On July 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would restore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ability to obtain equitable monetary remedies under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. The legislation — H.R. 2667, the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act — passed by a vote of 221-205, with all House Democrats and two
Between July 20-22, 2021, state securities regulators in New Jersey, Texas, and Alabama took aim at BlockFi — a cryptocurrency-based platform that has raised $14.7 billion from investors — related to the company’s interest-bearing crypto accounts. This regulatory scrutiny, brought by a bipartisan group of state securities regulators, may prove significant given that state and
On July 19, and just over one year after his office began enforcing the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he is “seeing great progress” with CCPA enforcement, even while he urged Californians to take advantage of their new rights under the CCPA.
“Enforcement of the CCPA marks an
On July 1, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to approve seven omnibus resolutions authorizing staff attorneys to use compulsory process to investigate key enforcement targets. The vote fell along party lines, with Democratic Commissioners Lina Khan, Rohit Chopra, and Kelly Slaughter voting in favor of the resolutions, while Republican Commissioners Christine Wilson and Noah
On June 23, Commissioner Christine Wilson, a Republican appointee, confirmed that she has agreed to use the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rulemaking authority to craft comprehensive data privacy regulations. With Commissioner Wilson’s agreement, there is an even stronger chance that the FTC will engage in privacy-related rulemaking, especially since recently appointed FTC Chair Lina Khan
If you use the internet, you have probably encountered at least one of the scams con artists use to bilk victims. There’s “catfishing” and other online dating fraud, where scammers use fake identities to woo victims into sending money. There’s also “grandparent scams,” where typically elderly victims are tricked by those posing as his or her grandchild into sending money for a faux emergency. Cryptocurrency’s recent rise in popularity has seen fraudsters put a twist on the old scams and come up with a new one: cryptocurrency investment schemes. And the Federal Trade Commission and state AGs are taking steps to put the public on notice and minimize consumer harm on this new twist.
On June 7, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed settlement with MoviePass. And in an interesting twist, the FTC used the proposed settlement to announce a novel means of obtaining monetary relief.
As you’ll remember from our prior commentary, the Supreme Court recently held in AMG Capital Management that Section 13(b) of
While active in the space for several years, state attorneys general have taken increasingly aggressive action over the last year to regulate crypto-based products and services and prosecute those abusing this otherwise exciting innovation. In a recent article, we summarize the basics of crypto, as well as recent actions by state attorneys general involving crypto-based
On May 18, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Acting chairwoman told Congress that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s opposition to legislation that would authorize the FTC to obtain monetary remedies under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act was based on “numerous misstatements and faulty premises.” Chairwoman Slaughter’s comments highlight the FTC’s concern that the Supreme
On May 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a settlement with DMB Financial LLC, a Massachusetts-based debt-settlement company.