Photo of Chris Willis

Chris is the co-leader of the Consumer Financial Services Regulatory practice at the firm. He advises financial services institutions facing state and federal government investigations and examinations, counseling them on compliance issues including UDAP/UDAAP, credit reporting, debt collection, and fair lending, and defending them in individual and class action lawsuits brought by consumers and enforcement actions brought by government agencies.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Jonathan Floyd and Meagan Mihalko as they discuss recent trends in Article III standing in the federal courts. The trio examine why this is a big deal in consumer litigation, whether courts consistently apply recent Supreme Court decisions with one another, and what considerations and implications defendants should consider when deciding whether or not to remove a case from state to federal court.

On April 25, officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (together, the Agencies) issued a joint statement warning against the potential for automated systems, including artificial intelligence (AI), used in

On April 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released a new blog post, highlighting its current efforts in the credit card market. According to the post, interest rates on credit cards have risen substantially, with average rates over 20%. Implying that high interest rates are solely a result of lack of

At a U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) interagency event in Newark, New Jersey, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) Director Rohit Chopra announced the next phase in the Bureau’s attempt to eliminate what he referred to as modern-day redlining: discriminatory targeting also known as reverse redlining. Since October 2021, the CFPB and DOJ have jointly

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his fellow Partner Julie Hoffmeister as they discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent request for information about data brokers and the potential interplay with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). During this episode, they expand on the CFPB’s potential FCRA rulemaking regarding data brokers, the CFPB’s intent to monitor data brokers and its desire to have greater oversight on the data broker industry, and the steps that the CFPB may take in response to the request for information.

On April 14, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in related cases, Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Cochran, holding that constitutional challenges to the agencies’ structures can proceed directly in federal district court before raising them in administrative hearings before the agencies. The

On April 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) submitted a statement of interest to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida arguing that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act’s (ECOA) prohibition on discrimination covers every aspect of an applicant’s dealings with a creditor, not just the specific terms of a loan (like

Financial services industry groups are staunchly opposing a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) to require supervised nonbank entities to provide information about their use of certain terms and conditions in standard-form contracts. The CFPB would then compile this information into a registry available to the public. In individual letters dated

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his colleague Vin Thomas as they discuss what it’s like to be a general counsel of a financial services company, based on Vin’s long experience as a financial services general counsel. During this episode, they examine various types of challenging work a general counsel faces, including managing regulatory and compliance matters; the nuances of working for public and private companies handling deals, such as mergers and acquisitions; initial public offerings; and navigating a myriad of litigation matters.

As discussed here, on March 30, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Final Rule). Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to impose significant data collection and reporting requirements on small business creditors. Concurrently, the CFPB published materials and tools to help small businesses navigate the 888-page Final Rule.