On November 3, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”), the federal agency that regulates the U.S. financial services industry, issued a warning to U.S. banks of a growing threat of cyberattacks involving extortion.
The general threat of cyberattacks comes as no surprise in the wake of highly publicized data breaches. Likewise, cyber security professionals
Cox Communications Inc. agreed to pay $595,000 to resolve an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau into whether the cable operator failed to properly protect its customers’ personal information when the company’s electronic data systems were hacked in 2014. The consent decree, entered into on November 5, is the first privacy and
On November 4, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released its “Credit Card Lending” booklet of the Comptroller’s Handbook, replacing the outdated booklet issued in October 1996. A copy can be found here.
The Comptroller’s Handbook is intended as a summary restatement of existing laws, regulations, and policies. The “Credit
On November 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it has revised its appeals process and issued a new appeals policy. The announcement was made in conjunction with the release of the CFPB’s Fall 2015 Supervisory Highlights. According to the Bureau, the “revisions reflect experience gained in the appeals process so far, and
On November 4, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 47 State Attorneys General, and other state and local law enforcement authorities from around the country announced the first coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection practices. The initiative, named Operation Collection Protection, aims to crackdown on collectors who use illegal tactics
On October 29, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced the settlement of an enforcement action against two affiliated consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) based on these companies’ employment background screening practices. The consent order requires these background screeners to pay a total of $13 million in penalties and
On November 2, 2015, a sharply divided Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, where it considered whether Congress may confer Article III standing by authorizing a private right of action based on the violation of a federal statute alone, despite a plaintiff having suffered no concrete
On October 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed an administrative consent order against Security National Automotive Acceptance Company (“SNAAC”), an Ohio auto lender specializing in loans to service members, for engaging in illegal debt collection practices. The order requires the company to refund or credit about $2.28 million to service members and other consumers
On October 27, the United States Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (“CISA”) by a vote of 74-21. CISA claims to improve cybersecurity by encouraging the sharing of threat information among companies and the U.S. Government.
As previously reported here, CISA would permit private entities to share cyber threat
On October 30, the American Bankers Association (“ABA”) filed a letter opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s plan, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, to conduct a nationwide web-based survey of 8,000 individuals as part of the Bureau’s study of overdraft protection services. The ABA urged the CFPB to re-submit its proposed plan with a draft