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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.

On November 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a blog post, exploring the potential impact of student loan payment reinstatement. The CFPB found that student loan borrowers are increasingly likely to struggle once their monthly student loan payments are reinstated. However, the CFPB also found that student debt cancellation may substantially reduce

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his guest and colleague Brooke Conkle as they discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent consent order with Passport Auto Group. The FTC alleged Passport violated the law in three areas: Passport had a practice of marking up fees from the advertised price; Passport had a discretionary markup practice that caused Black and Latino customers to pay higher fees; and it charged Black and Latino customers additional fees for markups for extra services. The consent order requires Passport to pay $3.38 million, with the FTC redistributing the money to affected customers. Chris and Brooke further discuss the FTC’s proposed rule relating to disclosure of fees and how this affects auto dealerships.

In an October 27 letter, the American Bankers Association (ABA) expressed concern regarding a proposal currently being considered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would shift liability from consumers to banks for scams involving peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. This would include requiring banks to reimburse consumers for P2P payments made but later identified

As part of its ongoing initiative to scrutinize so-called “junk fees,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published guidance on two practices that it opines potentially violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair practices. Specifically, the CFPB published a compliance bulletin, cautioning against charging across-the-board depositor fees to consumers who deposit a

Unsurprisingly, defendants in two separate enforcements actions filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPB) have cited the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a basis for having their actions dismissed. As we discussed here, earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit held

At the Money 20/20 fintech conference, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra announced his intent to move forward with the CFPB’s rulemaking under Section 1033 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act as part of the financial services industry’s movement toward “open banking,” a concept that involves the use of APIs that provide direct

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleague and fellow Partner Jordi de Llano as they discuss recent developments in anti-money laundering. In this episode, the attorneys examine FinCen’s September 2022 final rule, which implements guidance on new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), as well as take a deeper dive into recent developments and what it means for different entities.

In response to the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFSA) that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding mechanism is unconstitutional, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sent a letter on October 24th to the CFPB, calling its continued operations into question and foreshadowing potential state challenges to its actions. While some state AGs and financial regulators are likely to help offset any reduction in CFPB activity through their own investigations and coordination with the CFPB, the dark cloud of the CFSA opinion hangs over the agency.

On October 6, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a consent order with Rhinebeck Bank (Rhinebeck) to resolve allegations that, in violation of New York Executive Law Section 296-a, the bank instituted discretionary dealer markup policies that resulted in a disparate impact that negatively affected members of minority groups.

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Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleague Partner Misha Tseytlin to discuss the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, what may happen next and when, and the ruling’s practical impact on the consumer finance industry. As noted in our October 20 blog about the CFSA case, a Fifth Circuit panel found the funding mechanism for the CFPB to be unconstitutional.