start of the current administration: a sustained and deliberate shift toward deregulation, regulatory reconsideration, and reduced supervisory reach. Most of the items represent reconsideration of an existing rule issued under the prior administration, rather than a new regulatory undertaking. The designation of multiple agenda items as deregulatory under Executive Order 14192 makes the Bureau’s direction explicit. At the same time, the agenda is not purely subtractive. The Bureau is moving forward with rulemakings that clarify its own procedural standards, including proposed rules on guidance document procedures and periodic regulatory review — steps that could ultimately constrain how future administrations use the Bureau’s rulemaking and supervisory tools. For more information, click here.
On July 3, the SEC published its 2026 regulatory agenda, outlining an active and wide-ranging rulemaking agenda across capital markets, investment management, and market structure. The agenda includes two items in the prerule stage — enhancements to asset-backed securities registration and disclosure and an evaluation of the Consolidated Audit Trail — and a broad list of proposed rulemakings covering registered offerings reform, exempt offering pathways, foreign private issuer eligibility, executive compensation disclosure, shareholder proposal modernization, semiannual reporting, custody rules, electronic delivery of information, retail exposure to private markets, broker-dealer financial responsibility rules, and the rescission of climate-related disclosure rules, among others. Notably, the agenda includes three crypto-focused rulemakings: (1) Crypto Assets, designated as economically significant, in which the Division of Corporation Finance is considering rules governing the offer and sale of crypto assets — potentially including exemptions and safe harbors — to clarify the regulatory framework, facilitate capital formation, and accommodate innovation while ensuring investor protection, with a proposed rulemaking anticipated in July 2026; (2) Amendments to the Custody Rules, designated as economically significant and deregulatory, in which the Division of Investment Management is considering amendments to modernize custody requirements under the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act to address how investment advisers and funds may hold crypto assets in compliance with Commission requirements, with a proposed rulemaking anticipated in October 2026; and (3) Amendments to Broker-Dealer Financial Responsibility and Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules Regarding Crypto Assets, designated as economically significant, in which the Division of Trading and Markets is considering amendments to Rules 15c3-1, 15c3-3, 17a-3, and 17a-4 to address the application of broker-dealer financial responsibility and recordkeeping rules to crypto assets, with a proposed rulemaking anticipated in July 2026. For more information, click here.
On July 2, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted defendants Barry Silbert, Mark Murphy, and Digital Currency Group, Inc.’s motion to certify for interlocutory appeal the court’s February 24, 2026, order denying their motion to dismiss in McGreevy v. Digital Currency Group, Inc. The underlying case is a putative class action alleging that the defendants violated federal securities laws in connection with the Genesis Yield program — an investment arrangement through which consumers tendered digital assets in exchange for returns — which the court previously found to constitute a security under both the Howey and Reves tests. In granting certification under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), Judge Stefan Underhill found that all three required elements were satisfied: the question of whether the Genesis Yield program constitutes a security is a controlling question of pure law, decided at the pleading stage without a factual record and dispositive of all federal claims; there is substantial ground for difference of opinion given the absence of Second Circuit guidance on applying the Howey and Reves frameworks to cryptocurrency investment schemes; and an immediate appeal would materially advance the termination of the litigation by potentially eliminating all federal claims and saving the parties years of discovery, motions practice, and trial. The case will now proceed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on the threshold question of whether the Genesis Yield program qualifies as a security under federal law. For more information, click here.
On July 2, the SEC published a request for public comment seeking input on exchange-traded funds investing in innovative asset classes or employing novel investment strategies — collectively referred to as “Novel ETFs” — with comments due by August 31, 2026. The request reflects the SEC’s effort to evaluate whether the current regulatory framework adequately supports innovation in the ETF space while protecting investors and maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, noting that the ETF market has grown substantially since the adoption of Rule 6c-11 in 2019, expanding from roughly $4 trillion to over $12 trillion in net assets and from approximately 1,900 to over 4,600 funds by the end of 2025. Novel ETFs of interest include those focused on crypto assets, commodities, single-stock strategies, heightened leverage, blockchain-enabled opportunities, private assets, and event contracts, and the request raises questions across four key areas: (1) whether Novel ETFs qualify as “investment companies” under the Investment Company Act’s subjective and objective tests; (2) whether Rule 6c-11 should be amended to address portfolio conditions, arbitrage mechanism concerns, or investor protection issues specific to Novel ETFs; (3) whether the registration and Rule 485 framework — including automatic effectiveness timelines, staff comment procedures, competitive first-mover pressures, and material pre-launch changes — should be modernized to better accommodate Novel ETFs while preserving Commission oversight; and (4) whether enhanced disclosure requirements should apply to Novel ETFs to ensure investors can adequately evaluate these products. For more information, click here.
On July 1, the OCC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to voluntarily dismiss their portion of the appeal in Texas Bankers Association v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, with each party bearing its own costs and fees, while simultaneously the three federal banking agencies — the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC — filed a status report pursuant to the court’s April 1, 2026, order. The underlying appeal challenges a district court order granting the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction related to the October 2023 Final Rule implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The status report revealed that the agencies had published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking in July 2025 proposing to rescind the 2023 CRA Final Rule and reinstate the prior regulatory framework, receiving approximately 50 comment letters in response. While the OCC and FDIC are withdrawing from the appeal, the Federal Reserve — which is not joining the dismissal motion — reported that it is close to completing the rulemaking process and noted that if the 2023 Final Rule is rescinded and replaced, the litigation would likely be rendered moot. The Federal Reserve committed to filing an appropriate motion within 15 days of any final rule being issued, or a further status report by August 14, 2026, whichever comes first. For more information, click here and here.
On June 30, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee ordered H.R. 9330, the Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act, to be reported as amended by a vote of 29-22, advancing the bill out of committee and toward a full House vote. Introduced on June 18, 2026, by Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI), the bill would establish a federal regulatory framework for earned wage access (EWA) services — products that allow consumers to access wages they have already earned before their scheduled payday — and would clarify that such services do not constitute credit, loans, or debt under federal law. Key provisions include requiring EWA providers to offer a no-cost option alongside any fee-based option, mandating detailed disclosures before and after each transaction, prohibiting providers from pursuing consumers through litigation, arbitration, or debt collection for unpaid disbursements, and protecting consumers from overdraft fees caused by provider errors. The bill also includes nondiscrimination requirements, consumer data protections under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and a partial federal preemption preventing states from classifying compliant EWA services as credit or loan products. The CFPB would be required to issue implementing rules within 180 days of enactment. For more information, click here.
On June 30, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that Christopher Alexander Delgado, president and CEO of Goliath Ventures (formerly Gen-Z Venture Firm), pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a massive cryptocurrency fraud scheme, facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each fraud count and up to 10 years on the money laundering count, with sentencing scheduled for October 8, 2026. According to the plea agreement and court documents, from at least January 2023 through January 2026, Delgado and co-conspirators operated Goliath as a Ponzi scheme, soliciting victims to invest substantial sums through false promises of monthly returns generated by cryptocurrency “liquidity pools,” using personal referrals, professional marketing materials, luxury events, and charitable sponsorships to establish credibility — while in reality using investor funds primarily to pay purported returns to earlier investors and to fund lavish lifestyles, with the U.S. identifying at least $400 million paid by investors to Goliath and Delgado admitting to a minimum of $250 million in losses. Delgado personally used investor funds to purchase at least six residential properties valued between $1.15 million and $8.5 million, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Rolex watches, dozens of Louis Vuitton bags, and custom Tiffany jewelry, among other luxury items. As part of his plea, he has agreed to forfeit eight real properties, 11 vehicles, 30 watches, more than 50 luxury bags and wallets, and at least 29 pieces of high-end jewelry, along with multiple bank and cryptocurrency accounts. For more information, click here.
On June 29, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released a statement on behalf of its member agencies — including the Federal Reserve, FDIC, National Credit Union Administration, OCC, CFPB, and State Liaison Committee — reaffirming support for the formation of new (de novo) depository institutions and announcing process improvements aimed at reducing unnecessary delays, costs, and unpredictability in the application process. The statement notes that while the overall banking system has grown significantly in asset size over the past three decades, the number of depository institutions has steadily declined, with de novo formations stagnating since the 2008 financial crisis. The FFIEC emphasized that new depository institutions play a vital role in maintaining competition, fostering innovation, broadening consumer access to credit and banking services, and ensuring that local communities and small businesses have access to financial services. The member entities committed to enhancing coordination among regulators, streamlining application processes within applicable statutory requirements, and providing greater transparency to applicants on expectations and timelines. The statement does not introduce new instructions but is intended to offer further transparency into the de novo formation process, and includes agency-specific resources for prospective applicants. For more information, click here.
State Activities:
On July 8, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Diana, delivering a decisive and long-awaited victory for debt buyers operating in New Jersey. The court’s ruling — affirming the dismissal of a putative class action brought by a borrower seeking to void his credit card debt — definitively closes the door on a theory of liability that has dogged the debt-buying industry in New Jersey for years. The plaintiff defaulted on a modest credit card balance and after the debt changed hands through a series of assignments, the plaintiff filed a putative class action in 2023 alleging that, among others, the debt buyer violated the New Jersey Consumer Finance Licensing Act (CFLA) by purchasing and holding consumer debt without first obtaining the required consumer lender or sales finance company licenses. Critically, the plaintiff sought to weaponize N.J.S.A. 17:11C-33(b) — the CFLA’s criminal enforcement provision — as the basis for a private right of action to void the debt outright and enjoin further collection, on behalf of himself and an entire class of New Jersey borrowers. The potential exposure for the debt-buying industry was enormous. If the plaintiff’s theory had prevailed, any debt buyer that had not obtained a New Jersey consumer lender license before taking assignment of consumer debt could have faced class-wide actions seeking to void those debt portfolios in their entirety. However, the New Jersey Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Hoffman and joined by all six of his colleagues, held without reservation that the CFLA does not contain an implied private right of action for a borrower to void a loan contract. For more information, click here.
On July 7, Delaware Governor Matt Meyer signed a package of three bills representing the state’s most significant update to its financial regulatory framework in more than 40 years, positioning Delaware to compete in emerging financial technology sectors while maintaining strong consumer protections. Senate Bill 16, the Delaware Banking Modernization Act of 2026, updates the state’s banking code to recognize digital assets and virtual currency, modernizes bank governance and interstate banking laws, and strengthens the regulatory authority of the Office of the State Bank Commissioner. Senate Bill 18, the Delaware Money Transmission and Virtual Currency Modernization Act, creates a comprehensive licensing and supervisory framework for money transmitters and virtual currency businesses. Senate Bill 19, the Delaware Payment Stablecoins Act, establishes one of the nation’s first state regulatory frameworks aligned with the federal GENIUS Act, authorizing Delaware to charter and supervise payment stablecoin issuers while requiring one-to-one reserve backing, monthly public attestations, anti-money laundering compliance, and strong consumer protections. The legislation is designed to attract new investment, support high-quality jobs, and ensure Delaware remains competitive as financial institutions and technology companies decide where to locate and grow. For more information, click here.
On June 24, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that Unlock Partnership Solutions, Inc. has entered into a settlement requiring the company to comply with Colorado’s Uniform Consumer Credit Code (UCCC) and provide restitution to affected homeowners after the attorney general’s office determined that Unlock’s “home equity agreements” — in which consumers received a lump sum payment in exchange for a percentage interest in their home’s future value — constitute consumer credit transactions subject to Colorado lending laws, including the Consumer Equity Protection Act (CEPA), rate caps, required disclosures, and licensing obligations. As of the announcement, Unlock has identified $283,375 in restitution owed to 125 Colorado consumers, with that figure expected to grow as additional loans close over time. Under the settlement, Unlock must comply with UCCC rate limits and disclosure requirements, obtain all required Colorado licenses before resuming operations, and make restitution payments directly to consumers on an ongoing basis. For more information, click here.
On June 23, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signed into law S 3075, the most significant update to the state’s licensed financial activities framework in recent years, establishing new requirements for nonbank mortgage servicers operating in Rhode Island. The legislation amends Chapter 19-14 of the Rhode Island General Laws to add numerous new definitions, including “covered mortgage servicer,” “corporate governance,” “mortgage servicing rights investor,” “sub-servicer,” and “servicing liquidity,” among others, and adds three new sections to Chapter 19-14.11 governing third-party loan servicers. Specifically, the law requires “covered mortgage servicers” — defined as nonbank mortgage servicers with portfolios of 2,000 or more one-to-four unit residential mortgage loans serviced for others that operate in two or more states — to maintain capital and liquidity in compliance with Federal Housing Finance Agency eligibility requirements, establish a board of directors responsible for corporate governance oversight, implement internal and external audit programs, and maintain a risk management program addressing credit, liquidity, operational, market, legal, and reputational risks. The director of the Department of Business Regulation is granted authority to adopt implementing rules, impose additional conditions on high-risk servicers, and temporarily suspend requirements in response to economic, environmental, or societal events of sufficient severity. The act took effect upon passage. For more information, click here.