Nicholas Smyth

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CFPB Takes First Action Against Company for Lax Data Security Practices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has announced its first data security enforcement action. On Wednesday (March 2), the CFPB released a consent order against Dwolla, an online payment platform company, alleging it failed to maintain adequate data security practices despite representations made on the company website and in communications with consumers that the company … Continue Reading

Payday Lender SOL

On January 15, 2016, the CFPB Office of Enforcement asserted that claims pursued in administrative enforcement actions are not subject to the three-year statute of limitations set forth in the Consumer Financial Protection Act, signaling that the agency is willing to target long-ago violations when seeking restitution and penalties. The CFPA — also known as Title … Continue Reading

What has the CFPB said about that?

As an early “holiday gift,” to help you more easily search for a particular piece of guidance from the CFPB, we’ve put together two CFPB guidance documents. The first is a compilation of all nine issues of the CFPB’s Supervisory Highlights, from 2012 to 2015. The second is a compilation of all the CFPB’s Bulletins, … Continue Reading

Democrats Push for Regulatory Oversight of Marketplace Lenders

As reported in Bloomberg, a group of Democratic Senators has issued a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and SBA Head Maria Contreras-Sweet asking for clarification on the regulatory oversight of marketplace lenders.  The letter, from Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) inquires about whether consumers are adequately protected in online … Continue Reading

Georgia Court Rules B2B Companies Within CFPB’s Regulatory Power

On September 1, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) won an important decision in which a federal court, for the first time, interpreted the meaning of “recklessly provid[ing] substantial assistance” under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”). Perhaps since it was an order denying the defendants’ motions to dismiss released just before the Labor … Continue Reading

CFPB Moves to Ban Class Action Waivers in Consumer Financial Services Contracts

In a move long anticipated by the industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on October 7, 2015 proposed to ban class action waivers in consumer financial contracts. Although the proposed ban would not take effect for a few years, it could lead to an increase in consumer class action lawsuits—some of which  have been … Continue Reading

Treasury Seeks Comments on FinTech Lending

On August 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury extended the comment period to give the public more time to respond to a Request for Information (RFI) on marketplace lending titled “Public Input on Expanding Access to Credit through Online Marketplace Lending.” The public now has through September 30, 2015 to provide comments. What’s … Continue Reading
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