On March 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) released a consent agreement with Electronic Payment Systems and its owners John Dorsey and Thomas McCann (collectively, EPS) for allegedly opening credit card processing merchant accounts for fictitious companies on behalf of Money Now Funding (MNF).
The complaint filed against EPS alleges that it had
On March 9, President Biden signed an Executive Order (the Order) to establish the first comprehensive federal digital asset strategy for the U.S., which would promote digital asset innovation while balancing benefits and associated risks. The order directs the Justice Department, U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,
On February 21, President Biden issued an executive order blocking property of certain persons, and prohibiting transactions regarding Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. The following day, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued restrictions on activities with Russian individuals and entities. On February 25, these lists were updated to include political leaders
On February 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) updated its Supervision and Examinations Manual to reflect changes it made to the Remittance Transfer Rule (Rule) in a final rule published on June 5, 2020. The changes made to Subpart B of Regulation E, effective July 21, 2020, (1) increased the Rule’s safe harbor for
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita started 2022 by announcing his intention to continue aggressively pursuing robocallers and summarizing the actions taken by his office in 2021. This included calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revise its rules to increase accountability, implementing new technologies to shorten the time for the AG to investigate complaints
On January 13, a coalition of 39 state attorneys general — led by AGs from Pennsylvania, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, and California — reached a settlement with student loan servicer Navient over allegedly unfair, deceptive, and abusive student loan origination and servicing practices. The $1.8 billion settlement will undoubtedly draw eyes, but perhaps just as important
On April 20, members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) testified before the Senate Commerce Committee to update lawmakers of their efforts to curtail scams and other fraudulent consumer abuses related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In addition to highlighting the abuses consumers have faced during COVID-19, the FTC reiterated its call for Congress to pass legislation reaffirming that the agency has authority to prohibit unlawful conduct and seek monetary relief for consumers who have lost money from illegal conduct. The FTC has historically relied on Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act to prohibit illegal conduct and secure monetary relief for consumers, but the Supreme Court ruled two days after this testimony that the agency does not have authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act – Section 13(b) to seek, nor a court to award, equitable monetary relief, such as restitution or disgorgement.
In Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau v. Nat’l Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust, the District of Delaware dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), alleging that a group of trusts that hold more than 800,000 private student loans engaged in unfair and deceptive practices. The District Court held that the CFPB’s
On April 6, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a consent order against California-based debt collector Yorba Capital Management LLC and its sole owner Daniel Portilla, Jr. for violating the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The consent order permanently bans Yorba and Portilla from the debt collection business
The California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) went into effect on January 1. The CCFPL requires the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI), formerly the Department of Business Oversight, to establish an Office of Financial Technology Innovation (OFTI). The DFPI stated in its recent monthly bulletin that OFTI would allow it to “work proactively