Regulatory Enforcement + Compliance

Subscribe to Regulatory Enforcement + Compliance via RSS

On March 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its monthly complaint snapshot, with a specific focus on credit cards.  Since its inception in July 2011, the Bureau has handled 1,136,000 consumer complaints across all products, with 116,200 complaints related to credit cards.  The CFPB received 26,300 complaints in February 2017, with 2,299 of those…

On March 23, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced settlements with three health-related applications sold in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.  The settlements arose from allegations of misleading claims and irresponsible privacy practices.  Under the terms of the settlements, the developers agreed to provide additional information about how the apps …

On February 9, 2017, Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R.-Va.), introduced H.R. 985, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 (“the Act”). The Act aims to “amend the procedures used in federal court class actions and multidistrict litigation proceedings to assure fairer, more efficient outcomes for claimants and defendants.” Rep. Goodlatte issued a…

On March 22, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that his office reached a $540,000 settlement with Freedom Stores, a Norfolk, Virginia-based retailer that sold furniture and electronics in stores near military bases.  Schneiderman said that the settlement will clear debt and judgments charged to 257 soldiers from New York serving at various locations …

A recent interview given to the Washington State Tri-City Herald highlights the increased focus of the Washington Attorney General’s office on consumer protection issues. 

In the interview, Attorney General Bob Ferguson explained that his focus is to recover money for consumers who have been harmed.  He told the paper that since he has …

The Federal Trade Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) to strengthen cooperation regarding cross-border fraud matters.  Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen signed the MOU on behalf of the United States, and Commissioner Bob Paulson signed on behalf of the RCMP and Canada.

The MOU concerns…

The Federal Trade Commission has released its annual summary of consumer complaints for 2016, contained in the FTC’s latest Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book.  The FTC compiles the report annually based on complaints received by the Consumer Sentinel Network.  Complaints include those made directly by consumers to the FTC, as well as complaints received…

On March 16, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Board”) issued an order approving the merger of two bank holding companies, People’s United Financial, Inc. and Suffolk Bancorp, under Section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (the “Act”).1 Although the approval of the merger itself is relatively insignificant, the order expanded…

On March 16, the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement with five California law firms and Mandip Purewal , the owner of the firms.  The Attorney General alleged that the firms illegally collected advance fees from consumers, ostensibly to settle the consumers’ debts.  In actuality, the …

On March 17, the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a brief to the D.C. Circuit asserting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s single-director structure violates the Constitution’s separation of powers in the CFPB v. PHH Corporation case.

CFPB’s Single Director Structure

The Democratic-controlled 111th Congress created the CFPB as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in…