On December 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued orders to five companies offering buy now, pay later (BNPL) products. BNPL programs are designed to allow consumers to purchase goods and to defer payment over a short term with little to no interest, but with the potential for fees in the event of nonpayment.
On December 1, Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2021-36 to update lenders on changes in loan eligibility requirements. While it is not unusual for Freddie Mac to issue such bulletins, this bulletin contained changes pertaining to cryptocurrency.
Specifically, the bulletin stated that Freddie Mac updated its Seller/Servicer Guide (the Guide) to address “the use of cryptocurrency
Introduction
On November 18, federal banking agencies[1] issued the long-awaited final rule,[2] establishing data security incident response notification requirements for “banking organizations” and “bank service providers” (terms defined below). Included in this rule is a headline-grabbing 36-hour regulatory notification requirement for banking organizations. This final rule is set to take effect on April
On November 2, the House Financial Services Committee’s Task Force on Financial Technology held a hearing titled, “Buy Now, Pay More Later? Investigating Risks and Benefits of BNPL and Other Emerging Fintech Cash Flow Products.” For the hearing, the task force invited both consumer advocates and industry tradespeople to address several products, including buy now,
On October 27, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a final rule (Final Rule), amending the Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (Safeguards Rule) under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) as it applies to covered financial institutions. The Final Rule provides guidance on developing and implementing information security programs, such as access controls, authentication, and encryption. Notably,
On October 18, consumer advocate groups and 19 state attorneys general wrote comment letters, urging banking regulators to denounce “rent-a-bank” arrangements between financial institutions and fintechs or other third-party providers.
The consumer advocates and attorneys general both push regulators to address and denounce financial institutions partnering with nonbanks to engage in high-cost lending otherwise prohibited
The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), a trade group of retail financial institutions, recently sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director, requesting increased supervision of financial technology companies (fintechs). On October 3, just three days after Rohit Chopra was confirmed as the next CFPB director, the CBA urged him to consider expanding
On August 27, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued “Conducting Due Diligence on Financial Technology Companies: A Guide for Community Banks.” While the guide is primarily intended to help community banks assess risks
The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) of California entered a settlement agreement with Chime Financial, Inc. (Chime), a neobank company that is not licensed to operate as a bank or otherwise exempt from licensure, but works with banking partners to issue consumer banking products. The DFPI found that Chime potentially violated California Financial
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Illinois Predatory Loan Prevention Act (Act) into immediate effect on March 23. The Act imposes sweeping changes and contains broad language, leaving the state’s lenders and borrowers with an uncertain future.
To understand this new law, one must recognize that Illinois based the Act on the federal government’s Military