On January 27, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Status of Reorganization Efforts (GAO‑26‑108448), that offers a detailed snapshot of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) ongoing downsizing and restructuring. This is the first of two GAO reports that focus on the CFPB’s reorganization and its ability to fulfill its statutory functions going forward.
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week.
On February 12, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul S. Atkins testified before the Senate Banking Committee that, nine
In December 2023, we blogged about lawsuits filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and later the State of Texas against Colony Ridge and related entities. The complaints alleged that Colony Ridge targeted Hispanic borrowers with deceptive Spanish‑language marketing, sold largely undeveloped and flood‑prone land, and engaged in predatory financing by steering borrowers into high‑rate, seller‑financed mortgage loans with extremely high foreclosure rates.
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week.
On February 6, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Participants Division reissued CFTC Staff Letter 25‑40 with a narrow revision
In an unpublished memorandum decision, the Ninth Circuit in R.R. v. California Physicians’ Service d/b/a Blue Shield of California, affirmed the insurer and administrator’s denial of benefits for a dependent’s residential mental health treatment under an ERISA‑governed plan. The court applied abuse‑of‑discretion review and concluded that the denial was supported by the plan’s medical‑necessity criteria and the administrative record. The dissent, however, argued that the majority failed to meaningfully account for a structural conflict of interest and for the administrator’s handling of treating‑provider evidence and prior failed lower levels of care.
On January 26, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Calendar Year 2027 Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Medicare Advantage (MA) capitation rates and Medicare Part D payment policies. CMS projects a net average year‑over‑year MA payment change of just 0.09% — roughly a flat environment once medical trend, utilization, and other pressures are considered. CMS frames the proposal as improving “payment accuracy and sustainability,” with a focus on aligning payments more closely with actual beneficiary risk and care rather than documentation intensity.
On January 28, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Corporation Finance, Division of Investment Management, and Division of Trading and Markets issued a joint statement explaining how existing federal securities laws apply when traditional securities are “tokenized” on blockchain or other crypto networks.
In 2025, the U.S. digital asset landscape evolved more dramatically than in any year since the industry’s inception. A pro‑innovation White House, an active Congress, and key regulators — including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Department of
On January 29, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael S. Selig and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul S. Atkins held a joint “Harmonization: U.S. Financial Leadership in the Crypto Era” event at CFTC headquarters in Washington, D.C. Billed as an opportunity to align the agencies’ approaches to digital assets and to advance President Trump’s goal of making the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world,” the event marked a clear pivot away from the fragmented, enforcement‑driven posture of prior years toward coordinated rulemaking and market‑structure reform.
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week.