The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was approved to investigate the activities of Indian tribe lenders; the online lenders under investigation will be Great Plains Lending, MobiLoans and Plain Green; the lenders are providing credit to a range of borrowers outside of their Indian tribes; they are claiming sovereign immunity because of their status as Indian tribes. Source
In the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint reports, the agency showed only seven US complaints pertaining to bitcoin in 2016; data mined by LendEDU reports four filed against CoinBase and three against Circle; nonprofit advocacy group Coin Center says 37 complaints were filed on digital currency from 2011 to 2015. Source
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had a heightened presence in 2016; it was involved in governance for payday lending and marketplace lenders, it also declared a $100 million fine for Wells Fargo and was declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court; the CFPB's structure and authority will be a factor for 2017; a marketplace lending retrenchment in 2016 also included a number of new lessons centered around governance and alternative forms of platform investment; decreased confidence and increasing platform defaults will be factors to watch for marketplace lending in 2017 while increasing credit defaults overall, and specifically in auto loans, could also be influential. Source
In October, CFPB Director Richard Cordray warned banks not to limit access to financial data by third parties working on behalf of the customer; now the bureau he leads is opening an inquiry into a data sharing dispute between banks and fintech companies; the inquiry is focused on consumer choice, security and control; the CFPB believes this will help banks and fintech companies better understand what the customer needs, how to accurately give the customer choice and security, and who ultimately owns the customer's data. Source
In a speech at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, the head of the CFPB said he was troubled by banks who would shut off access to third-party data providers and believes consumers should have access to their data; though the agency declined to comment on the possibility of a new rule, they did make it clear that consumers should be the ones who decide when and who should have access to their data; this puts banks in a tough position as they work to comply with the current regulations and burgeoning fintech market that has given consumers a variety of technology options to use their personal data. Source
An opinion editorial in American Banker makes the case for eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; says the agency provides for unnecessary expansion of federal regulatory power; suggests a return to segregated oversight; provides a list of overreaching executive powers in addition to its recent unconstitutional ruling. Source
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has fined TransUnion and Equifax over $23.2 million for deceptively advertising services; the agencies reportedly advertised credit services costing customers over $200 as free and misled customers about the use of credit reports they obtained; according to the CFPB, TransUnion will pay $13.93 million to consumers and a $3 million fine while Equifax will pay $3.8 million to consumers and a $2.5 million fine. Source
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will appeal the court's unconstitutional ruling in the case of CFPB v. PHH in which PHH argued the CFPB's authoritative powers were too broad following enforcement actions that resulted in penalties primarily for referring consumers to mortgage insurers for compensation; the CFPB is requesting that the case be heard by all judges in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rather than a panel of only three judges which provided the October ruling; if the verdict in the case is unchanged, the president will still be able to replace the CFPB director at his discretion; it's likely that Director Cordray could be replaced by President-Elect Donald Trump given his plans for Dodd-Frank. Source
American Banker speculates on what President-elect Donald Trump will do with the CFPB, which has enhanced consumer financial protections in recent years; Trump has not been definitive but rather generally against current levels of financial regulation; in October, the US Court of Appeals for DC found that the CFPB's director could be unilaterally replaced by the US President; the agency has until November 25 to appeal; if they should lose the appeal, the publication poses options for the incoming President of (a) pressuring current Director Cordray to resign then replacing him with someone who will drop the legal appeal, or (b) have Republican lawmakers in the next congressional session replace the single director oversight with a five-member commission and subject the CFPB to Congressional appropriations review. Source
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a report on financial innovation; the report entitled “Project Catalyst Report: Promoting Consumer Friendly Innovation” is an effort from the CFPB to expand its knowledge and inform consumers on the benefits of financial innovation. One specific approaches reflected upon is the CFPB's "Trial Disclosure Waiver Policy" to test and revise disclosure statements in a controlled environment, and no-action letters. Source