The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama recently issued a decision in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case highlighting the importance of clear and unambiguous communication in debt collection practices and the need for debt collectors to have robust procedures in place to handle disputes.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis discusses the complexities and potential pitfalls of bank-fintech partnerships. Joined by colleagues Alexandra Steinberg Barrage, Matthew Bornfreund, and Jesse Silverman, the conversation delves into the structure of banking-as-a-service (BaaS) relationships, regulatory pressures, and key friction points such as BSA/AML compliance and ledgering. The team offers practical solutions for both banks and fintechs to ensure successful collaborations, emphasizing the importance of clear roles, responsibilities, and robust compliance measures. This episode is essential listening for anyone involved in or considering a bank-fintech partnership.

In the latest episode of Unauthorized Access, host Sadia Mirza welcomes Kaitlin Clemens, the newest member of Troutman Pepper’s Incidents + Investigations team. Kaitlin shares her journey into incident response and cybersecurity, transitioning from plaintiff-side litigation to crisis management in the cybersecurity space. She opens up about the challenges and rewards of her role, shedding light on the critical importance of having a supportive team.

As discussed here, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), which upheld the CFPB’s funding structure, the Bureau announced updated compliance dates for its Section 1071 Final Rule concerning small business data collection and reporting under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Dear Mary,

One of our critical service providers recently suffered a cyberattack. It’s all over the news, and our business operations are severely impacted. We’re losing money every day, and we have no idea how long this will last. Do you have any suggestions on what to do? The lack of information from our service provider is incredibly frustrating.

– Frustrated in Dallas

On June 20, six federal financial services regulators issued the final automated valuation model (AVM) rule. The AVM rule, initially proposed in June 2023 and discussed here, aims to implement the quality control standards mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). The final AVM rule is largely identical to the proposed rule and is set to take effect on the first day of the calendar quarter following 12 months after its publication in the Federal Register.

On May 30, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided Cantero, reaffirming and elaborating on the Barnett Bank preemption standard, and remanding the case to the Second Circuit for further proceedings. Cantero addressed whether a New York law requiring the payment of at least 2% per annum interest on mortgage escrow deposits was preempted by federal law as to national banks. The Supreme Court held that the Second Circuit erred when it failed to apply the preemption standard articulated in Barnett Bank of Marion County, N.A. v. Nelson, which was incorporated by Congress into the Dodd-Frank Act. The Court rejected the lower court’s holding “that federal law preempts any state law that ‘purports to exercise control over a federally granted banking power,’ regardless of ‘the magnitude of its effects.'” The Court also rejected the approach argued by the petitioners, explaining it would “yank the preemption standard to the opposite extreme, and would preempt virtually no non-discriminatory state laws that apply to both state and national banks.”

On June 18, a Colorado federal court granted the plaintiff trade groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction, effectively halting the enforcement of Colorado’s H.B. 1229 with respect to loans made by out-of-state state-chartered banks.