On January 18, a court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied class certification in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case concluding that the factual issue of whether the proposed class members had suffered an injury-in-fact sufficient to confer Article III standing based on the receipt of a ringless voicemail was an individualized issue that would predominate over common issues.

As the financial landscape continues to evolve, financial institutions and fintech businesses, including payment processors and money transmitters, are facing increased regulatory scrutiny and heightened consumer expectations. Our dedicated Payments team is at the forefront of these changes, actively addressing the full spectrum of legal challenges in this intricate and ever-evolving sector.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host, Chris Willis, is joined by Partners Kim Phan and Lori Sommerfield, to discuss recent developments related to website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In this episode, they explore the Department of Justice’s proposed rule under Title II of the ADA, which seeks to improve state and local government website and mobile app access for individuals with disabilities, and the potential significance to the private sector. They also discuss the international World Wide Web Consortium’s latest version of its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), 2.2, and the first working draft of WCAG 3.0. Tune in to learn more about these important updates and how they may impact your organization.

Last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law Assembly Bill 2672, which both prohibits sellers from charging a credit card surcharge greater than what they are charged by the credit card company and requires sellers to clearly post the price of the credit card surcharge. The law will take effect on February 11, 2024.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Dave Gettings and colleagues Tim St. George and Cindy Hanson for a highly informative discussion on federal preemption as it relates to state laws and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This episode provides listeners with an overview of important state and local legislation governing background screening, along with discussions about how federal preemption might affect required compliance with these state and local laws. Topics include:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued a report entitled Identity-Related Suspicious Activity: 2021 Threats and Trends highlighting threat patterns and trend information derived from financial institutions’ Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) filings for the calendar year 2021. Financial institutions are required to file suspicious activity reports no later than 30 calendar days after the initial detection of facts that could constitute suspicious activity.

This article was republished on insideARM on February 6, 2024.

On January 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reverse a district court’s decision finding that a debt collector lacked the requisite knowledge and intent to violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when it sent a debt-collection communication prior to any knowledge of the debtor’s bankruptcy filing.

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Smith v. Spizzirri, which presents the question of whether § 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires district courts to issue a stay pending arbitration or allows courts the discretion to dismiss the suit when all claims are subject to arbitration.